Carnevale in Viareggio

Even though I was unable to go to Venezia, I DID make a day trip out to Viareggio for their carnival! Viareggio is a city in the Tuscan riviera probably most famous for the carnevale held a couple of weekends in January and February, but also for the beautiful yacht-building business. I woke up Saturday morning and along with a bunch of other CAPA kids and took the almost 2-hour train ride to the Tuscan coast.

Immediately after stepping off the train, I knew it was going to be a great day: people were all dressed up, huge smiles on everyone's faces! Julia and I bought our tickets to carnival and then walked into the craziest experience since being in Italy! Apart from people in THE most ridiculous costumes throwing confetti at every chance, and the wild, uninhibited dance parties, there were gigantic floats lining the 2 main streets that were out of this world. The amount of detail that goes into the construction of the floats is astonishing, and clearly visible. As my homestay family told me, many of the floats are some sort of satirical political or social commentary, which was definitely interesting to see.

Literally the first thing we saw as we hopped off the regional train!

Later on, this opened up and there were dancers inside.

The masks and wings all moved... very cool!

I have no idea what kind of satirical commentary this is... but it looked cool!

After finding Catie and Katie, buying some confetti and a mask, and dancing around the streets of Viareggio for a while, we decided to get some lunch at a small cafe... probably the best hot dog sandwich I'll ever have. Guys, even hot dogs are better in Italy! With a perfectly content belly, we made the trek out to the beach to find Catie's family... yes, the beach. It was absolutely amazing especially the snow-capped alps behind the town. It kind of reminded me of the beaches in El Salvador, which are actually much prettier in my opinion... but it was still an unforgettable view that made me question if my life in Italy is even real!!

Even though I thought nothing would be able to top Bologna as a day trip, Viareggio definitely tied! It was amazing to just traipse around the streets throwing confetti at people, dancing to whatever music each float was playing, admiring the elaborate costumes, and just appreciating life! It was a perfect day that ended with watching the sun set while sitting on the beach with two good friends... and my face painted as a dog.