Hey everybody,
When most people think of carneval, they think of half-naked women running around multicolored floats in the summer heat of Rio de Janeiro. At least, I do. Daily. Well, carnevale in my home town of Viareggio is just like that, except it's about 5 degrees above freezing and the women are dressed either as zombies, nuns, or some sort of plushy nightmare.
I manage to visit during Carnevale about once every 8 years or so, and every time I visit everyone complains about how much this year's floats suck. I don't know how much I'd complain if I lived somewhere that basically shut down for a month in order to have a giant outdoor costume party every Sunday. Between that, the 4 months where the beaches are open during the summer and the approximately 8000 national holidays in Italy, I think Viareggini work about 6 days a year.
A little Carnevale information for you (thank you Wikipedia)... "The first carnevale was held in 1873 when some wealthy middle-class men decided to organize a parade of floats adorned with flowers; a number of local citizens, as a sign of protest, then decided to put on masks in order to show their refusal of high taxes they were forced to pay... The official mascot of the Viareggio carnival is Burlamacco, first depicted in 1931 by Uberto Bonetti. Since 2001, all the floats are built in an apposite seat, called Cittadella del Carnevale (Carnival Citadel), located on the northern side of the Viareggio city territory."
I was only there for about 10 days this year and thoroughly enjoyed my sojourn as a typical Italian male adult (having my parents cook, clean, and do my laundry for me). Here is a link to some pictures from a couple of the Sunday events, as well as a biscotti-procuring expedition to Prato which was probably the most stressful part of the trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/t12r9Niqt27RzL9w8
Take 'er easy,
Dave
When most people think of carneval, they think of half-naked women running around multicolored floats in the summer heat of Rio de Janeiro. At least, I do. Daily. Well, carnevale in my home town of Viareggio is just like that, except it's about 5 degrees above freezing and the women are dressed either as zombies, nuns, or some sort of plushy nightmare.
I manage to visit during Carnevale about once every 8 years or so, and every time I visit everyone complains about how much this year's floats suck. I don't know how much I'd complain if I lived somewhere that basically shut down for a month in order to have a giant outdoor costume party every Sunday. Between that, the 4 months where the beaches are open during the summer and the approximately 8000 national holidays in Italy, I think Viareggini work about 6 days a year.
A little Carnevale information for you (thank you Wikipedia)... "The first carnevale was held in 1873 when some wealthy middle-class men decided to organize a parade of floats adorned with flowers; a number of local citizens, as a sign of protest, then decided to put on masks in order to show their refusal of high taxes they were forced to pay... The official mascot of the Viareggio carnival is Burlamacco, first depicted in 1931 by Uberto Bonetti. Since 2001, all the floats are built in an apposite seat, called Cittadella del Carnevale (Carnival Citadel), located on the northern side of the Viareggio city territory."
I was only there for about 10 days this year and thoroughly enjoyed my sojourn as a typical Italian male adult (having my parents cook, clean, and do my laundry for me). Here is a link to some pictures from a couple of the Sunday events, as well as a biscotti-procuring expedition to Prato which was probably the most stressful part of the trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/t12r9Niqt27RzL9w8
Take 'er easy,
Dave
