Day 4 - Oh sole Mio

The weather is very kind today, a blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Ideal weather to enjoy the panorama from the Campanile.

The elevator takes us up to a height of about sixty meters where the clocks are located (they no longer work). With this perfect weather, we can even admire the snow-capped peaks of the Dolomites, which are about 100 km away.

We take one last look at what we've seen the past few days, but from the air. Magnificent. 

After about ten minutes I give up. The wind is blowing unusually hard and is still very inclement. Brrr.

I stroll around the stately San Marco Square, which is surrounded by the old government buildings. Because at 10:30 am we have an appointment at the gondolas. A gondola trip is not cheap: officially 80 Euros for a fifteen minute boat ride where you either get tossed around on the Grand Canal by the large passing ships or sail on smaller canals where you are always stuck in traffic. We make a half-hour trip of a combination of the two that costs 120 euros per gondola. If you want the gondolier to sing, it will cost extra. 

The gondolas are made of eight types of wood and finished with 10 layers of black paint. They are richly decorated with copper seahorses and in the past a lot of satin was used too. The bow has a slightly chamfered shape that makes the gondola very manoeuvrable in the narrow canals. In the 16th century Venice still had 10,000 gondoliers, now there are only about 400. There is exactly one woman. They were all born in Venice and the profession is often passed on from father to son (or daughter). It will be our last achievement in Venice. After half an hour of sailing on the Grand Canal and the small, more intimate canals with picturesque bridges, we moor again. We take one last look at San Marco Square where the carnivalists are still celebrating. On stage, the party continues until Shrove Tuesday.

We didn't dance the Samba like in Rio, we didn't see a procession of the Voil Jeanetten van Aalsjt, we didn't dance a hoempapa like in the Netherlands, we didn't see a trace of the Gilles de Binche and it wasn't the atmosphere of Mardi Gras in New Orleans either. What we did see was a unique celebration that will last for days. We sometimes imagined ourselves in a fairy tale with beautiful costumes. It is indeed the most beautiful carnival in Europe.