COSTUME BALL AT PALAZZO NANI BERNARDO

Alright, so after four hours of posing in St. Mark's we head back to the hotel to meet our group to go to the ball. We all look amazing as we gather together and walk over to the palace. As an aside here, there are no cars here in Venice - did you get that? That's right, no cars. You go by water taxi and vaporetto. Oh, and no bikes either. There are too many bridges and steps up and down the bridges for these types of modes of transportation. Most people will walk to where they are going. You can't even take a taxi - no vehicles at all. I love it.

We are greeted by our host. There is music playing all evening as  a quartet entertains us. We drink bellinis and try some canapes and walk in and out of the rooms in the palace. A professional photographer takes pictures of the evening and everyone at their tables. We have a rowdy character who entertains us called Mr. Pantalone. As we have our four course dinner, each table is entertained by someone doing card tricks or magic tricks. We listen to a woman sing opera and we talk with the other guests who have arrived from different hotels. I made some nice friends with a couple from the Netherlands. She was originally from Brazil and met her husband when she was going to university. Another couple (who we ended up seeing the next day as well) were there with his mother. She was the hippest woman (retired for a while). You know it's going to be a good night when someone who could be your grandmother starts the conversation with the young guy from the Netherlands with "so what do you think about this marijuana being legalized in San Francisco?" The evening recreated what it would have been like so many years ago. They taught us how to dance and by the end of the evening we were all dancing, albeit we weren't the greatest, but we were all enjoying the night.

I have to say that there were just as many men at this event as women, and any man who would dress up and attend such an event is a keeper. This really is what the entire carnival is about. The dressing up in period costume to get you in the mood and play a part that maybe in everyday life you would or would not be. I myself enjoyed the balls the best out of all the events we did....that and posing in the square while people took pictures. I have a better appreciation now for actors and actresses who don't want to be on "duty" 24 hours a day...but then again, if you are wearing an outfit like this you can't hide in a crowd.