Carnevale de Venise

As promised some photos of the carnival people in Venice - the majority are French and German rather than Italian!  I think some of the costumes are just amazing and so many are hand made - very clever people!!  Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do!  (If you click on the photos you can view the photos a bit bigger if you want to see the detail.)

This is one of my favourite couples and photos

Lady in red.

These people made their costumes
themselves - truly a work of art!

This guy wore a Peacock outfit last 
year but this year he was a Phoenix or
Firebird and his costume was HUGE 
and very heavy!

I loved this colourful costume 

and it was so simple too!

Awww I love this guy I have seen him 

many times over the years he plays 

classical music on his radio and

always charms the ladies with his

red rose!

The very grumpy "Marie Antoinette"
I don't know why she bothers if 
it makes her so grumpy!  
This year in green.

My most favourite couple of all - 
they go every year and always 
look amazing.

This cheeky jester is there every 
year too - always climbing up on 
walls which makes for a good photo!

This lady was beautiful in her costume.

A frilly pair!  Simple but very effective.

This headdress was lovely with 
its dolls.

A closer look at the clock couple! 
Note the glitter filled egg timer 
on the doll's head to the right!

A foxy lady - this year's theme 
was nature/animals.

The costumes were huge 
and no doubt heavy!

Beautiful blues and golds.

A cheeky jester.

And another - I really liked this colourful costume.

Parasols and mirrors make for interesting photos.

A very elegant lady in pink.

A wistful look in purples.

Some German chaps donning 
uniform very smart they were too!

And one more lovely hat and mask.

I hope you likey....the carnival dogs are next!

Venice 2014

As usual every year I made my annual trip to the Venice carnival.  This year it was a bit later due to Easter being later.  The benefit of this was the most fabulous sunny warm weather!  It was a complete joy to sit out on a deck with a spritz and a bite to eat....

Flying over Lake Garda en route to Venice.

First sight of Venice from the air.

One of the speeding private water taxis!

La Serenissima complete with snow capped 

Dolomite Mountains behind - that's rare to see!

Island of San Girogio Maggiore.

Bridge of Sighs at sunset

Sunset looking towards The Salute.

A close up of The Salute.

A bright morning looking to San Giorgio - the 
light was sooo intense!

A church courtyard - but better known 
as the Questura in German film adaptations 
of the Donna Leon Brunetti detective 
series of books.

Reflections on a canal.

Lovers locks on the Accademia Bridge.

These lovers were obviously determined 
to fit their lock somewhere!

The gondola repair yard at San Trovaso.

The view to the Campanile and Doges 
Palace from the Dorsoduro.

Another bridge, another boat, another reflection.

Lovely still water reflections.

A lovely mascot on a gondola.

These beautiful camellias were in bloom 
near the Accademia.

The grandeur of bygone days 
hidden in the bushes.

I was lucky to capture a solitary 
gondola in the Grand Canal!

A carnival person on the Accademia Bridge.

Of course I was heading for Gelateria Nico 
when I went over the Accademia Bridge...

...there I enjoyed an Aperol Spritz with 
crisps and a pizza slice....

...and the hot chocolate is TDF!!....

...then there is the very famous ice cream - 
raspberry, peach and amaretto here...

..and one can always take an ice cream 
to walk home with ...pistachio and amaretto!  
And no I did not have all of these on the 
same day!!!

A lovely wintry sunshine over the lagoon.  

I will post some carnival photos in another post.  
I hope you enjoyed the sights and some flavours
of Venice!