I took my little ones to the local fasnacht, they had a great time. I got to paint their little faces also! Maxine was a tiger and Nicolas wanted to be a clown. The clown wasnt very successful so he then decided he wanted to be a "thomas the tank engine" hehe, the poor little thing looked like a vampire once i was finished with him!!
Now the point of that story was to introduce you to the festivities that occur here. Venice is where the largest party happens. Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of St. Stephen's Day, December 26, at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday.
As masks were also allowed during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Maskmakers enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.
These days many people still dress up and wear masks. This year the weather was bad but the fashion shows still went on. The city was alive with more tourists than usual and masks were being sold everywhere!!
Lacey and I arrived on February 1st and stayed in a hostel on the main island. Everything was extremely overpriced for this time of year but we were in a good location and near good restaurants and shops. We even had the chance to have our faces painted. I bought three masks while I was there, which I think will look nice mounted on a wall (of my imaginary house!!)
While both of us have already been to Venice it was so much fun to be their for the festival season! Luckily last year when I went with my parents we had beautiful weather. This time around though I went to Murano again and I got to see the actual glass blowing and figurines being made! Below is a photo of me in front of a giant glass monument:
It was a great weekend away. Below are a few of my favourite masks:
The 6th of February was my mums 52nd bday!! I hope you had a nice day Mum!! Dad and I got her an IPOD 'cause she's so cool!!
That weekend I went to one of my good friends Ronis' house for dinner. She has an awesome pizza dome so we ate mini pizzas all night and she also taught me how to use my newest prized possession 'photoshop' !! We were having a great night until I realised I missed my last train home.... thats the thing about Switzerland!! Some areas only have trains until like midnight - ahhhhh!!
The following day I went into the city with Lacey and Kristi. Lacey and I also organised our Easter holiday. After much deliberation we decided to join our friends Huw, Christos and Nic to Croatia. It should be awesome doing a road trip down the coast. If we are lucky, we may even get to Montenegro!! I am seriously just excited to see the ocean!!
Huw and I
Marie and I
That night my friend Marie was celebrating her 24th bday at Mascotte so we all went there and had a good night! It was a pretty big one so I was still recovering as my 'swiss family' and I drove to Samedan (SE alps in Switzerland)
What was meant to be an innocent holiday with the kids, which may have involved some skiing all went horribly wrong on the Monday when I did something to my back!! 3 days were spent laying down and sleeping. I had to see a chiropractor and an oesteopath and still by Friday I felt like a major cripple.
Fortunately though by the weekend I was walking more normally in time for my trip to Warsaw, Poland.
Still hobbling a bit, Lacey was patient with me when we had to stop for a bit. It was absolutely FREEZING the whole time we were there and on some nights it even snowed but we still had a great time!
The hostel we stayed at was very well located and FULL of australians!! I loved it!! People from Blacktown, Sutherland and Perth!! Hahaha it is always great to hear our accent!
Not actually that many sights to see (supposedly Krakow is more touristic) we got to go to a fantastic mall (yay!!) and enjoy all the comfort foods from home. In Switzerland we dont have KFC, Pizza Hut or Subway so we endulged and ate fast food for 3 days straight ;-)
It also was moving to see how the country is rebuilding itself after all the turmoils of WW2. Most of the buildings are new and/or are being slowly restored.
It was also very interesting to go to the Warsaw Uprising Museum which focused on educating people about the war.
Every time I have the opportunity to go to an Eastern European country I really feel the urge to get back and explore, so hopefully in the near future I will get to go back to Poland!
Back in Switzerland on Tuesday I made my way down to the mountains again as the kids had another week of ski holiday. Their skiing has improved out of this world!! It amazes me every time I see their little bodies flying down the side of the mountain! I'm so proud of them!
So it is now nearing to the end of February and I am busily helping my parents organise their trip to Europe. I am super excited to meet them in St Tropez on May 5th (haha but whose counting !!??!!)
On Tuesday I have to go and see another oesteopath because I am still having trouble with my back but hopefully I will be good as new soon!
Sending you all my love,
Megan xox
P.S dont forget my new photo site !! Haha I have been a bit slack in figuring out how to use it but there are some more photos on there now so check it out at http://www.megzip.shutterfly.com/action/
