Carnivale at Viareggio

AFter hearing about the yearly Carnivale in Viareggio, Mel and I decided we had to go see for ourselves. Viareggio is a beach community and is only a 20 minute train ride from lucca, very easy to get to. as soon as we get to the train station we start seeing people dressed in costumes. once on the train we sat across from an adorable toddler dressed up with as a dinasaur with a painted frankenstein face. once we arrived in viareggio we walked the 6 or so blocks down to the parade which is held on the boulevard right next to the strand. Nothing can prepare you for this event. all the things we heard about it were true and then some. the floats are enourmous and are taller than the buildings. there is different music for each float. at night the floats are lit up. they are all made out of paper mache' and are manipulated by hand. even the moving eyes are maniuplated manually. the only electricity that can be used is for the lights and the music. when the beatles float came by mel and i proved ourselves to be true embarassing americans and began singing and dancing in the street! so much fun. i hope you enjoy the pics as much as we enjoyed the parade. if you are ever in italy in february, it is a must see!!!