my brother has recently spent a few days with us here in ljubljana :) it was a trip of firsts for him: first time in a foreign country, first flight, first time eating mexican nachos, ćevapčići or krofs… and first carnival in venice!

being the right time of the year and so close by, we couldn’t pass the opportunity of taking him there. so we left ljubljana, bright and early on a 2am train and then… we walked and walked and walked, just taking it all in. venice is incredibly crowded but i think it is also a really happy place. the carnival feels a lot more solemn than we’re used to (which is refreshing), but it retains quite a bit of its colourful aura. we had a great day, enjoyed the sun and took a ton of photos of little things we liked.







best costume in our book went to a guy dressed like ezio in assassin’s creed II. joão had spent half the morning commenting at how familiar everything in venice looked from the game, and how realistic it was, and “i climbed this and that building in the game!”, blablabla and then out of nowhere we see this guy and whoa! talk about a perfect moment! :)

we left home saturday last week for going to the market and stumbled on the local carnival event! we were a bit unprepared, but managed to take some photos with the holga. there were people partying in boats on the river, lots of shops selling krofi (like bolas de berlim but filled with chocolate!) and even a parade, with tons of kids dressed up in themes and my favourite part, the kurenti:

Kurenti or Koranti (singular: Kurent or Korant) are figures dressed in sheep skin who go about the town wearing masks, a long red tongue, cow bells, and on the head multi-colored ribbons. The Kurenti from Ptuj and the adjoining villages also wear feathers, while those from the Haloze and Lancova vas wear horns. Organized in groups, Kurents go through town, from house to house, making noise with their bells and wooden sticks, to symbolically scare off evil spirits and the winter. (more on wikipedia)

they’re very loud, jumping around and ringing their heavy cow bells, yet friendly, stopping by to talk to curious kids. it was a real treat to watch, our timing was quite perfect :)