Sunday, February 18, 2007
Today we visited Ivrea, a small town about an hour from Varese and near Torino (you know - where the 2006 Winter Olympics were held), to see their Carnevale (Mardi Gras) celebrations. Unlike in the U.S. where Mardi Gras is only held in a few cities, every town in Italy celebrates Carnevale. I know the whole thing about the big blow out party before the 40 days of Lent starts, but it really reminds me a lot of Halloween. The kids dress up, people throw candy...okay, so I guess the smilarities end there. But it STILL reminds me of Halloween. Anyway, the Ivrea Carnevale celebration is a bit different in that they throw oranges. Yes, I said oranges. Why go to the more famous Carnevale of Venice when you can go to the Orange Battles in Ivrea?! I hope you enjoy our pictures. Click here if you want to read more about the Storico Carnevale di Ivrea (Historic Carnival of Ivrea). Also, check the videos on the right to see some clips of the festivites.
Entrance to the Carnevale. Notice all the red hats. They are worn not only so the wearer won't become a target during the Orange Battles, but also to show that the wearer is part of the celebrations. 
Jason in front of just a few of the oranges.
Flag guys
Some of the team members. I think the green and yellow guys are from the Scorpion team.and the red guys are the Ace of Spades team. 
The Battle! 
The ground covered in oranges after one of the battles.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Carnevale in Ivrea
Posted by Lee Anne Bryant at 12:05 PM
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LilyPie
2 comments:
probably the best smelling city in europe. (if you like the smell of oranges.)
how interesting though... i feel like i've heard about that 'battle of the oranges' before - probably on samantha brown's show or something. :)
Hi Lee Anne,
Hope you didn't get hit by any rogue oranges! That looks dangerous.
I love the video of Wren dancing to the valentine card. So cute!
The town of Cefalu looked fantastic, how was it? What has been your favorite place so far? Still living vicariously!
Chris
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