Carnevale

The Lookout

I know I shouldn't be. But I am.

Even after all the days I've spent in my house seeing at time rather odd things out my window, never did I imagine seeing what seemed liked every kid from the town dressed up in costume and confetti flying into the air. Yes, even after I had stumbled upon a news story talking about Monte di Procida's Carnevale celebration and how the sale of flour, eggs, and spray paint to kids had been banned for the week. (Which by the way, was the article I posted earlier on Facebook in Italian. It made me laugh because it sounded like something you'd read about back home.)

Yesterday afternoon in two different parts of town, kids, adults, and floats congregated for this year's La Bella Napoli themed parade. The group that gathered in the piazza around the corner were Snow Whites of every size and lots of dwarfs. We had a few of i Puffi (the Smurfs), other princesses, and even a Ninja Turtle. It looked like Halloween again but this time around I could actually see the costumes since the sun was out. The little kids were adorable! If you watch the official video you can see a few of them. There is a little boy dressed like a chef that was in my top 5 favorites that appears around minute 7 (I think).

Before the parade even started, I could hear "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho" blaring. Well, it was the Italian version of it which was hilarious in my mind, but it turns out Nico is not a fan of giant Snow White, let alone her music. The confetti was pouring into the streets. Those poor kids who couldn't get their hands on flour or eggs apparently bought out the local supply of silly string and chased each other through the streets.

The parade really was more like a swarm of people (again, you really should check out the video) and that's EXACTLY was what outside my window.

It was fun though- all of us were on our balconies watching the show below and hoping that not too much of the confetti drifted into our houses. Well, maybe I was the only one thinking that as I'm pretty sure I was the only one with my balcony doors actually open? Come to think of it, I wasn't in a down jacket either. And you know my heat wasn't on. I was thrilled to feel the sun so late in the afternoon. Granted, that changed just a few hours later when the rain started falling again.

Yeah. Streets filled with confetti. Then it rained. Just a little messy? You bet! But you've got to chalk one up to Monte di Procida because today when I left town they had city street cleaners out there trying to scrape what they could off the street. Some of the business owners were also out there sweeping. Trash problem in Naples? I don't know what you're talking about. Well, actually I do since I was over on the Support Site today and saw the mounds of trash growing again...but not where I live!