The Carnival

Have a look at these children! Aren’t they the sweetest thing? It’s carnival time here in Italy which involves dressing oneself up as animals or clowns or whatever you feel like. This little carnival in Siena is very different from those in Venice or Viareggio but it is still a cool tradition. Yesterday was a wonderful day with great weather and it was really fun to watch all the kids running around dressed up as little bees, bears, ducks and frogs! There was even a little “Pippi Långstrump” running around at the big square and I got really happy because that must mean that the fantastic children’s books of Astrid Lindgren have reached Italy as well. There was also lots of people throwing confetti all over the place and spraying each other with this kind of special coloured foam so you had to pay attention. Now, this concept of carnival is still very difficult for me to understand, although many people have tried to explain what it’s about. Actually when you tell people down here that you’ve never seen a carnival or have no idea what it’s about they get totally chocked and look at you as if you were crazy or something. To them the carnival is something they’ve known since they were little and they think it’s strange that someone wouldn’t know about it. The Italians say that it’s not a religious tradition and that it’s about (more or less) breaking all boundaries and just do whatever you feel like. A very interesting kind of party isn’t it? Maybe we should start organising carnivals in Sweden also? At the same time we do organise the world cup of skiing so maybe that is enough ;)