Belated photos of carnivale

Tracy and Bill got here on February 4th toting backpacks, pillows, DS game systems, and ten giant suitcases. Bob and I rented a larger car for their visit and it took that car (a station-wagon), our little Sunfire and a friend's car to get them and their belongings to our house. You'd be surprised what a family of five can get into a suitcase for a move to South Africa. If you want to know why they're moving click on their link from our page. They left us for their new adventure on the 20th (well, Tracy left the 20th, Bill left a week earlier to get things ready for the family's arrival) and we are missing them a lot.


The first full day they were here was sunny and bright, typical Sicily. That night was the final night of carnivale (don't forget to pronounce the e at the end) and a parade of costumes in Misterbianco. The brochure from the town said there would be a parade of bands at 4:00 and the costume parade would start at 5:00. We got there a little before 4:00 and found (surprisingly) a parking place. We walked around the town thinking it was pretty quiet for a parade about to start. Not many people there. So, this being Bob's and my first time at this parade we thought maybe we had taken the family to a real putz of a parade. How wrong we were. However, back to my story.



We walked all over the town and saw railings up and down the streets as if to hold people back but.....back from what. Four o'clock........five o'clock. Went to the little store for a gelato.....walked some more. Walked to the park for a beautiful view of the surrounding area and other little towns. Six o'clock, finally a band came marching through the town. And then nothing. One band--a small one, at that.













About then, someone turned on music. Huge speakers were set up all over town and typical Sicilian music blasted forth from every one. More people started showing up and a few vendors of confetti, silly string, and noise makers set up stands along the sidewalk. We found a spot and very soon it was evident that something special was going to happen. Many of the bystanders had costumes on, especially little children. People crowded together along the streets waiting for whatever would come.




Seven o'clock (no, we didn't read the brochure wrong) the parade came down the street. And what a parade it was. People in costumes so elaborate I don't know how they could ever hold together. So heavy that sometimes when the parade stopped for a bit people would come out and hold the costume up to let the wearer rest.
Everyone, even those in huge costumes, danced down the street to the music and the parade went all over the town.








Costumes depicting Rome, Felix the Cat, ships at sea, gardens complete with bench and fence, card games, (oh, yea, and Alice in Wonderland). Way too many to describe. Here are just a few photos of some of the parade but there were many many costumes and "floats" (only way to describe them).



The air of festivity that can only happen in Sicily. People talking loudly, laughing, cheering, and a few teenagers walking along the street having silly-string fights. By the way, the silly string, for some reason, is shot at the floats and people in the parade--and anyone else standing in the way
We were parked far away from the parade area and even our car was decorated with silly string.

It got really cold as soon as the sun went down and we were all freezing by 7:00. We left about nine-thirty so the kids could get warm. We walked up the way the parade was coming so as not to miss anything. I don't know what time the parade finished but I'm sure it was late (for Americans--not for Sicilians). There were fireworks scheduled for midnight.