CARNEVALE - Latin for "Farewell, Meat !!" Originated in Venice in the year 1162 around Shrove Tuesday

Here are some pictures of a carnival at a seaside resort - Viareggio. There are carnivals all throughout Italy with the most famous being in Venice.

No carnival in Tuscany would be complete without a traditional "Porchetta" panino.

OMG -  cant it be - yes it is - Obama

The word carnival comes from the Latin for "Farewell, meat!". As Lent (which begins on Ash Wednesday) obliged people to fast, during the period up to Ash Wednesday all meat, butter and eggs had to be used up. This religious formality became the excuse for a party that echoed pagan festivities.

The history of the Venice Carnival tradition began after 1162. The Republic defeated Ulrico, Patriarch of Aquileia in that year, and began a tradition of slaughtering a bull and 12 pigs in the Piazza San Marco around Shrove Tuesday to commemorate the victory. This celebration gradually grew and 1268 dates the first document mentioning the use of masks.