My mom likes to complain that I took her on a 2-hour tour of the same 2 blocks of Venice. I blame our tour guide and the crappy maps we were provided. When I started planning this trip, I knew I would need to get an actual Carnevale mask, having adored them since high school. Hwoever, masks are sold everywhere for anywhere between 2 Euros to 200 Euros. i wanted to make sure I got a hand-made, Venetian mask. We were told to find this place just a few blocks down from Saint Mark's Square. Except that no one else but our tour guide seemed to have heard of it. along the way, we found at least 4 other reputable looking shops. This one, though, actually was set up so you could see how the masks were made. If they didn't make them on site, they sure put on a good show. I was really looking to buy a Jester mask, but I could not find one that was a) not creepy and b) actually painted on the face and not just the hat. After deliberating over no fewer than 10 masks, and being tempted to just buy two, I settled for a simpler red, gold, and black full face. This turned out to be a good choice if only because it meant transporting it wasn't a huge pain.