We came to spend a few days in Venice and knew right off the bat we were going to get some sort of mask as souvenir. Masks seems to be a thing in Venice. Some are little more than a painted mask with some painted designs to them. And some as intricate as a work of art. Such is this shop. Joie de Vivre is not a souvenir shop, this is a specialty store that carries only masks and some puppets. We were talking to the son of the owner who told us his father makes every single mask, he has been doing it for 30 years and learned the craft from his grandfather. We couldn't really take pictures but trust me when I tell you these masks are amazing. They are so intricate I only bought a small one because of lack of space in my luggage, but even so I would've been remiss to buy one and not being able to bring it back to the US intact. They are too pretty to just throw in a suitcase. read more