Venezia

Photos: 1. the island of Burano, 2. me, Kayla, and Sara on the bridge next to the Bridge of Sighs, 3. Carnivale at night, 4. the beautiful boat ride to Venice from the mainland, 5. flooded Piazza San Marco (a daily occurrence)

So Venice was pretty incredible. I didn't think about it that much until I got there, but as soon as I stepped off the boat I remembered how I'd been wanting to go there ever since I was little! I couldn't stop smiling, especially because it was a beeeaauuutiful weekend. Carnivale was really really fun, but I wish it hadn't been QUITE so crowded. It was festive and exciting though!

We left at 6am from Florence on a bus with our entire program (all super grumpy) and arrived in Venice at around 11, only to go straight into a 2 hour walking tour. I'm really glad we went because it was so nice to just follow the guide and take everything in. For lunch I had delicious fritto misto (fried seafood - Venice known for it) and a glass of chardonnay from a little stand in a piazza and sat outside and ate with everyone...so nice. We hung out by the Grand Canal and then made our way back to the boat to go the hotel. After a nice little rest, everyone got all dressed up in our masks that we had bought that day to go back to Venice for the Carnivale festivities! It was a total zoo so two of my housemates, Sara and Kayla, and I decided to split off from the huge group and explore/sit down for dinner. It was super relaxing and delicious - it was such a cute, classic Italian restaurant! After we literally just wandered around the city for hours people watching and exploring. Since I've loved 'A Little Romance' forever and it was what made me want to go see Venice in the first place when I was younger, we went to see it! We stood on the bridge next to it (you can't walk on the Bridge of Sighs), and I thought that that bridge was it! It was a magical moment because right as we got there, Kayla realized it was 11:11 and 11 is my lucky number!!! I was just sooo happy. Even thought it turned out to be the one next to us, I don't think it takes anything away from that experience. It was wonderful. Then, after wandering the tiny streets looking for the train station for over an hour, we ran to hop on the last train back to our hotel! I was so exhausted when we got back and just crashed.

The next day we went to visit the islands of Murano, famous for glass-making, and Burano. We saw a glass-making demo in Murano, which was totally amazing, and then headed for Burano. It was so cute! Every building was a different color and we had a lot of fun walking around and looking at the handmade glass. Later, we had free time back in Venice and my good friend, Emily, and her roommate, Sonya, and I just wandered and found a cute little place for pizza for lunch - easily the best pizza I've had thus far. Yum! Then wandered around back to the boat, where we made our way to the bus and then back to Florence.

It was such a lovely weekend, but I feel like I really need to go back and see Venice again without so many people there. I hope I can make it back there, maybe not this semester, but at some point. It was truly magical.