VENEZIA!!!

This last weekend 4 of us and the chef took a trip to Venice! The place was beautiful. I can't even describe the scenery enough to give you a mental image of what I saw, and though the pictures turned out pretty well, it is just something you have to see for yourself.

Walking out of the train station, you right away see the canal with the amazing architecture in the background of buildings from who knows when. Boats and taxi boats are floating along the canal, carrying people too and from the other end of the river and across the town. Are group is hungry by this point and so after puchasing the 24 hour pass on the boats, we hop on and find a nice place to eat near Chef's hotel (which by the way had a secret window leading out to his private balcony)! The restaurant we went to was right along the river and the umbrellas to keep the shade out was a nice touch! The food was good, I had a sandwich, but the banana split Lexi and I split was delicious! We scarfed our food down and set out to tour the town.

We spent the next couple of hours window shopping and seeing what Venice had to offer, and after buying some gelato and water, we finally found a price reasonable enough for the 5 of us, and rode on one of the infamous gondales!!! The ride was amazing, and even though our 'driver' was grumpy and wouldn't sing, apparently only drunk guys sing, the view was amazing and the sun was refreshing! I have always wanted to ride one and I finally got my wish! It was beautiful and over to quickly. He did point out some interesting buildings of places famous people stayed or what not, and though I took pictures, I probably could not tell you now which house is whose!

After the ride, we headed to the island of Barlona (not sure of the name on that). The ferry ride out there was over and hour, but sitting in the back of the boat and watching the town slowly fade into the backgroud was a site to see. The ocean water was cool and the just being on the water was incredible.

The island is one I can barely put into words of what I saw. The colors are amazing and every house has a different one! The town is something you would want to see in a picture and you can't help but smile because of how bright it is. Something must have been going on in Venezia because the town looked like a ghost town. No one was to be seen except a few people and almost half the places were closed. The nice thing about it was that most the people on the island were locals! We found a nice little pizzaria and sat down for some more food! The townspeople were drinking some kind of spritz`and so we decided to join in the fun and see what al the fuss was about. The drink was good and the food was even better! After a lot of walking, food was just what we needed, and so we sat for a couple hours, enjoying our meal and the company!

We decided to head back to Venice since it was getting late, and not knowing the boat schedule, we ended up circling some of the other islands and riding the boat for a couple hours! It passed the time though and we eventually made it back to Venice! Chef checked in for the night and the four of us wondered the town!

Note to self: not booking a hostel/hotel before arriving = not smart!

We wondered looking for a cheap place to stay, and after everyone turned us away fbecause they were full, our original plan of staying up all night took effect. We were so tired and yet didn't know what to do. Therefore, we got back on the boats and decided to ride on it while staying warm, enjoying the view. Some night ferries were out and about for the art show, and so for a little while we enjoyed to Italian music complete with an artsy ferry that passed us by. We people watched for a while and then headed to the back of the boat where we watched the sunrise.

Note to self: staying up all night on a boat in Venice = worth it!!!!

The sunrise on the boat was indescribable! Imagine this...you're sitting on the end of a boat, outside, the smell of water and fresh air is filling your nose. The sun slowly comes up in the distance and puts an array of colors on the water. Pinks, reds and purples fill the sky with a hint of blue, and the town in the background makes it seem like a postcard picture. Then, the boat goes into the town and as the sun rises even more, you get a selection of more colors but this time they reflect off the water and sneak through the cracks of old buildings built years and years ago! I know that is so hard to imagine, but the view was unbelievebale! I cannot even descirbe it and the pictures I have will not do justice. If you are a morning person and ever go to Venice, I suggest getting up at 4am and getting on the boat to see this. If you are a night person, then just stay up all night, just for one night, because this is something you have got to see!! Certainly worth getting only 4 hours of sleep in 2 days!

The next morning, Sam and I stuck around waiting for the markets to open while the other two went back on the train. We met some people from India while waiting for the McDonalds to open and had a nice chat about why they were here and what they were doing. After giving up on the McDonalds, Sam and I went to a local restaurant that had just opened up and enjoyed a nice english breakfast, complete with a grilled ham sandwich , hot chocolate, and orange juice (which was actually red)!! I bought a chocolate pastry thing to go and we headed out to shop in the markets.

The jewelery they make is amazing, and the glass is incredble! We spent the next hour or so shopping before catching our train back to Firenze! The weird thing about traveling on the weekends is that by the end of it I find myself saying, "I just want to go back home, to Firenze." It's weird. Who ever thought I would be saying I want to go home to Florence? It happened in Rome to. What am I going to do when I leave here for good?! Firenze now has a special place in my heart and will definitely be missed when I go. I can't believe I have just a week in a half left.

Well, for now that is all. Maybe I can write another blog tomorrow to tell you about this week of classes!

Con amore da Firenze!!

Ciao!