Venice

I could tell we were getting close to Venice when I looked out my window and saw water. Plus there were a lot of boat dock places for people to store their boats. I felt like I was on my way to the Chain-O-Lakes, when you look out the window and see lakes and places that hold boats. We finally arrived in the city built on water at like 11am.

This is the city where they filmed “The Tourist” and the beginning scene of “The Italian Job.” I was basically expecting what I’ve seen in the movies, kind of like Verona. We stepped out of the train station and automatically saw water where normally streets would be. The first thing we did was actually go on a gondola ride. It was such a great experience!! And we read in Angie’s Europe book to experience Venice from a boat and I’m so glad we did. It was so surreal- I felt like I was dreaming. The city was so beautiful.

We only really wanted to see the Plaza San Marco and the Realto Bridge. I really don’t know what is up with Italy and famous bridges, but there was one in almost every city we visited. There were thankfully signs to get to those two sights. We walked through the city past tons of shops to get to the Realto Bridge. We knew it was the Realto Bridge because it was big and there were tons of people on it. There was also shopping, so after our photo op, we bought some souvenirs. Okay, I bought some souvenirs.

Venice, or Venezia in Italian, is famous for its blown glass. It is also obviously famous for being on water. Although we learned that Venice is actually sinking. The water level has gone up about a foot in the last like century and it is expected to continue. That made me really sad. It is such a beautiful city. It just blows my mind that it is actually built on water. There are bridges and water everywhere.

So after the bridge, we headed for Plaza San Marco. It was a big plaza with a church, lots of restaurants, and a great view of the water. I think it was an ocean, maybe it was a sea… I seriously need to learn Italian geography. It was definitely north though, we were freezing. So we got to the Plaza and Angie and I went into the St. Mark Church. (San Marco and St. Mark are the same person.) The church was so beautiful. The ceilings were gold and the architecture was really pretty. Although we both agreed that the Vatican basically ruined churches for us- nothing could possibly measure up. When I go home I’m going to have serious issues with my modern St. Margaret Mary Church. That’s what is so cool about Italy and just Europe in general- the architecture. If something was built in the early 1900’s, that’s like super old in the US. But here things were built like in the 1400’s and are still around today.

After the church, which I believed was prettier on the outside, we walked around the Plaza. We took pictures and walked along the water. Then we ran into 3 girls from the CEA!! We were so surprised we ran into each other!! We took a picture and talked with them for awhile. Then they left and we were hungry so we decided to get lunch.

That was easier said than done. We basically walked to the other side of the city again to find a place cheap enough to eat. Plus we got to warm up inside. I got a hamburger, so did Angie, and Lindsay got some type of Italian food that I had never heard of. We decided we all liked our food, and we were ready to go back outside.

Thankfully the sun was actually out. We walked back to the Realto Bridge and got some gelato. The guy in the store took a picture of us.

It was our last gelato in Italy and it was delicious. Then we ran into more people from the CEA. Seriously, was this like meet up in Venice day?? We had a few hours before the train and we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get back. Venice is very easy to get lost in, especially because all the signs point you towards the Bridge and Plaza, but not the train station. We shopped around for a little, and then hung out on the bridge for awhile and took more pictures. I just loved staring at the city. The sun felt so good and it was so fun to watch the boats go by. I thought of summer.

these are for my dad.

he loves wood boats. there were a ton in venice.

we used to have a boat, but we sold it. my dad said it was either the boat or my college fund...

It was finally time for us to start to head back. We got lost and a nice English couple helped give us directions to the train station. The water-instead-of-streets is awesome, but when you’re lost, it sucks when you hit a dead end. You can run across a street, but you can’t exactly swim across a canal in Venice. We found our way back early and were able to get an earlier train out of Venice. About 4 hours later, we were back in Rome.

We stayed at the same hostel in Ciampino, so we took a 10 minute train ride and then got to our hostel. We got a different room and found out that checkout was at 10, so we couldn’t sleep in. I was mad. We checked our schedules. I got even more mad. I have one class, Latin American Civilation and Culture, Monday Wednesday at 6:30pm. I can’t focus that late, especially if it’s in Spanish. And all my classes are in Spanish. My other 4 classes are obviously Tuesday Thursday, and they go from 8:30am-10am History of Spain, 10am-11:30am History of Spanish Music, 1pm-2:30pm Oral and Written Production (it’s a mandatory class), come home for lunch, then my last class is Spanish Literature at 5:00pm-6:30pm. Try not to be too jealous of my classes. PS I’ve never had a teacher who actually does not speak English before. It’s so weird to have a language barrier with your teachers.

Anyways, back to Italy. So we went to sleep, got up, checked out at 10:15 (haha we were late on purpose), got our free “breakfast” aka cappuccinos, but I hate coffee, so I didn’t even drink it, and then walked around Ciampino. We wanted like a super market to buy a cheap lunch, but obviously it was Sunday, and everything closes down on Sundays in Europe. So we just walked around enjoying the heat and the sun and talked about the summer. Then we got to the airport, got on our plane, and flew home to Sevilla.

We were so excited to be back in Spain. Is it sad that I was so excited to be in a place where people speak the same language as me? Yeah. We hopped off the plane (at LAX… haha jk I wish) speaking Spanish while the airport guy laughed at us obvious Americans speaking Spanish. We got a 3 hour bus ride back to Granada and I was so happy to be home again. Well, Granada home.

Italy was absolutely amazing. I’ve always wanted to visit this country and I totally loved it. Each city was something different, which made each one special. During Rome, I got to see the typical Italy tourist-y stuff I’ve always wanted to see, like the Coliseum and the Trevi Fountain. The Lizzie McGuire Movie soundtrack was playing in my head the whole time. It was the biggest city, and my first impression of Italy. They had amazing pizza, wine, and gelato. Florence was beautiful, especially the view. That was my favorite part of the city. Plus it was really amazing to be able to see the city where some of my sorority sisters studied abroad. Verona was more of a small town, and people there were so friendly! Plus all the Romeo and Juliet stuff was really fun. I kept thinking of the song Love Story by Taylor Swift. Venice was absolutely beautiful. I loved that the whole thing was on water and their form of transportation is boats. The weather in Italy was beautiful. And I have a whole new appreciation for Dean Martin. I realized that everything I learned about Italy was from the movies, and the real places aren’t exactly like them. They’re even better.

Peace love and gelato <3

throwing in one means someday you will return to rome... <3