Venezia

Just a warning: This is a long one!

I just got back from a weekend trip to Venice, Italy with my roomate Lara. It was an absolutely fantastic weekend. I loved Venice, and I got to see so many cool things. Unfortunately it rained a lot of the weekend, but it was still nice. We flew into Treviso Airport on Thursday afternoon. This airport is in a little town about an hour away from Venice. We took the bus from there to Venice and then another bus to our hotel, which was not actually on the island of Venice but across the bridge on the mainland. I really enjoyed the bus ride because we got to see the real Italy-- the non-touristy countryside part. There were a bunch of beautiful old villas, tons of sprawling vineyards, and of course some really cute little towns. It was so romantic and a wonderful way to start the weekend. When we got to the hotel the first thing we saw was a double rainbow over a field of poppies and a canal. Stunning!

After settling in we headed back into the city to wander around and see what there was to see. We found a cute little piazza where we ate dinner, and we got the general feel of the city. It was beautiful to see everything still shiny and wet from the day's rain. Luckily it didn't rain on us too much.

Above: Piazzale Roma, the first thing anybody sees when they arrive in Venice. This is the Piazza where all public transportation goes.

Below: Random other piazza we saw.

The next day we woke up early and went back into the city to catch a water bus to the island of Murano.

On Murano they make glass. We went to a glass factory and watched a demonstration and then we spent a few hours roaming around the island. Every shop on the island was full of beautiful glass. They had everything from shandeliers to jewelry made in the traditional mili fiori style. We ate lunch on the island and then caught a water bus to Burano.

On Burano they make lace. The lace stores were beautiful and I couldn't get over the intricacy and beauty of the different pieces. We met a lady who was working on a lace placemat. Her son said she would work on it for 30 days. The placemats were on sale for 9euro, which means that she will make less than 33 cents per day. I felt so bad for her! The lace reminded me of my great grandmother, which was fun, but it wasn't my favorite part of the island.

The thing I loved most about Burano was the color! Every house on the island is painted a different beautiful, bright color. I couldn't get over how quaint it was. I took about 700 pictures, all of rows of houses like this that were every color of the rainbow. I especially liked how the flowers growing in the window pots and in front of the houses, and the door coverings were coordinated to match each house.

On the last day Lara and I walked more around the city of Venice. It was pouring rain all day, making for a pretty miserable few hours, but I still enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful architecture. This picture is of Piazza San Marco, where the main cathedral and palace of Venice are.

Of course, one of the best things about being in Italy was the food. We ate everything from pizza to pasta to bruschetta and, of course, it was all delicious. My favorite part? Gelato twice a day every day!!

I was pretty proud of Lara and myself for managing to travel in a place where neither of us knew anything about the language. We did pretty well for ourselves and manages to avoid any major mishaps.

Now its back to the real world once again. In a few weeks I'll be doing my finals and then my mom and Allie will be here! I hope these next few weeks go by quickly, I can't wait to go to Paris!