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Published: April 5th 2011
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Hey guys! Once again I'm sorry for the delay. The weather here has been beautiful and staying inside on the computer hasn't been on my list of things to do. Anyway let me fill you in on my weekend in Venice. First off let me say it was amazing and went by way too fast. Our first day in Venice was nothing special. We dropped our bags off at our hostel (Sleep Cheap at Francesca's B&B), which I highly recommend to anyone traveling to Venice, and went out to explore the city. Naturally the first thing we did was buy gelato and eat it on the Rialto Bridge. We then continued on and saw the main (free) sites including Piazza San Marco. That night we went out and experienced the Venetian version of Tapas called
Cicchetti. This will sound lame but the highlight of cicchetti was getting to go to a bar featured on Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations.
The following day was a little more exciting. The six of us got a free speed boat ride through the canals of Venice to the island of Murano. For those who don't know Murano is the island famous for its glass
making. On the island we took a tour of glass factory followed by exploring the gallery. The pieces were beautiful. We spent a couple hours wandering the island before heading back to Venice for the matinee showing of Rigoletto at the Feneci Theater. Isn't that an opera some of you may be asking yourselves. And why yes it is. I attended the opera, a shock I know. I actually loved it. Although it was a spur of the moment decision it was well worth it. Not only was the theater beautiful but the performers' voices were astounding. After the opera it was time for dinner and to find the three people in our group who had left the show early. It was this night that really helped make the trip as close to perfect as it could get. Deciding that we needed to meet people our own age in Venice, Sarah and I set out looking for other students. Eventually, after a couple of awkward conversations, we found a group of students who study in the city. They explained their plans for the night and naturally I invited our group to go with them. We spent the night drinking at
the Venetian "hot spots" (if you can call them that) for students and travelers. At the last bar there were young people from all over the globe, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Italy, Turkey, France, and of course America. We chatted and traded stories with our new friends until nearly 3am before deciding it was time to call it a night.
Sunday morning 3 of us attended the "Secret Itineraries" tour of Doge's Palace. The tour took us through the secret paths of Venice's medieval and Renaissance leaders. We saw secret passageways, offices, jail cells, and torture chamber. We were also provided with an interesting insight into the politics of the time. I would suggest that anyone interested in history or politics take this tour when visiting Venice, but definitely book in advance since the groups are small. After the tour four of us when and wandered the streets of the city, inevitably getting lost. After an amazing last meal in the city it was time to head back to the hostel, regroup, and head out for the airport. Leaving Venice was like leaving behind a little piece of reality. For three days we were back in the real world.
IT made me even more excited for my trip to Morocco.
Once back in Malta it didn't take long to get back into the swing of things. The entire week following Venice was made up of two days of class, one public holiday, and five days of tanning by the pool. What did mix it up was that on Sunday Allison and I went out to lunch with our Maltese friends in a part of the country we had never visited. I introduced my friends to Greek food which was some of the best I've ever had. All in all life is good. In Malta the only thing we have to complain about is being thrown in the (dirty) residence pool.
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