Venice!

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When I first got to Venice, I really didn't know what to expect. I've heard a couple stories about the terrible food, rude people, and smelly canals. Besides the dirty water, those weren't entirely true. However, Venice is much more a city of wonder and exploration. It is like an impossible labyrinth which is tough to navigate without a guide. Once you walk down a narrow ally way weaving through tons of people you then go over a bridge and get completely lost. Thankfully, one of my great friends is a Venetian who once studied abroad at my high school. I met up with him and was led to some of the coolest areas of the city. Having a friend who knew his way around perfectly helped us to see areas of the city that no tourist would ever dare try to find. We walked across the many islands of Venice to the lagoon area, where we saw the graveyard and the glass blowing island of Murano is the distance. We ate at a delicious kabob place for lunch and then a Chinese place for dinner. It was nice to have a break from pasta for awhile and eat some food with some substance. Being on a trip in Italy, I usually eat like 2 cones of gelato daily. In Venice, I had Venetian Cream gelato, dark chocolate with nutella gelato, and then a third kind that my friend had to order for me because I had no clue how to say it. Oh I forgot to mention the hotel I stayed in. Apparantly, it was the most expensive hotel in Venice, only 2 minutes from Piazza San Marco. Our suite had 2 gigantic bedrooms with king size beds, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen. After stealing a piece of bread from the hotel one morning, I went out in the Piazza San Marco to feed the pigeons. Those birds were crazy. I threw a tiny crumb up in the air and then a whole cluster of 30 birds would head butt trying to get that crumb. I then put a tiny piece of bread in my hand, and a bird flew up, landed on me, and started eating straight from my hand. It was an amazing experience. Once it finished, it wasn't going anywhere so I just kinda freaked out and launched it into the air. After that fun experience, my group of 4 decided to go up into the tall bell tower of Venice. At the top, there were amazing views of the city. It was awesome to be able to see the palaces, canals, and people from an aerial view. At exactly 5:35, the start of mass I think, the bells started going off. The huge bells were all a different size. One by one they slowly started moving back and forth building speed until eventually it started to chime. The noise was so loud and we had to cover our ears, but it was the first time in my life I have seen this occur. Venice was probably my most enjoyable city. It was great to visit an old friend, and see a new city. My adventures in Italy are almost over. There are only 5 more days left before I return to America. This week will be stressful with school because I have a paper on a painting due tomorrow, a marketing presentation on Wednesday, and then 2 final exams on Thursday. Once I finish this week, I will be glad to return to America, the land of efficiency.

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Photos

Piazza San Marco
Me, Alberto, Stuart, and Stacy on our last day in Venice.