Friday we met at 4:30 am to find a double decker charter bus there to pick us up. We all sat on the top of course, and the bus took us to the Gatwick airport. We boarded the plane and headed off to Venice. We met our AIFS leader, Phillipa, who is fluent in Italian so that was useful for us later.
Before our check in time we got to walk around and grab lunch. We immediately roamed around taking perfect photo opps in every direction. We ate at a place called Gino’s where we all split pizza. We also had to grab gelato every chance we got, so I ordered tiramisu gelato from a nearby shop that had a bunch of different flavors. After our check in we went to Doge’s Palace and San Marco’s Cathedral. Both were very beautiful. The buildings are very different from all the cathedrals and castles we see in England. The church was a lot of gold, a lot of gothic architecture. The Doge’s Palace had a lot of gold too, and a lot of realist murals on the walls and ceilings.
We had a group dinner that night in a café next to San Marco’s square next to the water. In Italy, they do pasta before carne and then dessert. So we basically ate two dinners because we had penne, then turkey and potatoes. We had tiramisu for dessert and it was amazing. After dinner a group of us decided to walk back with Phillipa and try and find our way back. It took just as long as it would have to ride in a water taxi, but it was even better because we got to view all the side streets, canals, and little bridges along the way. The sun was setting right as we were leaving and everything was picture perfect! We finally found our way back and that night me and Lily watched Braveheart in Italian. I love that I have finally got the chance to be in another city where they speak a different language!
The next day we got up, enjoyed our continental Italian breakfast that consisted of a lot of meat slices, cheese, and other yummy treats! We headed out to enjoy our free day. We went to Murano which is the glass making island in Venice. We watched a man make a horse out of a heated clump. It was amazing how fast he crafted it with a pair of pliers. We walked around and did a lot of glass shopping and then stopped for lunch at a café outdoors on Murano. We took the water bus to Lido afterward, which is where the beach is. The town walking up to the beach almost felt like a nice beach town in Florida, and the beach was surrounded by people. The sand is a lot darker and there are definitely a topless woman sunbathing. Of course, we grabbed gelato again while we were there and I enjoyed a cookie flavored cone that time.
After Lido we went to San Marc’s square to climb the bell tower. There is one elevator that takes you up and it takes 45 seconds to reach the top. Right as we reached the top we caught the last strike of the bells. The view was amazing. The city seemed big when we walked around the night before, but that day it felt so much smaller from up there. It was cool to see all the rooftops and canals from bird’s eye view and to see all the water surrounding the city.
We took a gondola nearby and our gondolier was very nice! His family actually lives in Lido and not in Venice. He told us facts as we rode in the boat (all 7 of us, the boat only allows 6) and we passed by the back of the opera house where we could hear someone practicing, we passed Mozart’s house, and we passed another gondola who had a man serenading a couple accompanied by an accordion player. The whole experience was unreal.
We grabbed dinner in a cute restaurant where I had a delicious pan of pizza with artichoke hearts, salami, ham, olives, and mushrooms. We all shared high school stories because the group we were hanging out with consisted of people we don’t usually get to spend time with during the trip, so it was nice to get to know some knew people. After dinner we found our way back to our hotel by ourselves, and this night Lily and I watched Matilda in Italian. I woke up in the middle of the night not being able to go back to sleep because I felt like I was still on the boats.
Today was just a very calm, relaxing, sunny day. There was an international boat race that all kinds of people, all kinds of boats, participated in. They row around Venice and we sat along the water canal to watch all the racers pass by. There was a young orchestra right next to us playing songs so it added to the intensity of the race.
We spent the rest of the day roaming around, buying last minute souvenirs and eating the last bit of gelato we could get.
We got to the air port a lot earlier than our departure so we played card games before it was time to check in. Now I am back in good ole’ London and I need to get to bed soon! Tomorrow I am spending the day in Hyde Park so I am looking forward to enjoying a day in the park!
Pip pip,
Leah
It sounds like you had so much fun! I thought you were going to say you woke up in the night with a panic attack (I was worried) lol. The pictures are gorgeous! How awesome to ride by Mozart's house? I'm sure you are left craving more Italy now, but the trip sounded like it was short and sweet! Have fun with the rest of the time in London! LOVE YOU!
ReplyDeletePS. GLASS BLOWING? SWEET!