Oh, Happy Day

This picture got over 140 likes and over 40 comments on Facebook. Wow! I guess this was a happy day for many of us!

I baptized Jon!! This was pretty much the coolest experience ever. Jon and I have talked about this for years, but this semester he decided it was time. What was holding him back was that he thought he needed to be perfect and have everything in his life in order before he could get baptized, but he realized that it'll be so much easier to have a godly life when Jesus is at the center of it. Once he made this decision, we started planning out a service that would be special for him to remember. All 40 of us went out to the beautiful Port Meadow where we sang, prayed, and blessed. Of course there were a few traditional hymns, but we also threw in some Bob Marley and Beatles music for us to sing that were significant songs for Jon. Jon also read two of his favorite Bible passages, and told everyone why he was making this decision. After this, we had a time when people could say a few words of blessing to Jon, and our friends spoke up to say the sweetest things about him. At this point, I was getting pretty nervous because it was about to be my part to get into the water, take his confession, and do the deed. Now I know that the point of his baptism was not to push my own feminist church agenda, but can I get an AMEN for a woman baptizing a man?! But, since I'm a woman, I felt like it had to be just right to prove that women can fulfill traditional men's roles just as well as men can. Turns out that I didn't need to practice or anything because that Holy Spirit did its thing, and everything went just great! The water was absurdly cold, but it was worth it for an awesome day and new life with Jesus started. 

I Do Love Nothing in the World As Well As You. Is Not That Strange?

 Before we even left Abilene, Stacy and I bought tickets see Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" in Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace). Kirsten bought a ticket and decided to join on this adventure, so the three of us journeyed to Stratford together. First off, we went to the visitor’s center where we ate the lunches we bought back in Oxford, and then we headed into the town. Stratford is a CUTE little city, and everything we wanted to see was very central. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is where we were going to see the play that night, so we headed over to pick up our tickets early. The theatre has an awesome gift shop, and all three of us bought significant amounts of Shakespeare paraphernalia. Then we saw signs for Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. I got to stand less than 5 feet away from the greatest playwright’s body and resting place—really cool. Actually, it was a sweet little church, and if I wanted to be buried, that would be the place to be. After we left the church, we wandered around the town and into an old bookstore. I bought two really old books, of which I have a soft spot for, and I got them for super cheap.

A swarm of swans

Lady Macbeth is terrifying!

Tree hugger!!

The Avon river

Sad that Shakespeare died

I'm from the Elizabethan Era

The water under the stage

One of them is a copy of the Apocrypha, and I’ve never read that, so it’ll be fun to read the books that didn’t make the cut into our Sunday School Bibles. There was an antique market outside of the bookstore, so we wandered around there for a bit until it was dinnertime. We grabbed some chips to snack on from a kebab stand and then headed over to the playhouse. Inside the theatre, the stage literally was floating on water, and there was a crane that moved the sets around on stage during the performance. It was an awesome set, and The Royal Shakespeare Company put on a great show as well. Top-notch job. Something cool, however, is that I’ve seen Shakespeare plays at our own ACU that could hold their own there. Our theatre department back home is pretty amazing. Anyways, after the play, we found out the hotel we booked was way far out of town unlike what it advertised online. Public transportation stopped running at 6 p.m., so we had to get an expensive taxi to drive us out there. But the trip was made better because our taxi driver is the mayor of Stratford. We thought he was kidding when he told us that, but he said that he owned this taxi service before he became mayor. Now, he just drives for fun when he wants to. And when we finally arrived at the hotel, it blew our minds. For cheaper than the price of the horrible Friend’s Hostel in Paris (I found a great deal online), we stayed in a 4-star, POSH hotel. And I’m talking super ritzy. When we waked in, everyone was wearing tuxedos because a wedding reception was happening right then, and we might have snagged an extra cake that was left over)! Our room was just as nice with heated towels in the bathroom, hot tea, and a giant flat screen TV to name a few of the amenities. Basically, we three girls were living the life, and we decided to take advantage of all the free things that were at our disposal. The reception even delivered fresh milk for our tea right to our room—after staying in so many crumby hostels all semester, we really enjoyed pretending to be rich for a night.  Online it said that they had a sauna, pool, and gym, so Kirsten and I tried them out the next morning. It was the first time I've been able to swim all semester, and it felt absolutely great. Especially after being hot and sweaty in the steam room and the sauna, getting in the water was so refreshing. After an hour or so of swimming, we headed back to the room, showered, and checked out. Unfortunately, we learned in the morning that almost no public transportation runs on Sunday, so we were stranded in Coventry. Not only stranded, we were stranded outside in the cold and the rain. We miserably waited outside for a bus that wasn't supposed to come for another hour (if at all), so we decided to do what we were told to never do. Yes, Mom and Dad, I hitchhiked. After a few minutes of sticking out thumbs, a man stopped for us. He was a cute, sweet old man named Melvin, and we talked the whole time he drove. Sounds like it might have been sketchy, but it wasn't--and we didn't have much of another choice. Actually, it was a great experience, and now I can say that I've hitchhiked, which is awesome! Thanks for being born, Shakespeare, so that I could have a wonderful trip to Stratford-upon-Avon.

If you find a hand in your pants, and you didn’t pay for it, take it out!

Amsterdam's canals    

Yes, I just got back from Amsterdam. You might now be thinking why would Katie go to such a sketchy place that’s famous for drugs and prostitutes? Well here’s a little back-story to tell you why. Last year, I started working with the Red Thread Movement, which is an organization that works with women who are trafficked into the sex industry. Through my work with them, I got started interviewing women in the sex industry as a part of my Capstone project for Honors. Because I applied for a travel grant, the Honor’s College gave me $500 to take a trip to Amsterdam and learn more about the sex industry. So there’s your answer; I went to Amsterdam because my school paid me 500 bucks to go, and that’s reason enough for me. Speaking of the sex industry, I’ll now tell you what the Red Light District was like. After dinner on our first night in Amsterdam, we accidentally stumbled upon the Red Light District, and I was swept away by what I saw. It was exactly like what I thought it would be, but I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for being there yet. What I saw were women standing behind windows (lit up by red fluorescent lights) in skimpy bikinis/ lingerie. Some of them would dance or beckon men seductively by bending over or touching themselves. If a woman would catch a man’s eye, he would go over to her door and ask, “How much for you?” Basically, it was one of the weirdest, saddest, yet most fascinating things I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help but look into the windows at these women selling their bodies to random men. However, on the walking tour we did on Saturday, I learned a bit about the other side of the story. When we think of prostitutes, we usually think of women in poverty with no education and no other choice, but the case is different in Amsterdam. Our tour guide Ged told us that the mentality of lawmakers in Amsterdam is that they know prostitution will always exist. That’s inevitable. What they can change are the conditions in which prostitution is carried out by creating laws regarding the safety and well-being of prostitutes. For example, the minimum age to be prostitute is 21 (just recently moved up from 18), one must have a legal document from the city stating that he or she is able to work in prostitution, and there is regular STD testing. Basically, being a prostitute in Amsterdam is a profession not a punishment. Weird, huh? It does make some sense though because when the women are working in rooms right next to one another, the likelihood of them being beaten and raped is slim to none since someone would hear immediately. For sure, it’s much safer to be a prostitute in Amsterdam than in the Bronx or somewhere like that. This is all probably much more than you wanted to know about prostitution, but since that’s why I went, I focused a lot on learning as much as I could about it. Anyways, we did lots of other cool things on our trip as well. As I previously mentioned, we went on a walking tour around Amsterdam. A company called New Europe puts on lots of free walking tours in major cities across Europe, and they’re fantastic. Our tour guide Ged took us to places like the Red Light District, Anne Frank’s House, the Royal Palace, and the National Monument to name a few. He told us a ton about Amsterdam culture, and some of it really surprised me. For example, when I thought of drugs and Amsterdam, I figured that everyone was just high all the time and that drugs were everywhere. Turns out, that’s not the case at all; only 5% of the Dutch population actually does any sort of drugs, which is significantly less than in the U.S. Basically, I had to do away with a couple of the stereotypes I had for Dutch people this weekend. The two museums we visited this weekend were the Van Gogh Musuem and the NEMO Science Museum. The Van Gogh Museum was giant, the first place, but Stacy and I really appreciated how they made Van Gogh such a real person. They didn’t focus a ton of energy on his darker days and suicide; instead, they portrayed the life of an artist through his beautiful works. I respected that. And then the NEMO Science Museum was just fun! Those things are made for kids, but that didn’t stop us from having a blast. I made giant bubbles, conducted electricity, built towers, drew pictures, spun around, and rode simulated rides that made us feel like we were moving all over even though we barely budged. I mean, I’m not 7 anymore, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop enjoying life. I think life’s just getting started. We had such a fun weekend, and I’ll leave you with a quote from our tour guide. When we were in the Red Light District, he said (in reference to pick pocketing) “If you find a hand in your pants, and you didn’t pay for it, take it out!” Words of wisdom for sure. 

Rent a window in the Red Light District

Most confusing public transportation we've ever seen

We went to a carnival!

The famous Dutch tulips

Ironbridge Excursion

Ahh, the Iron Bridge

Free trips are always great! The program sponsored a trip for us to Ironbridge. If you don’t know what/ where that is, that’s okay because I didn’t know until we went either. It’s a city right up by the Welsh border, and it’s famous for being the place where the Industrial Revolution began. We headed out in the morning after eating some breakfast they provided for us. The first thing we saw when we got to the town was the famous Ironbridge. If you couldn’t guess already, it’s made out of cast iron. Shocking! But for it’s time, this was an impressive feat. After seeing the bridge, we walked around this cute little village until we happened upon a cupcake shop. Of course, we had no choice but to stop. My cupcake was called the Victoria, and it’s good because it’s filled with yummy jam. We went next to a science museum for kids where we built arches out of foam, made dams, and touched the world’s fastest swimsuit. The swimsuit is now banned from competitions because it’s TOO fast, and it isn’t fair to other competitors. It almost felt like touching dolphin skin mixed with air—that’s how light it was. Even though those places are meant for kids, I have a blast in interactive museums where I’m able to touch and experience things. When we left the museum, there was a free art gallery that we decided to stop in. However, this wasn’t like any art gallery I’d ever been to. We walked into a dark room where 4 movie theatre sized screens were set up on a wall. Swirling figures moved across the screens in seemingly random ways, and I sat like a cat transfixed at the screens. It was completely mesmerizing, and the accompanying music completely polished off the effect. Weird, but I loved it! I went with my friend Kait to some Quaker burial grounds, but we got lost and had to walk through people’s backyards to find our way back to the group. One woman saw us and talked to us, but we were sly and slipped by. Spy skills! After we found the group, we all piled back into the bus and went to a replica Victorian village. Honestly, it was pretty lame. Maybe that’s just not my thing, but I didn’t particularly find it fascinating. However, a nice perk was that Ron gave us all 10 pounds to spend on lunch, and since lunch was cheap, I got to buy gifts with that money too. Thanks, ACU for my jam! All in all, it was a relaxing day in the heart of the Industrial Revolution. 

The fastest swimsuit in the world

Quaker burial grounds

Piglets in the Victorian Village

Kilts and Bagpipes

Scottish accents are a TRIP!

After spending two days back in Oxford, Nadine and I hit the road again. And 9 hours later on a night bus, we arrived bright and early in Glasgow, Scotland. Our first stop after leaving our luggage at the hotel was breakfast. A cute little bagel shop catered to our breakfasting needs beautifully. We did a little shopping around, and I bought another layer because Scotland was significantly colder than I had planed for. In fact, it was fairly cold and rainy the entire time, which probably didn’t give Nadine too good of an impression of the UK. However, we got out of rain when we went to their modern art museum. Of course, I don’t understand all modern art, but I love how unique and out-of-the-box a lot of it is. But the most epic thing of all happened after the museum. Get ready for this—we found MEXICAN FOOD!! That may not seem significant to you, but I haven’t had good Tex-Mex in 4 months, so this meal soothed the soul. Nadine hadn’t had Mexican food since living in the states either, so we split a huge plate of nachos with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, jalapeños, and grilled chicken. And then we got chicken fajitas with grilled veggies. It was a very worthwhile splurge! Back to the beginning of the story, you might have thought that sleeping on the night bus to Scotland was a pleasant experience for us, but you would be wrong. Our cramped little bodies didn’t get the sleep we needed, so after lunch, we took our full bellies back to the hotel and napped. Post-nap, we found a neat looking old cathedral on the opposite side of town. While we were over there, I spotted a Celtic necropolis up on the hill. I don’t mean for this to sound creepy or weird, but I actually like old cemeteries a lot. It’s so peaceful, and I like imagining the different lives each person might have lived based on what’s written on their gravestone. Some of these graves were marked from the 1600’s—really old—and the view from the top of the necropolis was stunning. When we got back into the city, I made us stop at a fish and chips stand because Nadine couldn’t come to Britain and not try fish and chips. Our meal was only 2 pounds-something (really cheap), and they were some of the best I’ve had over here. I was happy to see Nadine enjoying them because I feel responsible for her liking the UK as if it were my own country. The last stop we made was to an old palace. We walked through the park and stopped at the largest surviving terra-cotta fountain in the world on our way home. Goodnight, Glasgow.

Kilts!

In the flowers by the cathedral

Our glorious Tex-Mex meal 

Celtic cross in the necropolis

Me by the terra-cotta fountain

Scotland: Day 2

Arthur's Seat

In the morning, we woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. I think Nadine was a bit freaked out by the English breakfast of eggs, toast, baked beans, bacon, fresh tomatoes, potato scones, and tea; the baked beans still make me do a double take every time. However, it was a good breakfast, and we were on our way to Edinburgh by 11. Our hostel was incredibly centrally located, and we dropped off our luggage there before hitting the town. This day just happened to be Mom’s 50^th birthday, so I gave her a call to wish her happy birthday while we still had wifi in the hostel. On important, fun days like that, it’s weird not being home. The next thing we did made up for my feelings of homesickness, however. We went to the National Museum of Scotland, which is an interactive, science museum. It’s like the Natural History Museum in D.C. with lots of stuffed animals on display, but it also had a few Scottish artifacts as well. One area in the museum had a scale that people could stand on and it would tell them which animal weighs the same as they do. I stepped on the scale and my match was with the giant anteater. That’s attractive—not! Maybe it means I ate too much gelato in Italy. After the museum, we went to what is called Arthur’s Seat, and it’s a large mountain that people can climb to get a great view of Edinburgh. We brought a picnic dinner up there and ate on the top of the world (or so it felt). It was interesting because we could see the coast to one side of us, the city in front of us, and mountains to the other side. Such a lovely landscape. Once we made the trek back down, we did a little Harry Potter tour. When J.K. Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter books, she was living in Scotland, and we got to see a few places that inspired her. First of all, there’s a graveyard in town that has the names McGonagall, Tom Riddle, and Granger in it, and this place inspired her use of these names. Next to the graveyard is an old private school that Rowling said was her inspiration for Hogwarts. And nearby both of these places is a café called The Elephant House where she would go to write the stories down on napkins when she was poor. I’m a Harry Potter nut, so I thought it was awesome to see the places that inspired the books. Even though we only had about half a day in Edinburgh, I knew immediately that I loved this place.

Up on the mountain

The school that inspired Hogwarts

Scotland: Day 3

Happy Easter! Being away from home on Easter was weird, but we definitely made the most of it. In the morning, we went to an Easter service at the famous St. Giles Cathedral. Those high church services are fun to go to every once in a while because I’m not used to all the pomp and formalities, and it really creates an awe-inspiring atmosphere. After church, we had about an hour to kill, so we went up Carlton Hill. This is where David Hume and other philosophers would go to think and ponder life, and it houses an abandoned acropolis. We got to walk around there for a bit before it was time to head back down to go on a free walking tour. This tour was one of the best tours I’ve been on in my life; the guy was funny, personable, and interesting. He told us lots of Scottish tales and fables that are local and not touristy. If you get a chance, you should totally ask me about some of the stories because they’re incredibly interesting. He took us to see the Edinburgh Castle as well as a variety of other destinations. For the whopping price of free, it was well worth our money! The tour took the better part of the afternoon, and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and go home. I enjoyed getting to spend time with Nadine, but I had been living out of a backpack for the last three weeks, so it was great to be back home. Unfortunately, I had a 10-page paper to write when I got back home, and I had a lot of trouble focusing. I was able to lots of productive things like organize my drawers, clean my room, trim my hair, shower, Q-tip my ears…you get the point. Thankfully, I’ve been able to relax a little bit since then, and life is good! I’m so incredibly blessed to get to do all the travel I’ve done this semester. 

St. Giles Cathedral

View of Edinburgh from Carlton Hill

They were giving away chocolate eggs in the park

Saw Dolly, the first cloned sheep

I tried haggis :(

London Bridge Didn't Fall Down

On the subway

Last year, my family in College Station had a girl from Germany live with them for 11 months. Nadine and I coordinated this semester how we could meet up on her home continent. She said that she’d like to go to London and Scotland and get the UK experience. Thus, I met her in London the day after I got back from Italy to do mostly the touristy things. I accidentally took the wrong train to meet her, and I ended up in the Hamptons. So by the time I got to London, we didn’t have much time to do anything in the day. Our hostel was suspiciously located when we started looking for it. The directions took us to a sketchier part of town, and told us to go in a pub. I walked in the pub, and asked if there was a hostel around here. The bartender said I was in the hostel; our rooms were right up the stair inside the pub. Our room was actually pretty nice—just the two of us—and now I can say that I’ve slept in a pub! My friend Mary Lou Hudson messaged me earlier this semester and told me about something called Secret Cinema that happens in London. Basically, every month, this company puts on shows that are set in a time period, and people come to watch a themed movie and dress up. I don’t know about you, but that sounded like a blast to Nadine and me. This month’s theme was set in the 20’s, so I went out and found a pair of elbow length gloves and a 20’s outfit from a thrift store in Oxford for the occasion. I thought we looked pretty dressed up, but when we actually got to the Troxy in London, we were some of the most underdressed people there. Flapper dresses, feathers, and beads were everywhere, and they took the theme very seriously. The people we talked to would only respond in accents, and they would really get into the show. After the show part was over, we all watched a 20’s black-and-white movie together, and it kind of felt like we had been transported in a time machine back 100 years. Cool, one-of-a-kind experience.

Sipping on my milkshake!

View of the stage where they performed

On London Bridge

Crown Jewels

London: Day 2

Our touristing began in Trafalgar square. Since we only had one day, we thought we might do a tour bus thing, but it turned out that those things were expensive. Instead, we decided to do our own tour for a fraction of the price. We went to Big Ben, Wesminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, David Cameron’s (the British Prime Minister) house, and ended up in Piccadilly Circus. Of course, we weren’t able to go inside of everything, but we did get to do and see a lot. I still have to go back and see the British museum, but I’m dedicating an entire day to spend there. I had planned with friends before I left to meet in Piccadilly Circus to go see the play, Les Miserables. We bought tickets ahead of time online, but when we got to the box office, they weren’t there. The woman offered us standing tickets, however, for only 10 pounds. Other people were paying the equivalent of $100+ because this is a world-class performance, but we only had to pay a little bit of money (albeit we did have to stand). I have to say that it was an amazing play, and I would recommend for everyone to see it at sometime in his or her life. The play was so superbly staged that it actually felt real, and it really drew in the emotions of the audience. Fun fact again: Eddie Redmayne (my movie star from Florence) is going to be in the new Les Mis movie that comes out this year. Guess who’s going to be in that theatre on opening night?? This girl!!!

London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Palace

Les Mis!

2 Tablespoons of Como and a Pinch of Switzerland

Lake Como with the Alps in the background

Lake Como

Today we headed out at the crack of dawn for Lake Como. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible mood when by the time we arrived because I had to pay an extra 85 euros on the train for a new ticket. Somehow my ticket had gotten switched to the next day, so when I was on the train, a very unpleasant woman forced me to pay for another ticket even though I’d already bought one. Needless to say, I didn’t arrive in Como in high spirits, but my bad mood didn’t last long. Lake Como is set in a basin where it is completely surrounded on all sides by the Alps. As you can guess, it’s completely spectacular. Fun fact: George Clooney has a villa right on the lake with his Italian model girlfriend. Despite how much I love every one on this trip, being in Como gave me some much-needed alone time. After each of checked into the hostel and changed into swimsuits, we headed down to the beach. Lake Como isn’t a highly touristed area, which means that we were the only people on the entire beach. It also meant that the city was a more authentic Italian town than more of the huge cities we had been in. I really enjoy the feel of the smaller cities like Assisi and Como. 

Stacy and me with our sandwiches

Naptime took place on the beach, and I got to remember what sun feels like. Living is England is wonderful, but I haven’t seen much of the sun in 4 months, so it was nice to soak up some Vitamin D. Once we woke up, we went for a walk around the city, and Stacy and I stopped at a grocery store to grab some dinner. I love traveling with Stacy because she is cheap and doesn’t want to go out to eat every meal like some people do. Instead of eating at a restaurant for 8 or 9 euros each, we bought a fresh loaf of bread, some brie, and sliced tomatoes onto sandwiches. We also bought juice for us to drink and sugar croissants for dessert—all for less money than one of us would have spent in a restaurant. As we sat by the beach, we had a wonderful heart-to-heart and bonded. The sunset was beautiful over the lake, and spending time with friends is always a good way to end any day.

Lake Como: Day Two

This is one of my favorite pictures of the semester--
absolutely gorgeous!

After eating breakfast in the hostel, I went out and read a book out by the water for a couple of hours. I could have just read all day on that beach listening to the waves and enjoying some peace and quiet. I found out at breakfast from the receptionist that it was possible to go to Switzerland from where we were by bus. I though “So, for 15 bucks round trip, you’re telling me that I can go to another country? Yep, I’m down.” Thus, I let everyone know that I was going, and of course, most of them were down to go too. After about 40 minutes, our bus pulled into Lugano, Switzerland. Oh my word, it was absolutely gorgeous there—but for a price. Switzerland is famous for being one of the most expensive places, and I can attest to the truth of that stereotype. A value meal at McDonalds costs the equivalent of $16 (even though their currency is in francs). To keep up with this high cost of living, we met a guy who told us that the men who pick up trash on the streets make $20 an hour (A.K.A. the minimum wage is extremely high). It’s a very wealthy place, and it became a game for us to count the number of Ferraris we saw—total count was 27!!! Another crazy thing was that the mannequins in the store windows were live models who would smile and wave at you. Basically, this was just a ritzy, classy place. There were gorgeous botanical gardens right by the bus stop, so of course we had to stop and take a million pictures. I’ve never been in a more beautiful city park in my whole life, and it was almost impossible to take a bad picture since every inch of the place was photogenic. After pictures, we were lucky enough to find a sandwich stand that was cheap to eat at, and while we were there, we met a guy in line who taught in the American school. He showed us the college up the hill after we ate, and told us a few things about Switzerland. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay in Lugano all day because the last bus left at 6, so we headed back to Como in time for dinner. Basically, the two days we spent on Lake Como involved a whole lot of relaxing and spending time with each other away from the hustle and bustle of life. Travel can be absolutely exhausting, so it was a blessing to be able to rejuvenate ourselves before starting back up with school again. The Italy trip was a booming success. 

Fountain in Lugano

Live mannequin in the middle. She gave me a thumbs up
and a wink when I took her picture. 

Alex and me in Switzerland

Canals, Concertos, Cathedrals--Oh my!!

Canals in Murano 

Blown glass sculpture

Venetian sunset

Gondolas

Today was one of the best days of the trip. In preparation for going to Venice, Stacy and I went to a bookstore in Florence to learn what we could from travel guides. The thing that kept popping up was "Go to the island of Murano where the hand blown glass is made." Thus, our plan for when we got to Venice was to take a waterbus over to Murano. However, our train didn't leave Florence for another couple of hours, so we went to the market. I caved, yet again, and bought another tapestry. You'll have to see it though before you judge me--it's stunning. Woven thread that you hang on a wall or put on a pillow just has a weird fascination for me. After the market, we went to the grocery store, and bought a huge baguette and brie for us to share on the train. Our Florence hotel was located right next to the Brancacci chapel where Masccio's Expulsion and Tribute Money frescos are. I got to go in for free, and I’m glad I popped in, even if it was only for a second. I didn’t have much time because we had to catch a train, but I would have regretted not going in at all. When we arrived in Venice two hours later, our breath was taken away. I was in Venice with my family when I was 13 or 14, but for some reason, I didn't remember it being this wonderful. Our hostel was right on the Grand Canal, so our view was incredible. The whole city smells like an ocean breeze, and everywhere you go, you're surrounded by water. It might be that we love this city so much because it's so incredibly different than anywhere we've been on this trip. Then again, it could also be that Venice is just amazing. Stacy and I got on a waterbus and headed to Murano around 4:30. The ocean air whipped our hair around while we stood on the deck of the boat, and we got off the boat in glass central. Everything was made of glass. Beautiful hand blown figurines, jewelry, beads, vases, and chandeliers filled dozens of shops. Sometimes I exaggerate the beauty of something, but being in Murano actually felt like I was walking around a dream or something. Speaking of incredibly surreal moments, Stacy and I saw a sign for a grocery store and decided to follow it. Okay, that doesn’t sound surreal, but stick with me. We followed a long hallway lined with fantasy pictures of unicorns and gnomes, which were illuminated by fluorescent lights, and let us into a casino. Men everywhere were playing slot machines and drinking. Oops, looks like we went the wrong way. Nope! Signs still pointed us to a grocery store...upstairs. By this point, we decided that a brothel had to be upstairs. I mean, we were in a casino, and who's ever heard of a grocery store upstairs, right? The moment of truth comes when we open the door and hear the Mexican Hat song being played...in a grocery store. Turns out that there actually was a grocery store upstairs, above the casino, on the island next to Venice. Stacy and I joked that we stumbled upon the lost city of Atlantis up there because there was just no way it could all be real. Anyways, once we left the island, we took the waterbus back and decided to just get off a random stop that seemed fun. We ended up in a residential district where the people of Venice actually live, and we walked down the streets where laundry was hanging out to dry on clothes lines and people were sitting down to dinner in their living rooms. I felt like I was getting a sneak peak into the lives of real Italians since we weren’t in a touristy area like we usually are. I loved being in neighborhoods and getting a less commercialized and more authentic look at Italy. We grabbed sandwiches by the park and ate them while we walked around town. For those of you who don’t know Stacy, she is a professional quality violinist, and at one point we passed a sign for a Vivaldi concert that night. Vivaldi is well loved in Venice as well as by Stacy, so we were hoping we could go to the symphony that night. Unfortunately, the tickets were really expensive, and our college kid budgets couldn’t accommodate. As we were leaving, we could hear music coming out of the side door where the musicians were warming up. We decided to linger by the door and listen to them play since we weren’t going to the concert. A few guys where smoking by the door where we were listening, and they told us we could walk inside the door a little bit to hear better. They talked to us about music and instruments for a few minutes before they said, “Well, we have to go in and play now. Would you like to come in and listen?” They were the musicians! Of course, we said we’d love to, and they took us through backstage and led us right into the concert hall. We had just gotten into the too expensive concert for free as guests of the musicians, and we sat on the third row! I’ll never forget how absolutely epic that moment was. This symphony was the best I’d ever heard in my entire life—they played with so much passion and joy that watching them was as beautiful as hearing them. And it felt like they were playing for us because throughout the songs, they would look up at us and smile or give us a wink and make sure we were enjoying it. Stacy and I were in absolute bliss. After the concert was over, they came up to us and asked us how we liked it. We told them it was absolutely spectacular, and it was cute to see how happy it made them to know that we enjoyed it. Then, Stacy and I walked back to the door where we heard them playing and took a picture by “the door that changed our lives.” Yes, I guess you could say that we had a pretty good day. ;)

Happy to be in Venice!

Venice: Day Two

Even though Stacy and I’d had such a dazzling night the previous day, Venice didn’t disappoint on the second go-around either. After we woke up and got ready, (by this time we’re with the rest of the group) we decided to have a chill day and just go wherever we want without a checklist of places to go. We just talked and laughed while walking alongside the canals. Turns out, we ended up hitting lots of the places we wanted to go just by stumbling upon them. I like the “stumble upon” method because we aren’t running around frantic with maps in front of our faces like all the other tourists; instead, we get to enjoy where we are when we’re there. Also, when we’re off the beaten path, we’re able to find other things that aren’t just tourist places. St. Mark’s square was one of the places we wanted to see, and when we arrived there, it seemed like a nice place to grab some lunch and gelato. I took some pictures of this beautiful cathedral on the coast after lunch, and then, we found a free waterbus that would take us out to another island. When we got on the boat this time, there were open seats right at the very front of the boat, so we had an incredible view the entire way. 

Inside the cathedral

My rose from the grocery store

Even though we had just recently eaten lunch, our snaking selves got hungry again. There was a grocery store on the island, so we popped in to grab some snacks and drinks. At checkout, the coolest thing happened though. The lady handed me a free compact mirror and a long stem red rose. Huh? I asked what the occasion was, but it was just because they’re nice apparently. I love Venice!! So we walked until we found a gorgeous, huge, sandy beach where we sat down and had a little picnic. With my flower and snacks on the beach, I was a very happy person. I took off my shoes and enjoyed some sand between my toes while I wandered around looking for seashells. Yes, I’m 20 years old, and yes, I collected handfuls of seashells. They’re still pretty when you’re older too, okay? I was having such a great afternoon, but we promised to meet the rest of our group on the mainland for dinner, so we had to leave much earlier than I wanted to. However, the island of Lido did us well, and I’ll always have very pleasant memories of that place. For dinner, we found a restaurant that served lots of good seafood. I split the seafood pasta, sea bass, potatoes, and tiramisu with Stacy. Mmm it was yummy. 

And you may not know, but when I got to England, I found out that I had no memory card for my camera. Oops! That rendered the whole camera completely useless. Thus, I’ve been using my iPhone for pictures this entire trip. The quality on the iPhone camera is actually pretty good, so this hasn’t been too tragic or anything. However, I got to borrow my friend Steven’s very nice camera for the night in Venice, and I’d forgotten how nice it was to take pictures on a real camera. I literally took 200 pictures over the next hour and a half of the beautiful scenery and my beautiful friends. Venice is an absolutely gorgeous place, and it may have been my favorite place of the semester because of the great, relaxing time I had with my friends there.