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.