Ventures in Venice

12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Our trip started as Christy’s mom drove Christy, Amy and me to the Salt Lake City International Airport. The anticipation was killer, and I expected everything possible to go wrong. Despite a few set backs, we made it to our flight on time. The flight from Salt Lake to Detroit was 3 hours. From Detroit we powered through the long 9-hour flight to Amsterdam. And from there was the home stretch to Venice. The class made it in one piece.

Wednesday, May 15

When we reached Venice, we took a ferry to the island/city on water. We walked from the dock to our hotel and got ready for our first night in Venice. We ate at Osteria Bancogiro, a restaurant next to the canal. I ordered gnocchi with Bolognese. After eating, we found a gelataria and enjoyed our first cup of gelato! It was nothing short of amazing. Then we parted the group for our gondola ride! I grouped with JannaLyse, Christy, Keri and Amy. We sang songs to the gondolier because he couldn’t sing. He took us down small canal ways, and he pointed out interesting historical buildings including Marco Polo’s home. After the ride, we took pictures with him and then parted for our room. It was nice to finally lay down and sleep!!!

Thursday, May 16

I woke up at 6 a.m. wide awake so I got ready for the day, went downstairs to eat breakfast and then went back to my room for a quick nap. We were ready to leave the hotel by 10 a.m. and took off to Piazza di San Marco. We were given passes to see the tourist sites in the area, but I only walked through the Doge’s Palace and had lunch. By that time, I was ready for another nap, not to mention I was cold from the wind and rain. Christy, Delaney, Clair and I went back to the hotel. When the others returned, they told us the entire Piazza was flooded up to their waists! I was happy to have the nap though. Brandon took a few of us to walk the streets and shop. We found a small restaurant for dinner and enjoyed our food while a man played his guitar and whistled like what sounded like a muted trumpet. Finally we headed back to the hotel, enjoyed a cup of gelato, and then said good night.

Friday, May 17

We took Vaporetta to Murano first thing in the morning and spent the afternoon there. We saw how the glass is blown; we shopped; we ate lunch; we got lost; we got found by Michael; then we finally went back to the hotel. The opera “Don Giovanni” started at 5 p.m. so we dressed up quickly to barely make it in time. The music and performers were great! Afterward, we found a restaurant off of the Piazza di San Marco for a late dinner. I don’t want to talk about it. We went back to the hotel and I packed for our move to Tuscany.

Saturday, May 18

We left Venice at 11 a.m. to meet with our bus drive, Mario, who took us to our first stop, a castle in Ferrara. I had lunch with Michael, Delaney and JannaLyse and a small dessert as well. We met back with the class at the castle for a long tour. It was long, and when we were done, Christy, Amy and I sung a few songs to hear the acoustics. We parted for Tuscany and found the villa we are staying in after a long backwards drive down a steep hill. We were served a beautiful 5 course dinner, including Tiramisu! Afterward, we cleaned up, danced, then headed back to our rooms for a good night’s rest.

I spent about 250 euro in Venice.