"Gondola Gondola"

So I had every intention of making this post last night, but I fell asleep around 8:30 at night. Needless to say, Monday was an exhausting day- but I wont get ahead of myself.


Our taxi arrived for Shannon, Jesika, and me at 5:00 Saturday morning. We flew through airport security and were off the ground at 6:40 for Venice. There was a lovely man sitting across the aisle from me who noticed me straining to look out the window on his side to see the sunrise. It was beautiful, he offered to stand so I could look at it better.


We managed to get out of the airport and to the main island by bus. We were horrified to experience what felt like a late october morning in Minnesota. I could see my breath, and had failed to pack my jacket since the weather had indicated it would be in the 70s. After shivering and wandering for a bit, we decided to get some coffee and sit down with our map to get the lay of the land.


Saturday was mostly spent walking around the main island of Venice. We went across the Rialto Bridge, did a fair amount of window shopping (lots of masks, journals, and glass stores) and, my personal favorite activity, gondolier watching. These men are quite the sight even when they aren't gracefully rowing wealthy couples around. If they aren't harassing people to buy an 80 euro/person ride ("gondolagondolamiss?gondolagondola?") they occupy their time by being the laziest looking people around. They'd lounge around, smoke, or be on their cell phones (we even saw one use his phone while rowing!)

Rialto Bridge is pretty even with that stupid banner

texting on the job

But they  look so picturesque when they try!

We had sandwiches and managed to find some sunshine in a piazza where a string trio played some Vivaldi. We continued our wandering towards S Marco's Square. We went up the bell tower for a beautiful view of Venice. We then ventured further into square which is known for its extremely brave pigeons. In Jess' and my attempt to take a picture with a pigeon on our arm, I was caught a tad unaware and one leapt onto my shoulder. It was terrifying!

The Bell Tower!

Venice from above

Surprise! 

Finally, after much struggle, we both have one

After more walking and some spaghetti for dinner, we bought our 24-hour boat pass and made our way to our hostel. We were happy to be in the warmth, and turned in early. I attempted to nurse my left ankle that had begun to hurt after dinner.

We had some breakfast at the hostel, and then we took a half hour boat ride to Murano- an island off Venice that is known for its glass. We went to a free glass blowing and molding demonstration. It was crazy how fast the glass master could work! It had to have been under 10 minutes and he blew a vase and molded a horse sculpture!

The master at work

Final products. 

  

We spent the morning exploring the bajillion glass shops of Murano. Everything was so beautiful! From clocks and vases, to tiny figurines and an adorable thimble (you bet I bought that one!). One of the stores had extremely fancy glass work. The artist was known for his Christmas sculptures he would place in the city center. It was incredible, but I felt like I needed to hold my breath the whole time I was in that store!

Glass orchestra (sorry about the glare)! 

Glass sculpture and the tower of Murano

After we'd had our fill of glass, we caught a boat to Burano. This island is known for its embroidery (apparently handkerchiefs are the hot commodity). I was more interested in finding a painting of the beautiful buildings! Each building is painting a vibrant different color! Even with my hurt ankle, it was such a joy to look around and see the colors. Sadly I couldn't find anything that did it justice.

See what I mean? THE BEST!

There was a Children's' Festival going on in the main square of Burano, so the streets were filled with kids singing, dancing, and playing. I soon deemed this place the happiest town I've been to. We found a nice park to sit for a bit and read. We found ourselves serenaded by a preteen garage band was practicing in the house next to the park. I swear the bass player and drummer played the same riff for a half an hour.  It wasn't exactly a Vivaldi string trio... We grabbed some pizza for dinner and caught the boat just as sun was setting on the Island. It was a beautiful goodbye!

Bye Burano! 

We returned to San Marco Square and walked to the train station. We stopped by a bar for coffee and then a glass of wine (to hopefully make us sleepy) before our 7 hour train ride back to Rome. We boarded the train at 11 and struggled to get comfy with the commotion the others in our compartment caused. One man (who smelled a bit like cheese) was in an older man's spot and took a while to surrender. An hour or so later  when the ticket man came around, the couple that was in the other two spots didn't have tickets and had to buy them. After this settled, I went in and out of sleep and woke up just before 7 to see yet another sunrise, this time over Rome.

Finally back in Nomentana 225 on Monday around 7:45, I had just enough time to sit, shower, and get ready for class from 1-5:30 (Cultural Geography from 1-11:00, History from 11:30-1:30, and Theology from 2:00-5:30). The last two required enough walking to make my ankle unhappy. After dinner I had planned on taking a quick nap that turned into bed time. I clearly needed sleep, but the exhaustion was so worth it!