Hi everyone! So last Wednesday I had my first Art History of Rome class and we went to the Pantheon and Capitoline Hill, which is where you can see the entire Roman Forum. My teacher seems really nice but she has a deep Italian voice and she kind of sounds like she is narrating an epic movie when she speaks, but it only makes the class more interesting. Our syllabus is incredible with visits to all the important sites and artwork in Rome. It is basically a field trip every Wednesday morning. So Thursday night was our friend Andrea's birthday party at this club called Mood and it was a lot of fun. But we left early because the next morning we had to wake up early and go to Venice. So Friday morning, we took the bus to Termini Station and got on a 6 hour train ride to Venice. We went through Tuscany and I got to see the real countryside, except it was raining so it wasn't that pretty. When we got to Venice....it was pouring. And of course, Venice is all canals so you have to take a boat everywhere which means you have to sit on a dock and wait for a boat to come. So we figured out how to get to Lido, an island off of Venice where we found a cheap hotel room. We went there and it looks like a beautiful summer resort and a quaint little town, but in the freezing cold rain it isn't much. We also had to buy rain boots and an umbrella because my leather boots just were not holding up. So we went to our hotel to put our stuff down and change and go back to dinner to start Carnival festivities. Well once we got off the boat and walked over the first bridge, I SLIPPED ON THE RAMP AND FELL INTO A HUGE PUDDLE. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard, but it was only 8ish so I was sopping wet the entire night. And also, because of the rain nothing was open, nothing was going on, and no one was anywhere to be seen and we had no idea how to get around Venice so we were out in the rain for about 5 hours straight. Needless to say I wasn't very happy. But then Saturday we went to Murano and saw the glass factory and glass shops. Bubbie always told me about Murano and how cool it is...but it really is something. We paid 2 euro to watch an old Italian man create this glass basket sculpture thing and it was INCREDIBLE!!! I've never been in such awe. Some of the pieces they had in the shop were so detailed and the chandeliers were really awesome. I didn't buy anything on Murano though because I know we're going back in May and I dont want anything to break in my bag. Saturday night it stopped raining and people came out and there were tons of carts with souveniers and masks on them. I bought a black and gold one and a Venice flag. The Venice "mascot" is a winged lion and he's everywhere and I really love it so I bought a flag that is red with gold lettering on it of the Venice lion. Sunday morning we took a 2 hour detour and accidentally got lost on the boat system, but it was sunny out so we didnt really mind, plus I kept falling asleep on every boat we got on . Then we got to Carnival and it was INSANE!!! People everywhere dressed up in costumes that really put American Halloween to shame. These costumes are crazy and so many people are really decked out. And then the kids have the cutest costumes too. My favorites were a little lion and a baby pooh bear, full body suit costumes that 4 or 5 year olds were wearing. There was confetti everywhere and a huge stage in St Marks square and a gigantic lion made out of fruit! Maybe ten feet fall and 15 feet long, he was made out of carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, squash and a ton of other veggies. There were drummers and horns and silly string everywhere. Then we walked around the shops for a while and my roomates and I all found awesome leather bags for great prices. They are authentic from Venice and it took us a while to choose which ones we wanted but in the end I think we each got the perfect one. So last night we took the 11:30 train back to Rome, and I have never been happier to be home. While this weekend was awesome, it was exhausting and very topsy turvy. It was our first weekend traveling and the first and probably the last time we plan everything ourselves. Its much easier to just go with a group or guided tour. I never thought I'd look at the graffitti on Gianicolensi (the street we live on) and think to myself "Thank god I'm home". This weeks sure to be fun too because we have soccer and we're going to Interlaken Thursday night!
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