experience: VENICE

My time spent in Venice has absolutely been one of the highlights of my summer, if not of my entire year (er, life?) Venice is a magical little city built on water, located in the northeastern corner of Italy. There are literally no streets—just canals winding through all of the buildings, pathways for walking, and cute little bridges. [Though I assume most people know that, I guess...] Without the hustle and bustle of vehicles, Venice has an ambiance that is simply in a world of its own. The buildings are tall and colorful, covered in flowers and greenery. Clothes lines hang from all of the windows and above the streets… just like the pictures. =] All of the restaurants and shops are nestled into tiny corners and alleyways. Everything about it seems like a dream—a little city filled with moss, salty air, and unparalleled charm. AAAAAH, I WANT TO GO BACK.

nonsensical ramblings on my adventures in venice [that will probably make me sound illiterate]:

--got of the train from milan and was utterly shocked to arrive and learn that a 24 hour metro pass was EIGHTEEN EURO… hello, venice!

--was utterly ECSTATIC to quickly, quickly realize that [duuuuh]… venice’s metro system is just a huge series of lovely, lovely boats!

--hopped on a boat to ride to our hotel… kiet and I just couldn’t shut up about how absolutely INCREDIBLE it all was… from the moment one arrives, venice is seriously like no other place on earth.

--met a cute couple from buffalo who was ecstatic to meet us because their daughter once went to a summer program at yale… they tried helping us find our hotel and failed miserably =]

--wandered a bit until finding our hotel, which was the most adorable thing everrrrrr

--spent the afternoon wandering through all of the local art galleries [one of my FAVORITE things to do in ANY city!], which just happened to be in the same district as our hotel… visited a few outdoor galleries, which were wonderful [I’ve never seen an outdoor gallery before]… sat on the docks and watched the boats and the buildings and the people and the sunny sky and everything, everything, everything

--had dinner at a lovely pizzeria… my first pizza in Italy! We quickly learned about italy’s “cover charge” system for many restaurants… customers don’t have to tip, but they have to pay a fee to sit in the restaurant

--spent the ENTIRE evening just wandering aimlessly and getting lost… it is soooooo NOT HARD to get lost in venice! Wandering the canals, listening to the lovely street performers (who are especially classy in venice, I observed), and sitting by the water… SO MUCH WATER… so much BEAUTIFUL water!

--had my FIRST GELATO! Omgeeeeeeeeeeeee, it changed my life forever. =D

--managed to get more lost than i think I’ve ever been anywhere ever… i wound up on some obscure waterfront [go figure] late at night all alone [I was supposed to meet up with kiet and our friend faye, who’s studying in Austria and Poland for the summer, but was simply too lost to do so..] the stars were shining brilliantly, a full-ish moon was out, and i sat down to stargaze… the water and sky created some of the most electrifying shades of blue that I’ve ever seen… it’s cheesey, but I’ve never felt more connected to van gogh’s “starry night”…. I literally felt like I was IN the painting… so perfect =]

--wandered utterly lost for a good hour or two and was relieved to hear english being spoken in the distance… followed the voice and met this LOVELY 40-something year old woman from California who was wandering with her italian boyfriend and his daughter [wandering and getting lost is a really popular thing to do in venice…] she told me the amusing story of how she met her boyfriend seven weeks prior and had gone home, sold her house, and moved to Italy to live with him… talk about a midlife crisis? In any case, she was wonderful and gave me a map and, together, we managed to find our way back to san marco’s, where we could catch the night boat! she was so great and told me I could come visit her in Italy any time I want

--met amy and chris while waiting for the night boat, two hilarious and charming friends from a small village of 120 people in england … we had a jolly good time talking about london, ny, our experiences in italy, and on and on… they’re the sort of people that you know for five minutes and feel like you’ve had as best friends for ages! I’ve met so many of those people this summer, actually… and I’m always so sad to leave them, knowing there’s very little chance we’ll ever meet again… ah, I don’t like thinking about that…

--woke up the next day for more wandering and exploring!

--spent time at san marco’s, the central square in venice where everyone hangs out

--fed the birds, as everyone does… got attacked by one, as probably only I do… [but at least it just attacked my head instead of pooping on it like the birds at versailles!]

--MORE PIZZA AND GELATO! SO STINKIN’ GOOOOOOOD.

--kiet and I had been told over and over to prepare for how expensive venice would be… however, we thought a lot of it was fairly cheap, compared to the prices we’d grown accustomed to during our month in paris… apparently we chose one of the most expensive cities in the world to study in! oh well, it made venice seem more affordable… which was super duper!

--explored little shops and a few museums, seriously just wandered and tried to soak it all up

--watched all of the gondolas! SOMEDAY I WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD A GONDOLA RIDE IN VENICE! The gondolas are all run by ridiculously Italian men in striped shirts and funky hats… such a romantic thing to do, so wonderful to watch!

--eventually had to say goodbye to venice…. DIDN’T WANT TO GO!

OH DEARY, IT WAS A GOOD TIME. if you ever visit Italy, your first priority MUST 100%ABSOLUTELY be venice!

i miss it already… [no, seriously...]