After a busy, busy weekend of traveling I am back home in Rome ready for this week of classes! Last Thursday a group of ten other students and me traveled to Venice, Italy.
For my personal Study Abroad experience I have chosen to focus on seeing as much of Italy as I can, and Venice was my first venture outside of Rome.
We left Thursday night and took a six-hour train ride through the night, getting us to Venice at around 5:30 a.m. We walked around for a while because the water buses weren't running yet. Because Venice is an island and surrounded by many other islands, the primary way of transportation is by boat (very different but very cool).
We had some time to kill so all 11 of us found an outdoor restaurant that was open and had plenty of heaters. Oh, I didn't mention, it was FREEZING! I guess when we were all packing we didn't factor in the lower temperature from all the water. Whoops! After we warmed up a bit we headed to the water bus station, bought our weekend passes and headed to the island our hotel was on, Lido. After a quick check in and many layers added to our outfits for the day, we headed back to the mainland of Venice where Piazza de San Marco is, with the famous St. Mark's Basilica. A few of us bought our Venetian masks in honor of Carnivale and we found a cute lunch spot. Venice is known for its bellinis and its spritzes so we all tried the spritz, very delicious and a real Venetian treat! Friday was a great first day in Venice!
Saturday we headed to two separate islands, the island of Murano, known for its glass artistry, and the island of Burano, known for its beautifully colored houses. The way they created the beautiful pieces of glass in Murano was just amazing and so cool to watch. I fell in love with the island of Burano, I wanted to spend all day there. It was just beautiful and made me so happy; I highly recommend going there if anyone is ever in Venice!
Sunday was a rainy day but we made the best of it, had a nice relaxing breakfast and headed to the main island. We toured the Palace of the Doge (like the King from long ago) and that was really amazing to see all the architecture. We stopped for lunch, did some last-minute souvenir shopping and headed to a café before getting on the train home.
This was my first weekend traveling outside of Rome and it was amazing. I got to see Venice and enjoy time with my new friends here!
This Thursday I'll be heading to Milan, so stay tuned for that adventure!