Venice Day One

Had to get up ridiculously early today to get ready in time for all the things we have going on. We had a little pow wow as a group and then we were off to shop and do whatever we wanted to do for the last few hours in Florence before we had to be at the train station for our trip to Venice. Kylee, Michelle, Ashley and I went in the open air markets and shopped around for a bit. It was very fun. I bought some ties for husband and family and some gorgeous scarves for me….after all I am a material girl. Living in a material world mind you. We finished early so Kylee and I took advantage of the chance to go get some blogging done at the other hotel….so happy to be leaving these dumps behind us….YES! Turns out we run on horrible make it on time time and we made it back just in time to load up and head out. Walking across a city with your luggage in a long single file train of 30 people is so lame and you will never feel more dorky in your life…I swear to you.

The train ride was good and I got to sit by Darrin and his family and Susie. It was really fun. I love his girls. Susie and I of course had a blast together. The ride was not too long. Only 3 ish hours. We played cards, ate Ring o’s and watched friends on the laptop. Good Times! We arrived about 3 in the afternoon and took our first water taxi to the hotel. We then of course had to walk again but hey it was good to move around. Now is the best part…

We arrived at our fabulous hotel and it is fabulous! So clean all marble all white, all new. ALL FABULOUS! I mean come on people the sheets are monogrammed, the turn down service is divine, they even have a pillow menu. OI! Its Divine. Everything in our room is brown and cream. So pretty. Laminate wood floors, damask fabric on the walls. A canopy over the bed and monogrammed clean fresh sheets with a turn down service and a pillow bar menu. You get to choose which pillow is best suited for your comfort and they deliver it to your room. Fabulous. It was so great. Really. I love it. We really didn’t want to leave in fact all we wanted to do was stay in the pretty air-conditioned room with a view of the canal and the flat screen, but we could not. We had to go on a tour of the city really quick. I was not disappointed at all. I had really low expectations for Venice and I was pretty sure that it was going to smell really bad and be super gross but it was not so bad. In fact it is one of my very favoritest places I have ever been in my life. The way everything looks is just beautiful. Everything sparkles and dances in the light of the water and the perfect sun. the weather is divine because you are essentially in the ocean you always have a breeze. The streets are everything you imagine Italy to look like in that it very picturesque. Flowers in pots growing in the window boxes, pale orange stuccos reflecting the sunset in perfect imitation and clean marble streets are everywhere you go. It really is like heaven on earth. Because there are absolutely no cars anywhere everything stays fairly litter free and much much less noisy. The main way to get around is water taxi and waling. The whole city is within a 10 minute walk in any direction and none of the streets make sense. Everything leads into somewhere you didn’t’ know existed. It one of the very best things about Venice. You get lost everywhere you go and by doing so you find the greatest places. Its like you are seeing beauty for the first time with brand new eyes.

We walked to the Rialto bridge and stood at the top to enjoy the view of the grand canal. It was more than words could do justice. The Rialto bridge is the oldest and most beautiful of all the bridges in Venice. It was once the only way to cross the grand canal. There are shops along both sides with fabulous Murano jewelry in them. Since it was such a great tourist spot I got separated from my group who also had my money and My professor Darrin bought me dinner at a beautiful restaurant where the ceiling of the indoor courtyard was made of Ivy and Murano glass lanterns. It was really great ambience. I had taglietelle with a meat Bolognese sauce with peas. SOOOO Delish! To top off the evening we went to Rick Steves…the master of travel himself….fav Gelato place in Venice. It was super delicious. I had Tiramisu, Chocolate, and Nutella flavor. I really could not have been happier about it. We meandered our way back to the Rialto bridge to take beautiful sunset pictures. This place is the most romantic place I have ever been. I am not exaggerating either. It is so pretty. Everything looks like a postcard. We went back to the hotel and I have been workin on my blog ever since…it is so annoying trying to get everything caught up! See you Tomorrow!