VENICE FREE DAY

Today was so nice and relaxing. It was our free day but it started out with a group tour to the Morano Glass Factory. Mazzega Glass picked us up in water taxis right from our hotel door and they took us out to Morano to their factory. The tour started with them showing us a demonstration of glass blowing which was absolutely amazing, and then they took us to their showrooms. There are 7 of them and one word comes to mind… BREATHTAKING! Glass everywhere. All shapes and colors and sizes. It made me a little nervous because I didn’t want to break anything. The showrooms boasted chandeliers, figurines, statues, mirrors, and even jewelry. When I make it big in my career you can bet that I will own a Mazzega Chandelier. They really were the most beautiful showrooms I have ever seen.

After Mazzega Glass we headed back to St Zaccharia’s port so we could all break off and go do our free day stuff. Darrin announced that we needed to go to Saint Marks sometime before we went to Paris but it was up to us weather we wanted to go today or tomorrow before the train left. I have wanted to go to the beach since Rome so Me, Ashley and Amanda decide to go. It was so crowded but really nice at the same time. We played in the water for a bit and then we laid out for a bit. Ok so this beach wasn’t a nudist beach but I couldn’t believe how many people went topless. Of course there were those who had warned us about it but it was just weird to see how many people just simply didn’t care. It made me realize how different things are here than back in the states or even in Utah.

After the beach we went back to our hotel to clean up a bit then Amanda, Julia, and I went to Coin and Promod to go shopping for a bit. We stopped at a grocery store to buy food for the train ride tomorrow, ate a Kebab (which was good) and then headed back to the hotel to pack. Tomorrow is gonna be busy (we still have to go to Saint Marks), and we head for France. Last Night in Italy so hope everyone has had as much fun as I have. See you next in Paris.

VENICE DAY 2

So yeah, just wanted you all to know… slept like a baby the bed was so comfortable. Almost too comfortable because we slept in a little too much and had to rush to get ready… oops!

Anyways, first on our list today was Rubelli fabrics. This place was so incredible. First of all it was right on the Grand Canal so it had a great view… but most importantly the fabrics were so amazing. Their materials library/ archive is really nice. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures for you but it’s understandable because lots of stuff in the archives is old and very fragile. Just know that it was truly amazing. Then they took us into their show room and there were hundreds of awesome patters and brilliant colors. Rubelli’s was so nice and I even bought a few samples for souvenirs to make a cute wall hanging or something, who knows.



At this point we broke up for lunch so Kylee, Megan, Susie, Ashley, and I went to get pizza at this really teeny, tiny pizzeria. Really it was only big enough for two people to stand really close together. The pizza was ok but I think it might have made me a little sick.

At about 2pm we went to Fortuney Fabrics and that was also very cool. Their fabrics unique and very nice. I wish that they could have taken us to see how they make their fabrics but the process has been a secret since day one and I don’t think that is about to change anytime soon. After we saw their showroom, they took us on a small tour of their property. They had a nice little garden and there was also a really nice pool area.

The ferry ride back to our connection took almost two hours because it stopped at every “port” and there were about 50 of them. Once we got back to the train station port we decided that we would walk the rest of the way, but first a group of us stopped into a tiny shop and bought some really cool glass rings. All in all even thought it was a long day, it was a good one. Tomorrow we go to Murano Glass and then the rest is a free day. Beach or Bust. See ya then.

VENICE DAY 1

Yay! We are in Venice. I have only been here for about 8 hours or so and I can honestly say that Venice is probably my most favorite city in the world. It is so beautiful here. I can’t believe it. SO very glad to be here. Right as we got out of the train station we got on a little water taxi called a vaporetto and headed out to our hotel. (Just so ya'll know... There are Jelly fish in the water here. Eek! but back to the hotel.)

One word…. UPGRADE!!! We are staying at the UNA hotel which is absolutely amazing. Our room is so nice and the neighborhood we are in is just beautiful right off one of the little canals.

Needless to say Megan and I are really HAPPY!!!

Our group met up outside of the hotel where Darrin gave us protocol for Venice and then we walked through the streets of Venice on our way to the Rialto Bridge. It’s so nice because there are no cars running you down as you walk around the corner. It’s just beautiful here. There are hundreds of gondolas and beautiful bridges and shopping and restaurants… I’m just so happy to be here.

You can get some of the best views of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge. Just beautiful.

Dinner was also great. The girls and I went to a cute café and I had some of the most delicious lasagna I have ever tasted and some grilled zucchini and mushrooms. Mmmm!

We are back out our hotel and I am truly content. The UNA Hotel is simply fabulous… for all of you planning a trip to Venice soon (…) I highly recommend it. Well friends and family it’s getting late and I’m just so comfortable in this bed… I’m gonna call it a night. See ya tomorrow.

FREE DAY FLORENCE

Last full day in Florence and once again it was a free day. First on our agenda we were headed to the Pitti Palace. On our way there we found some really great original art. I can now say that I have purchased by first piece of artwork abroad. (Picture coming soon... just have to find it) We spent an hour or so looking and shopping for art. The artist is named ___(sorry have to find his card)___ and it was so much fun just talk to him while looking at his artwork. Most of our little group bought something and together we probably dropped around 300 euro. Kylee had him do a new one, which he was more than happy to do, and I appreciated it because it was really cool to see his technique. It was a great way to start the morning. I am extremely happy with my purchase and I can’t wait to hang it up in my apartment in Logan.

Next we set out for the Pitti Palace (for real this time). This is one of the places where the Medicci family lived and now it has been converted into a huge museum. Sorry I don’t have any pictures because it wasn’t allowed again, but I will give a small explanation. First of all there were a lot of stairs. My legs were hurting so bad but it was worth it because the artwork and sculpture were really cool to see. The ceilings had fresco paintings with gold borders that were all gold and really beautiful. I wish I had a way of showing everyone. The portraits on the walls were colorful and there were so many that I felt like I was turning in circles because you just didn’t know where to begin. We here there for three hours because there was so much to see.

Our group split up after to find lunch and to do a little bit of shopping. After we would meet up to climb the dome of the Duomo. Kylee and I wandered around looking for a place to buy one euro water. As we were looking we found a shop where they sold handmade leather journals and cards that are decorated with hand marble paper. Everything was super expensive but I bought a small pack of “marbled” butterflies that will also be used for decoration in Logan. Kylee and I finally found our water and after a little more shopping we made it back to our hotel and then on to the Duomo to climb the Cupola to get views from the top. MORE STAIRS!!! , 436 to be exact. The Duomo is the highest and biggest dome in the world and so you can imagine how amazing the vies are. It made me a little bit nervous to stand next to the edge because we were so high up.Well its has been a long day and they girls want to go dancing… I think that I’m just too tired to do anything. Mostly I have a lot to do to get ready for another long day of traveling tomorrow. Oh and P.s. I think I might have a stress fracture in some of my toes because they are bruised and purple and swelling and… not a fun combination but gotta keep going. Night all! See you next in VENICE.

FLORENCE DAY 2

Today was another long day, but a good one. We stated by meeting at 8:30 in the morning at the Piazza Repubblica and made our way to the Uffizi Gallery. There were some increadible Romanesque pieces. Most of them were of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child, but there were also a lot of well know piece as well like Botticelli The Birth of Venus. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take picture because it was strictly forbidden but go to Google and type in Uffizi gallery and there you go. (Making you do a little bit of research mwahahaha). We were however allowed to take pictures of the Pontivecchio from the windows and it was a nice view.

After the Uffizi gallery we went to the Accademia where they keep the statue of David.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the real thing but in the Piazza Repubblica there is a copy so ya’ll with just have to make do with a picture of that.

On the real David they say that if you walk around the back of the statue you can see a “self portrait” of Michelangelo in David’s backside. We tried to see it but all I saw was… well a butt.

We had about and hour or so before we had to meet again so some of us went and got a gelato at a place that was supposed to rival Grom, but I personally don’t think that it rivals at all. Grom is way better (but I still liked it).At 2:45 we met back up with the class and went for a little walk to the Pontivecchio and as a class we sat and sketched the bridge. It was funny because people would walk past us and take pictures of / with us (in the background of their picture), as we just sat a sketched. Not gonna lie… it was kind of fun.

We walked a little more and sketched a few more things then Darrin and Susie broke us up into groups and we had little sketching tutorials. Brady and Laura were the “teachers” and their advice was really helpful.

After we were all done with the sketches it was free time and Darrin and Susie said that they would take those of us who wanted to the top of the hill to get some of the best views of Florence other than the views you can get from the dome. Well of course I wanted to go because I HAVENT CLIMBED ENOUGH STEPS AND HILLS ON THIS TRIP YET!!! (Say this in your best Richard Simmons impersonation). The hill was sooooo killer, but the views… to die for. We got to hear some Gregorian chant which was interesting and I only knew what it was because of my music class last semester at Snow.

At this point all of us were so we started on our long trek back down the hill in search of some food. We ate at another sidewalk restaurant which was actually really good. It was a lot of fun because there was a little stage set out for karaoke next to the restaurant and every once in a while people would get up to sing (mostly the Beatles which I loved). The food was incredible. I had mushroom risotto with this creamy tomato sauce. It was the best food I have had thus far in Europe.After dinner we just sat and talked and listened to music when all the sudden this group of Asians started to cheer and we turned around and there were trying to get one of their group members to sing. Finally he does and I was so surprised. He was just this little guy but his voice was larger than life. He sang opera which I am not really a fan of but this was just beautiful. Tomorrow is another free day and we have a lot planned so see ya all there.

FLORENCE DAY 1

Today was interesting. We got to Florence and we were headed to our hotel when it started to rain. We couldn’t believe it… but it wasn’t as bad this time. We got to the hotel Bellettini and for some reason they took us to their sister hotel “Hotel Nizza’. We found out later that some kids from Penn State were supposed to stay in Hotel Nizza or something like that but because the were there five weeks before us they moved to the Bellittini… and they weren’t going to make them move because they only had 3 days left. To make a long story short we are basically paying for their “nicer” rooms while we stay in a hostel type situation. Looooots of fun…

On a happier note, Florence Is beautiful and its really easy to navigate because everything leads back to the Duomo and the Medici Chapel, so it’s almost impossible to get lost really.

After we had a little time to get settled Darrin gave us a little bit of time to go shopping in the markets and have something to eat before we met up with our tour guide. Me and some of the girls went to a little sit down restaurant and had our selves some lunch to hopefully give us some energy before our tour. The food wasnt very good but the decorations were really cute which made it kind of fun.
This thing was huge... we loved it (for decoration purposes of course)...

At about 2 pm our group met up with our tour guide Tonya for a tour of Florence. She took us to see the Brancacci Chapel, The Pontivecchi, The Arno River, and so much more. All of it was meant as a quick overview of Florence.

I don’t know if it was because I am so tired but it was really hard to concentrate and we weren’t able to take very many pictures so I don’t really remember much about the tour. Sorry everyone. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit better once I have had some good rest.

After our tour we went to a small gelateria called Grom. I had a lemon granite (kind of like an Icee) and it was probably the best thing I have tasted while in Europe to date. Beccah, Whitney, and I went shopping after for a little while (ps I found crunchy M&Ms... I was ecstatic because i dont think we have them in the states anymore)


and ate some interesting tasting pizza. I think they put hot sauce on it and let’s just say it wasn’t my favorite. The Potatoe Pizza was ok though. Well it’s getting late and I am getting annoyed with the Penn Kids (we are sharing an internet area), so I’m going to cut this session short. Hope everything is going great at home. See ya in a bit.

FREE DAY ROME (DAY 4)

Ciao everyone. Today was our last full day in Rome and it was an eventful one. Me, Julia, and Amanda had a really good time. We started out early and headed to the roman forum, we were waiting for the metro when two different guys got all in our faces and were trying to talk to us. I tried to tell them “no parlemos le’italiano” (we don’t speak Italian) and they left us alone but it was a little suspicious and kind of scary but everything was fine and yes we still have all our stuff :)

We got off the metro and were heading to the forum entrance when all of the sudden this guy yells “he stole my money… he stole my five euro”. We turned around and saw this little old homeless man chasing a gypsy who was just laughing at him and taunting him with the money. It broke our hearts but it was still scary because there was no way to tell if it was real or if it was a scam just to distract tourist to steal their money because the Colosseum and forum are big target spots for pick pocketing. It’s kind of sad how you can’t really trust some people, but it was a good learning experience for us and we were extra careful to watch our stuff and watch out for each other’s stuff from then on.

The forum was so incredible. We only planned on being there for an hour or so but we ended up being there for five hours. I have always known that the forum and Palatine Pavilion were big but I never understood how big. They are like a city inside of a city. The forum was like a huge market place for the ancient Romans and because of this we liked to pretend that we were walking down the “ancient Rome gateway mall”, visiting stores like the H&M.

We sketched for a while and took tons of pictures but after five hours we decided that we were ready for something new. We left the forum and headed towards the Colosseum. It was nice because there was no traffic so we walked right down the middle of the road with hundreds of other people just taking our time and more fabulous pictures.

It was about three o clock by the time we made it to the Spanish steps we were super tired and hungry. We were hoping to have a little taste of home by going to McDonalds (because I am kind of getting tired of Italian food)… but Mickey D’s was like 8 euro (so about 12 American bucks) just for a big Mac, so we decided to go somewhere else. We ended up at another sit down restaurant where I got the most delicious sandwich. It was simple but so good. Turkey, avocado, and tomatoes. I devoured and was quite content. We then went and got gelato (lemon and peach for me) and went at sat on the Spanish steps and just relaxed… Then we went and worked of the delicious gelato by climbing to the top of the steps. It was another hard climb believe it or not but once again the views were worth it. There will be more stairs and climbs on this trip but I have no doubt that the views will be worth it every time.

After the Spanish steps we walked around Spagna for a while and ran into a break dancing crew. It was fun to watch because it was nine or ten guy’s break dancing to jazz music or something. Very different from the states but still fun to watch.

Amanda, Julia, and I got back to the hotel about six and were going to go swimming but then we all fell asleep. It’s about 9:30 here and I haven’t eaten anything sense the turkey sandwich so I’m going to head out and find something quick and then I have some packing to do. Tomorrow we head to Florence!! See you all there.