Ciao for Now

As far as favorite cities in Europe go, Venice is definitely at the top of the list (second only to Krakow). I absolutely loved how quiet it was. Without automobile traffic, this water-canal-wonderland is pretty much perfect. 

Zoe, Melanie and I traveled by bus from the airport, arriving in Venice by mid-morning. Zoe and I could not check in to our B&B until 3ish, so we spent the day exploring and trying not to get lost (no easy feat for three exhausted Americans!) 

I got very excited about this "Lucy World" purse and ended up getting a bag of the same brand later that day :) Then lost it. Then found it again the next day on the streets. 

Then we stumbled upon this random mask shop and ended up talking to the owner and taking pictures for a good thirty minutes:

And THEN we realized they offered a paint-your-own-mask class. (Score!)

  It was so good to be in an art studio again!

Two older American women were also in the studio with us (which may mean it was a bit less authentic than we thought!). But we had a blast. 

It took me the duration of the semester to realize two important facts about travelling:

1.) The people you travel with make all the difference. 

2.) Where exactly you stay is pretty important as well.

Venice only solidified these revelations: 

After our disastrous Helsinki adventure, Zoe made sure to book THE BEST Air B&B she could find. It was a little bit expensive, but totally worth it. We had the "honeymoon suite" just for the two of us. No cats allowed! As Luca, the owner, showed us around, we kept getting more excited. Then he took us into the bathroom and said, with his thick Italian accent, "This will be the best shower you've ever had." #smitten

The only picture I have of Luca is from breakfast (below right). He was awesome. We were served breakfast in this room (below) along with the other guests. One family we sat with was from Mexico. Luca spoke Spanish with them, English with us, and then Italian on the phone when his wife called one morning. It was fascinating to watch him interact with his guests; I could tell he truly loved being a host. 

He also loved Venice. I learned so much about the city from him:

"The best way to really see Venice is to get lost in Venice." 

"The richest people in Venice are the taxi drivers (taxi boats)."

"Never trust the gondoliers."

It's a good thing we listened to him, too, because otherwise we would have spent way more than we needed to. For half the price of one trip on a gondola (no wonder they are so rich!), we bought a 24 hour pass to use public transportation. It took a little while to figure out the boat system-- I called it "The Tube" because I was used to London--but once we got the hang of it, it was a lifesaver. 

That's another thing London has taught me: how to master public transportation. Even in different languages, the maps in Italy, Scandinavia, France, Spain and the UK are all very similar. 

We explored San Marco area, planning to cover most of the main land before heading to the other islands the next day:

 The square was build around St. Mark's Basilica (above). There were all kinds of shops around the edge of the square, including vendors set up on the streets:

I got most of my Christmas presents here. This place (above) sold real leather journals made in Florence. I got a tiny journal (all I could afford) for Rachie :)

The sculptures in this art gallery (above right) were insanely cool. 

And for my favorite Venice moment....I bought/bargained my first piece of art!

I am 87% positive I saw the artist who paints these near my hotel on the first day I was there, because I remember admiring his style...and then saw these here! This lady is the artist's brother...we had a good 15 minute chat as I bargained with her and convinced her to sell to me for less. 

Leah doesn't handle decisions very well...

I settled on one of the paintings in the middle pictures.

Excitement is an understatement. 

Yes, I made Zoe take a picture of me with it...she wouldn't let me take it out of the package (which was probably smart of her!)

By evening we were very very hungry. We wanted to have an authentic meal, though, and Luca told us not to eat in the "tourist trap" of St. Mark's Square...so we held our hunger in and traveled to the Jewish ghetto (according to Luca it has the most authentic food). I did not even realize that there was a Jewish ghetto in Venice, but there is:

An interesting ode to American elections:

We found this on the way to the ghetto...judging by the sign we gathered that we had not reached the 'authentic' ghetto yet :)

But once we finally found a restaurant, it was SO worth it. Best meal by far. Here are some highlights:

(The owner's cat jumped up onto Zoe's lap. She was delighted.)

We got back to the B&B late that night. It was a good day. 

(Coming soon: Murano Island!) 

Happiness is...

Today Claire and I went to the Activities Fair. Claire played "Literature Pong" and won a puzzle prize. So naturally...we had to open and start it. 

And finish it, too. (Because this makeshift table sure won't work permanently!)

It's been a restful start to the end of a good week :)

Time Flies.

Today was my first day of classes back in boring old Glenside. I officially changed my major to Global Media, which means not only a completely different academic plan, but also two more semesters abroad in the not-so-distant future (YAYY!!). But before I get into that, I probably should catch up on my posts about London...or, rather, my last few vacations away from London!

With December came buildings decorated for Christmas, finals, and most strangely, days full of "lasts".  Last study session at Senate House, last excursion, last vacation, last tube card, etc. It was such a strange feeling; I couldn't wait to go home for the holidays, but I could not wrap my mind around the fact that I was actually going to have to say goodbye. I kept saying to Claire, I wish London was in this bubble right next to Ellington...then I could go home to my bubble and come back any time I wished. Of course, the idea that I would probably never see the same buildings or people in those buildings again was not something I wanted to think about!

**My heart belongs to Senate House Library**

That's probably why this moment made my day.  A few weeks after buying this scarf in Hyde Park with Zoe (intended as a gift), I decided to wear it and keep it for myself. On my way out of Sainsbury's, I was met by a girl handing out flyers advertising a local gym. It took us both a second to realize that we were wearing the same scarf! We figured out that we had both visited the same vendor, an alpaca farmer, but at two different years and two separate festivals inLondon. 

I left Sainsbury's and then turned around and came back to take this picture, saying it was just too cool a moment to not put on the blog :)

My final excursion through Arcadia was on December 1st: Ice Skating at Somerset House. It was beautiful, but a bit crowded and a little unsafe...maybe I'm an ice rink snob but the ice wasn't quite the same as the ones at UConnn and Twin Rinks.

We had a blast, though. Here are some pictures of us waiting to get on the ice:

It was especially memorable for us FYSAE girls because one of our flatmates, Kat, tripped and fell, breaking her nose and losing her two front teeth (in the ice. like stuck.). Needless to say, she was rushed to the hospital. Here's a picture before that happened:

Kat, Ally, Anna, Me, Claire, Willie, Abriel, Eli

And here's one of Claire and me. Yes, we have matching outfits from Primark :)

This may or may not have been the moment Kat fell:

One last picture. Willie, one of our Princess Elizabeth housemates from Franklin & Marshall, plays hockey and easily weaves in and out of the stumbling city dwellers who can't skate. He took me for a ride and Claire managed to take a picture :) 

I ended up pulling my last all-nighter of the semeste; our Uber driver, ready to bring us to the airport for Venice, arrived in our driveway before the sun came up the next morning. Next stop: Italy!