Venecia

10 days in 1 backpack? I am good! :)

Back from my 10 day trip around Europe! I love Italy and Greece. :) Our first stop was Venice. We thought we were off to a rough start when our bus to Malaga (cheaper to fly out of Malaga - 1.5 hours south of me - than Granada) was 20 minutes late. The boys in our group were all pretty laid back but Niki and I were super stressed about missing our flight. Turns out European airports are nothing like O´Hare. If you give yourself about 20-25 minutes to get through security that is more than enough time. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and our flight was delayed about an hour. By the time we got to Venice and figured out how to get from the airport to our hostel it was about 10:30 pm. When we finally got to our hostel the door was locked and there was a sign saying to call this woman to check in and it would be approximately 20 minutes. By this time we were all starving and right across the street from a restaurant with delicious looking pizza. The woman arrived in 20 minutes but we spent the next hour trying to check in. We are still not sure if this woman was just way to old to be working or quite possibly drunk. Either way we finally got our rooms, grabbed some pizza and headed to bed. Unfortunately, the pizza in Italy did not exceed our expectations. I did find out that I like mushrooms though. :) And at least now I am positive Chicago pizza is the best in the world.

First meal in Italy

Our first stop the next morning was a Venetian mask shop. We were able to try on masks and watch as they were being made by hand. Our goal was to get to St. Mark's Square that day but it took all morning because we stopped at more stores than I can even count. There were many distractions along the way including jewelry, clothes, food, bridges, workshops, gondolas, soldiers and a first hand view of Venice sinking.

The Mask Maker

My new favorite outfit :)

First of a million rivers I crossed

Venice is sinking in the background!

St. Mark's Basilica was beautiful but my favorite part of the day was the view from the top of the bell tower. We could see the whole island from there. And we were lucky (not sure if that is the right word) enough to be at the top of the bell tower when the clock struck 3pm. I jumped about 12 feet in the air and lost hearing for a few minutes but it was definitely worth it. :)

Entrance to St. Mark's Basilica

Saying a prayer for a special someone inside the Basilica.

View from the Bell Tower

There was not much of a night life in Venice but we went out for late dinners and wine every night. And this is where I discovered that I love pasta with clams and mussels. :)

Yum Yum Yum Pasta and Clams :)

The next day we took a boat to Murano, the island famous for glass blowing. We we able to watch an awesome demonstration and look at (but not buy) some really expensive glass.