Did they build Venice first… or the water?

Surprisingly, I was not the one to ask this question, although I was maybe thinking it. Venice is everything I thought it would be and more. I thought Rome was pretty, I thought Florence was pretty, I thought the Tuscany countryside was beautiful… but Venice is perfect and so picturesque.

So let’s back up. Today (this is actually yesterday.. because it's now Saturday morning) started when Mariel’s alarm went off at 6 AM.. I thought I was in some sort of video game and had that weird feeling where I didn’t know where I was. I got up around 6:15, finished packing, ran across the street to grab some juice and a croissant (it wasn’t even open but she opened early for me J) We met out front at 7 and started our adventure. The bus we needed to take was way too crowded to fit 25 people and 25 suitcases.. so we decided to walk to the bus station to catch an empty bus. Success. Our bus driver was driving a million miles a minute and I started feeling so incredibly sick. Finally, after what felt like the longest bus ride of my life, we got to the train station. I had quite the experience with the bathrooms yet again… let me just say thank goodness for Mariel or I would have possibly pulled a scene from Bridesmaids. We made it to the train (we actually got on the right one this time!) and I slept the entire way. After arriving, we were going to take a water taxi but the line was too long, so we decided we could all use some exercise and got to walking. Thank goodness for Kyle and his good sense of direction.. cause he maneuvered us all through the streets of Venice (fat/large people could not live here... the alleyways are literally the size of one person) and got us to our hotel, Albergo Guerrato. I need to look this up but someone said it was built in the 1200s and was first a nunnery. Some of the furniture is from when it first opened.. how nuts! Our rooms are so adorable… we decided to split up and draw random roommates this weekend. I’m rooming with Chelsea, Kaitlyn, Mary Katherine, and Katie C. (original roommates J.) The building layout is pretty neat.. we're not all near each other or on the same floor but we can look across and see the other rooms. Kate is staying in the lower window, we can see her sleeping which is actually kinda creepy, and I said I should just throw things across to get her attention. 

As we start our walk to find a place to eat, I see all the seagulls flocking, look at Kate, and say, “someone is definitely going to get pooped on.” Two seconds later, MK and Dana get pooped on. Let me just say… girls don’t deal well with getting pooped on (except MK and Dana handled it way better than I ever would)… screaming and laughter went on for quite awhile and we made quite the scene. We just wanted to let all of Venice know that JMU has arrived. 

We split into two groups since 20 people is a huge group.. and our group went to this restaurant called Al Nono Risorto. I ate an entire pizza… and felt as a big as a whale. The atmosphere was perfect and it was a great way to start off the weekend. After lunch, we decided to retrace our tracks and try to find a pastry shop we saw on the way in. Somehow we managed to get there and it was yummmmmm in my tum. Okay, an entire pizza and a cream puff. John I hope you’re ready to be my personal trainer when I return!!!

Since I split up from my roommates at lunch, I come back and ask for the key (at hotels in Europe you always return the key to the front desk before leaving.) I go upstairs… walk in my room and decide to go see the other room… as soon as I step outside the door slams and I’m locked out. Oh, this poor lady. She’s sweet as can be but I’m sure she’s already sick of us. After everyone got ready (all 20 of us) we venture out. The plan was for those who hadn’t already been on a gondola to ride one and then get dinner and meet up with the others…. But when you have 20 girls plans don’t always go as planned. 13 of us ended up splitting up and getting dinner at this very cute little restaurant. We all got salads (too much pasta and pizza recently) but then ended with dessert… so we didn’t feel too bad about ourselves. I’ve spent entirely too much money today. Venice is veryyyyy expensive. After dinner we stopped at this little mart (Lori called it the 7-11) and got some mini wine bottles which we took on our gondola ride. It was perfect. Fabio (our gondolier) told us there are 118 islands and every island has its own church… and there are 420 total bridges. There are bridges every which way… but when the city is made around water what do you expect.

We passed Marco Polo’s house… and Fabio showed us the place that is sinking the quickest. Pretty neat I’ll be able to say I saw it J After the gondola ride we met up with the rest of the group… but drinks were basically 12 US dollars (9.5 euros) and a few of us we’ve had enough food, drinks, and calories for the day and called it a night pretty early. Venice doesn't have the best nightlife but I am 100% okay with getting home early and getting a good night sleep... we aren't getting enough of it these days.