Sienna and Venice! Bellisimo!

This was a wonderful weekend!
Friday I spent the day in Sienna with my roommate Bonnie and her father. They had a rental car and we drove about an hour and a half out of the city into the country. The scenery was beautiful, I can only imagine what its like in the spring and summer months. The city itself is smaller then I expected, but they have a huge soccer stadium, so that was fun! We enjoyed an authentic Italian lunch and I also had a gelato cone. It was nice and peaceful!

Saturday and Sunday, Alex, Molly Taylor and I spent the weekend in Venice. What an incredible time we had! When the train first arrived at the St Lucia Train Station, we were surprised to see we truly were surrounded by water. Upon exiting the train station, we bought tickets for the water taxi to take us to our hostel. We were so enchanted by the city “streets” or canals as they are really called, and took tons of pictures of the surroundings. When we exited the boat, we found out hostel and went to check in.

When we got there, we were unpleasantly surprised to see that there was nobody there. We called, and knocked on doors, nothing. Finally, someone came up the stairs and checked us in, but he wasn’t very polite and we were a bit frustrated by then. After settling in and dropping off our bags, we set out in search of a gondola.

Before we left Florence, we checked the weather for the weekend in Venice and were told it would be raining, so we packed for cooler weather. Even though it only rained a little in the evening on Saturday, we were glad for the warmer clothes. We got down to the canal and found a gondola and driver, named Marco. He offered us 60 Euro, which is a total bargain, to ride on the gondola, so the four of us split the cost and smiled in delight. The boat ride was so peaceful; we snapped tons of photos and asked lots of questions. He took us by some buildings that were 500 or more years old! It was quite historical.

That night for dinner, we met up with three other girls who are here at school from the United States. One girl goes to school with two of my roommates back in Boston. Dinner was very tasty, but we were not expecting so much water! We decided to eat right on the edge of the Grand Canal, and where this was a great idea, we had no idea about high tide! When the sirens for the city went off, we asked the waiter what it was for. He told us it meant the tide was coming in, and in the next hour or so the water would raise into the streets all over the city. The hour passes quickly, and while I am enjoying dinner, I start to feel the puddles below my feet. By now, my shoes have soaked up water and my feet are wet! What an experience!

The next morning we decided we wanted to go to the island of Murano, and because of the high tide that was still unusually high, the taxis were having a hard time getting under the bridges in the canals. I decided to walk around the corner and check things out, and I found a guy who was in his boat, engine running, music blaring, and I asked him where we could catch a taxi. He tried to show me on the map, and after telling me how beautiful and sexy I was, I asked him if he wanted to have seven beautiful American women in his boat. He said, kindly, for 50 Euro, so I hollered for the girls, told them the situation, and with huge smiles and squeals, we loaded the boat the Murano!

It was amazing, the glass blowing factory, which we were given a private tour, was incredible, and the art that comes from this island is fantastic! We all bought little trinkets to come home with and were so happy to have had such a wonderful experience!

Miss you all terribly, hope all is well! Xoxo- Ciao Bella