A Day in Venice

Ciao familia,

Word of the day: Bella (Beautiful)

Fact of the day: There is a bridge in Venice called the “bridge of sighs” because the bridge led to the prison, and the prisoners knew what awaited them. They were led to rooms where there were no windows, bathrooms, and so many people were in there that there was very little standing room. Add that to the fact they only got feed every couple of days and you’ve got prisoners dying within weeks. Only a couple people were ever recorded escaping. Its very interesting stuff, if you want to read more about it here’s a link: https://www.visitvenezia.eu/en/venetianity/discover-venice/the-dreaded-prisons-of-venice-the-severe-justice-according-to-the-serenissima

https://www.visit-venice-italy.com/bridges-venice/bridge-of-sighs-venice-italy-ponte-sospiri.htm

Welcome to day 2, or day 1 depending on how you want to look at it. Today was the first day waking up in Italy, more specifically, Venice. As you probably noticed, above I included a word of the day and fact of the day. I figured it would be a fun thing to start doing. We started off with an easy and fitting first word for you all. The fact of the day will be something pertaining to where I am, today I was in Venice and on our tour we learned about this prison and I found it interesting so here we are.

Alright, so first impressions…with this being my 3rd country I’m quickly learning how places can be so different from what you’re expecting. When you think of Italy, or any travel destinations, you think of all the beautiful pictures and videos you’ve seen but you tend to forget that this is also the home of many people and not all places will look the same. It’s not some magical land that is all butterflies and rainbows. It’s a lot of run down streets and super markets. The drive from the airport to the place we were staying was underwhelming to say the least. When I went out for the first time with the other girls and we took the bus to Venice, it was not what I was expecting. To be fair I was also hot, hungry, hormonal, and tired soooo. But it was just underwhelming overall.

I think of explaining it as if you’re taking a trip to Disneyland. You’re expecting this magical world, but in order to get to it you have to drive through Anaheim first. I felt the same way when I went to Greece, specifically Santorini. You see these beautiful pictures of these big white and blue buildings and everyone talks about all the fun things they did, but then you get there and its basically just a giant rock out of water with a lot of farmland until you get to those specific tourist locations. It was the same here, and I think it’ll be the same everywhere. The only place I haven’t really experienced this was Hawaii and New Zealand and who knows why that is. I think if you travel a lot you’ve come to know and expect that, but for those  of us who are just staring out it’s something you have to learn.

Now, was today underwhelming? Absolutely not. After getting a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, we all got on a bus that then took us to a boat that then took us to Venice and this Venice was very different from yesterdays Venice. This Venice was THE Venice and it was absolutely incredible. There were so many places to see and explore. I’m not sure how else to explain it other than “it was like the movies”. It was just beautiful. The architecture was stunning and I could’ve spent a lifetime staring at it.

When we got to Venice we walked around a little as a group before going to this glass blowing shop where we watched how glass items were made I guess, idk how to explain it but it was cool. I’ll add pictures and videos below. I almost spent a lot of money when we went to their shop, because how cool would it be to say “oh ya those were hand made in Italy” but I reminded myself it was only my first day and said if I wanted them that bad I could come back when I’m rich. I did get a cute diamond bracelet though.

After the glass shop we met up with a very lovely tour guide whose family has lived in Venice for generations, we even saw her daughter while on the tour. It was very informative and lasted a little over an hour. Also, I should mention, IT. IS. HUMID/HOT. HERE. So if you’re coming during summer be prepared to be sweaty all the time. But after the tour we all grabbed something quick to eat and then we had gondola rides, which were really pretty, but I wont lie we had our phones out the entire time…but at least we have pictures and videos now.

Then we all went our separate ways and had time to look around ourselves. Elena and I went and decided to go into a church but first I needed to find an appropriate outfit, so for the next hour and a half we went to a handful of shops looking for SOMETHING, and trying on clothes while sweating was not fun at all. But eventually I did find a really cute outfit and it was only $30. Then we found Vona and we all went into the church and it was stunning. I sound like a broken record but seriously it was amazing, I mean just look at these pictures.

Then Elena and I went to this tower (I promise I’ll start writing down the names of places eventually) and seeing the view from above was, you guessed it, amazing.

We met up with the group right after and got onto boats of 10 and road back to where we met up with the bus and went back to the hotel/hostel. Everyone else went wine tasting and I stayed back and showered and went to bed lol. But I had a great time getting to relax! So thats it for today, can’t wait for tomorrow.