What does a study abroad student do when they finally start to understand the city they are living in? They leave and go visit another one. Yet that’s one of the perks of living in Europe.
This weekend a large group of friends and I decided to take a day trip to Venice for Valentines Day and Carnivale. It was quite an adventure.
After a six hour long bus ride we arrived in chilly Venice, promptly bought our Carnivale masks equipped with more glitter and feathers than the average sorority house, and caught a ferry to Piazza San Marco.
I have been to Venice multiple times with friends and family but it was entirely new experience during carnival. To begin, it was much more crowed, but the streets were alive with all kinds of crazy costumes and elaborate masks. We wondered around the square for a while and posed with the various street artists until meeting up with our tour group again. From there we were able to witness a glass blowing demonstration which was rare in this section of Venice. It was amazing to see how a few couple rotations of the glass or slight manipulations could transform the entire piece into something totally new.
After the demonstration we were able to find a trattoria that didn’t look entirely too touristy and settled down for some Prosecco (champagne/sparkling wine) and pizza. How Italian of us right? And of course we had to finish off the night with some gelato (the true Valentine) and a scenic gondola ride through the various canals.
Venice captured our hearts (and stomachs) and I will forever be grateful for such a wonderful trip with such sweet friends.
