Ciao!!

So we finally made it to Italy and are already having a great time! Getting here was a bit of a struggle because we had to catch a train from Nordeney to Milano, where we stayed for only a few hours, before hoping another train to our final destination, Venice.

We’re staying with Miki’s friend, Rachel (a fellow Longhorn!!), in Sacile which is only a relatively short train ride away from Venice. My goal in Italy is to try all the essential Italian foods in Italy. We’ve already had the pizza, which left much to be desired unfortunately, and the gelato, which was amazing!! We’re about to leave for Venice, our destination city, and I hope it will be a great time!

(A few hours later)

Venice was fun! I was a little surprised to see just how touristy this city was. It’s literally shop after shop after shop, not that I’m complaining. It just definitely wasn’t what I expected. The funniest thing that happened was that as Catherine and I were walking through the city, she pointed out that it was neat we didn’t have to worry about any cars in the streets. That was when it hit me. Since Venice is a city on water, there weren’t any cars around! We were literally walking in the streets of the city.

After purchasing a few souvenirs, we took a ferry to the island of Murano. Murano is known for its glass blowing and glass creations, so much like Venice, it was a city of shops on the water. However, Murano was so much nicer than Venice. It was cleaner, less crowded, and prettier. The people were friendlier, and overall it was just a more relaxed place to be. We got to see a glass blowing show where we watched a “maestro” (master) of the craft create a horse statue and vase out of a ball of glass! Then we enjoyed some Italian cuisine next to the small river running through the city.

Back in Venice, we decided to visit St. Mark’s square, on the very edge of the city. It was a huge area filled with people and restaurants and of course the dueling orchestras!! We decided to sit down, order dinner, and enjoy the music of the evening. The two orchestras were right next to each other in two different restaurants. As one would play, the other would rest. The ambiance of the square was great. Picture it being night time, with small lights all over keeping the square lit, orchestras playing beautiful music, and delicious Italian food in front of you. It was really a lovely evening.

(The next day/evening)

We got to take a Venetian gondola ride on the water!!! It was really fun and very relaxing. Being the silly tourists that we are, we decided to wave to everyone we saw, both on and off the water. Luckily for us, people seem to like to wave and take pictures of other people on gondola rides! Haha Our guide didn’t speak the best English, so whenever he pointed out something important, we only understand a few of the words he said. We ended up making up our own interpretations of the places we saw. Overall, I’d say this was the best part of the Italian trip so far!

Back in Sacile, we went to dinner at a local hotspot where I had, hands down, the BEST spaghetti ragu of my life!! Afterwards, we went to a small wine bar, enjoyed a lovely glass of desert wine along with scoop of Italian gelato before calling it a night!