la bella Venezia!

Venice was one of the few places that I had been planning to visit since I knew I’d be studying abroad… I actually almost chose the Venice study abroad program through BC, but eventually chose Parma because of its more cultural classroom experience. I definitely made the right decision. Though Venice was beautiful and I look forward to going back again someday, it was extremely touristy and I’m happy I don’t have to deal with tourists on a daily basis. That said, the Venetian people were extremely accommodating and friendly, showing us around the city at night and giving us free seafood to taste! (what can I say, we’re cute!)

We left Parma early Friday morning (3 am wake up!) right after our late night at the opera–we were tired to say the least, but so excited for our amazing long weekend in Venice!

view of Venice right when you step out of the train station

beautiful canals are EVERYWHERE

my favorite breakfast… brioche and cappuccino!

street markets of fresh fruits, veggies, and fishies

Most of our weekend was spent walking around Venice getting lost (intentionally) so we could explore the beautiful side streets. Venice, the only pedestrian-only city in the entire world, was filled with so many people and boats acting as cars that my friends didn’t even notice the lack of cars until I pointed it out to them! Obviously the lack of technology didn’t detract from its liveliness!

Rialto bridge

Of course, we had to see the major “attractions” of Venice while we were there: Rialto bridge, the Grand Canal, the Cathedral, St. Mark’s piazza, etc.

the Grand Canal 🙂

the golden inside of Venice’s Cathedral

eating calamari for the first time… I did this just for you, Gram! I hope you’re proud!

After lunch on our first day we took a tour of 3 of the islands of Venice:  Murano, Burano, and Torcello. Murano, our first stop on the tour, is most famously known for its glass and is primarily inhabited by glass factories. We stopped only quickly in the factory (it was disappointingly short) and then got to look around at their collection/store. It’s absolutely amazing how they’re able to make such delicate creatures and elegant designs with mere melted glass.

heating up the glass

Next up was Burano, the island of lace and my personal favorite. It was so picturesque and colorful, both residential and commercial. It was Italy as I think most people in the world picture it.

just some of the beautiful lace

The Venetian woman I made friends with and watched for a while. She told me about her personal history with lace, how she started making the lace about 50 years ago at the school right across the piazza from where we were and how often she works. According to our conversation (all in Italian, may I add), it will take 7 women to complete the one piece of art in her hands. Each woman specializes in one stitch and does all those stitches before passing it along to the next woman. Our conversation was intriguing and I loved being able to talk to a local. Meeting new people is the best part of all these trips that I take!

an island rich with color

Last (but most certainly not least) was Torcello, the original settlement of Venice. This was the most residential area of Venice we had seen; there was nothing on the island except houses, overgrown land, and the oldest church we’ve seen in Italy so far.

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta from 639 AD (left)… the mosaics inside were gorgeous! It was so hard to believe that they’re still surviving after all these years. Santa Fosca (right) is an 11th/12th century church that we couldn’t go into.

The Last Judgment mosaic within Santa Maria Assunta

the Venetian sunset as seen from Torcello

Venice at dusk

The next day (after a much needed, looooong night’s sleep) we had decided that we were going to put our maps at the bottom of our purses and just walk through the streets that looked most interesting to us. We found ourselves delicious cappuccino and ended up in a residential area of the city with no tourists.

just a regular Venetian house and “car”

After miraculously ending up in the center of the city again (I think we had to break out a map), we did a lot of shopping (only window shopping, I promise) and had a delicious pizza for lunch. Then we went to a park where we just hung out, learned Korean games from my friend Esther, and even made some new Venetian friends, Tony and Kristian.

Piazza di San Marco

fun in the park

the Venice girls! 🙂 My roommate Cailin was also in Venice this weekend so she met up with us for a little while when we were in the park!

Jackie, Tony and I spent the rest of the night getting great pictures of the city at night and checking out some of the mellow Venetian nightlife.

the Grand Canal, even more beautiful at night

gorgeous Venetian masks

While I may not get to see places like the true tourist because of my money and time constraints, I have so much fun traveling to all these new places. My friends and I have learned how to make the most of our time in places… talking to locals, learning about their lives and crafts, taking the time to eat local cuisine and seeing the city in a more relaxed manner more like the locals would. Maybe I miss a few museums or sights because I don’t have the money to enter, but in all of these trips so far it’s been the people and experiences that have made the places so exciting. That’s the reason I love to travel… I could Google search any monument or artwork and find a picture, but the purpose of these trips is to experience culture and the pulse of the city.