Viva Venezia!!

We flew out of London early Wednesday morning and arrived in Venice in the afternoon! It was a beautiful sunny day and we quickly learned venice is pretty much impossible to navigate. There are a ton of canals and there aren't any streets, it's just like a maze. Very narrow walkways and not many street signs. After a very confusing adventure finding the hostel, we eventually got there. He actually led us to our own little house right on the canal! We had our own bedroom and bathroom and shared a kitchen and living area with 2 other French people. We dropped our stuff and headed back out to have our first Italian meal. All the restaurants are usually cute little cafe looking places with tables outside. We found one on the canal and I had some four cheese pizza, yummy!! We then decided to do a gondola ride and FOUND THE MOST ATTRACTIVE GONDOLIER EVER! Afterwards we realized we should have asked his name. But since we didnt know it, we just named him Michelangelo. The gondola ride was so cool!!! The canals of Venice are beautiful, I can't imagine living there. Lots of houses and doors are right on the edge of the water. After the ride, we wandered around until we somehow found our hostel again. We wanted to watch the Lizzie McGuire movie since well be in Rome soon but couldn't get it to work. Instead we just watched some Lizzie episodes! They are so hilarious and cheesy, but so wonderful.

Yesterday morning we woke up and after wondering around the maze of walkways and canals found a fish market. We shopped for touristy things around there and then crossed the famous Ponte di Realto. It's a huge bridge with shops on it. After getting some lunch (Margherita pizza) and gelato, we went to the Basilica dei Giovanni e Pablo. So beautiful inside! The Italian churches feel and look so different than the English ones. I'm not even sure how to describe the differences, but they really are so different. Then, we went to the major square of Venice, Piazza San Marco. It has the beautiful Basilica di San Marco and Doge's Palace. We went through the palace and saw the state rooms and the prisons in the basement. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs and walked along the sea outside the palace. On the way back to our hostel, we stopped for some dinner (Spaghetti with meat sauce... Yumm). We played some cards back in the hostel and were all so exhausted we fell asleep a little early!

This morning we woke up and I decided to wear my new long dress! We went back to Piazza San Marco and rode the lift to the top of the Campanile San Marco. We had some amazing views over all of Venice from up there! Then we waited in line to see Basilica San Marco and it was so beautiful inside. Again, so different from English churches. It was striking in a different way, not as showy and it had more of a medieval feel to it. They seem to use more mosaic and marble. Joanna and Kelsey fed some pigeons in the square (I politely declined). Some random Chinese girl came up to me and asked to take a picture with me. I'm just going to assume she thought I was someone famous. We found some lunch on the way back to the hostel (lasagna). I got tiramisu for dessert, it was DELICIOUS!! On the way back to our hostel some guy in passing told me I was bellisima. This new dress must be a hit. Wearing it everyday. Back at the hostel we picked up our bags and headed to the train station. We were on the train for about two hours before we arrived in Florence! So far, it's beautiful and we've already gotten some more gelato! Florence update in a day or two!