THE ITALIAN JOB -- PART THREE, VENICE

Alyssa, Amber, and I got to Venice and road a bus to the main boat station. On the bus, we met some ladies from America, who were taking a 2-week Italian vacation. They were so nice, and we enjoyed talking with them for the 40 minute ride.

After getting off the bus, we bought tickets for the "water bus," which would take us to the city of Venice.... out on the water! :) Our hostel was called Ostello Venizia, and was right off of the stop Zitelle on the water bus. -- We got to our hostel after about a 30 minute boat ride, where we passed several huge cruise ships and saw many Venician buildings lit up on the water. It was so pretty at night! :) (and also quite cold! lol) Our hostel ended up being very awesome! Not just students stayed there, but also some families and random vacationers. We got to pay a little bit less, because some machine was messing up.... we didn't complain! :) We were in a room with one other lady. She was from France and was retired, so she decided to take a relaxing 6-day vacation to Venice. She told us of which boat stops to take if we wanted to see the best sites of Venice, and also told us the must-sees of Venice.

The next morning, we got up and had a roll for breakfast (eew! At least it was free). We jumped on the water bus and headed along the grand canal to the center of the city. -- Once we got off the boat, we walked to San Marco Square, which was pigeon-filled, just like I remembered! :) It was pretty funny, though. Amber ran through a big clump of pigeons, just like all of the other little children were doing. :)

We walked around and shopped a little bit. I also ate a piece of pizza that had artichokes, hot dog, sauce, and pepperoni on it.... now, I know this sounds pretty gross, but it was one of the best pieces of pizza that any human has ever eaten!!!! Oh, Italian food! :) Then, based on the directions of a random street artist, we wound our way across the entire city to the other side of the river. We then caught another water bus to the Murano glass island. This glass is very very famous throughout Italy, and I can see why! Some of the designs are so intricate, and the colors are very vibrant! There were Santas, spiders, Shreks, cats, bowls and plates, chandeliers, jewelry, and just about everything made out of glass that you could imagine! We watched one of the main crafstmen make a cat statue in about 10 seconds. It was amazing!!!!! :) I bought several glass things for presents, and then we headed back on the water bus to the middle of the city.

When we got back to San Marco's square, the city was out and alive. We saw several bands playing, and listened to some lovely Italian music for a bit, while Amber played with the pigeons! -- We looked over towards one of the stores, and saw a couple that had just been married!!! They were so cute, and were taking pictures in the square! :) -- I went into a shop and bought some of Italy's famous leather, too. This stuff is of very excellent quality, and is all handmade.

Something that we didn't know about Venice, but that we definately found out, was that Venice is home to a very famous Carnival. There were so many shops that had traditional Venician masks in them. They kind of looked like the Mardi Gras masks that I'd seen in New Orleans, but there were SO many more types, and they were all handmade. My favorite mask was the crab one! -- We even watched a man create and paint some of the masks!

Venice was definately one of the most relaxing cities that I've ever been in. I saw some grafitti on a wall that said, "No Work, No Stress!" <-- maybe the Italians are trying to tell me something! :)