Jenna in Venice

One of the best things about living in Europe is being able to catch a relatively cheap flight and jet off to another country very easily. So when your college roommate says she is going to be in Italy and Spain for a few weeks and asks if you can meet her somewhere along the way you can say "Yes!"

My college roommate, Laura Banks, went to PA school after college at Emory. She graduated in December 2009 and took her boards the following February. As a grauduation gift to herself for all of her hard work she took a trip to Europe, along with another girlfriend from PA school. When she asked me to join her and gave me her itinerary I decided I wanted to join her in Venice, since it was one of my favorite Italian cities. This also happened to be during Aaron's busy season so he was working long hours and spending most of his time in the office. So it was the perfect time for a girls getaway!

I flew in to Venice February 8th in the morning and made my way to our hotel to wait for Laura and her friend Sarah to join me. Luckily it was a nice sunny day so I was able to sit by the Grand Canal and people watched while I waited.

 

One thing to note is that I had always traveled in Europe with Aaron at my side. I hadn't gone anywhere really without him, besides around town in London. He is amazing at figuring out maps and directions and which way is north. I, however am the complete opposite! If I am unsure which way to go and I choose which way to go I always, without fail, make the wrong choice. Also to note Venice is very hard to navigate. The streets are small and mostly unmarked. There are all sorts of canals in the way. You can be going down a street and turn a corner and the only place to go is into the canal. It is an extremely easy city to get lost in! So I was a little apprehensive traveling with Laura and Sarah not knowing if they were navigationally challenged or not.

After awhile Laura and Sarah met me at the hotel and after dropping all of our luggage off and freshening up we were ready to hit the streets/canals of Venice! We made our way to St. Mark's Square to get our bearings. This was Laura and Sarah's first time to Venice so I got to show them around a little bit. They did surprise me though and were great with directions! I think I told them numerous times over the three days how thankful I was that they knew how to read a map!!

 

 

 

After getting our bearings in the square we decided to go into St. Mark's Basilica. After all the many cathedrals and basilica's we had been in I think St. Mark's is one of my favorites. It is amazing when you walk in and you see all the gold mosaics it is just breathtaking. It is so big and open on the inside and just beautiful. Unfortunately there are no pictures allowed inside so you will have to go check it out yourself.

Next we made our way next door to the Doge's Palace. Luckily Laura and Sarah had become fans of Rick Steves, just like Aaron and me, so we followed his tour of the Palace. I believe we described the Palace in our post of our previous trip to Venice. There are no photos allowed inside of the Doge's Palace, but I was able to sneak a few...

After leaving the Palace it was starting to get late so we enjoyed some people watching in the square and headed off to find a place for dinner. The wonderful thing about Italy is that their food is so delicious! We enjoyed some delicious pasta and pizza and headed back to the hotel. After getting turned around a few times we made it back safely and with full bellies and tired feet we went to bed to rest up for the next day of adventures!

 

The place we stayed included breakfast every morning but they did not have a breakfast room. So instead we told the innkeeper what time we wanted breakfast and they delivered it on a tray to us the next morning. Breakfast in bed or room service is one of my greatest joys in life! Aaron and I never get room service in a hotel just because it is so expensive and the food is not so good! We did have room service all the time on our honeymoon because we stayed at an all inclusive resort and this was included of course! So to have our breakfast delivered to us in the morning was a true delight!

 

After having breakfast we started our day with a stroll around Venice. We happened to be there during Carnival. We were thrilled to find out that Carnival in Venice means that locals and tourists alike dress up in baroque dress, see the following photos. We had a great time seeing everyone's costumes that some had spent a year working on. Several of the people we saw were walking around as couples in matching costumes!

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually we made our way to the Rialto Bridge where we battled the crowds to take the obligatory Rialto Bridge pictures. Honestly I love it and I cannot get enough of Venice and the canals and the scenic briges over the canals. The whole city is just so romantic to me! It is a great place to fall in love again! Too bad my husband wasn't with me on this trip!! After all that walking it was time to refuel with some pizza and gelato! :) Yummy!

 

 

For the afternoon we had plans to take the vaparetto out to the island of Murano to go to the glass blowing factories. We even indulged in a glass blowing show and it was fascinating to watch. After spending the afternoon on the island and spending too much money on glass souvenirs we headed back to Venice for one more delicious dinner of pasta.

 

The next morning Laura and Sarah had to get up early to catch a train to the next city on their European tour. I rode on the Vaparetto with them to send them off and to have one of the best views of the city, from the Grand Canal. When I got back to the hotel I enjoyed my breakfast and took my time getting ready before I had to depart to go back home to London.

It was a quick two days in Venice but I am so glad that I got to spend that time catching up with Laura and meeting her friend Sarah. We had a great time navigating the city, soaking up the history, savoring the delicious food and watching all the costumed carnivalers. It was an amazing two days and I am so thankful that Laura invited me to join them on their European tour!