Venice

The weekend after we started studying in Munster, I went to Venice, Italy. Getting there was one of the worst experiences ever. First we had to take a bus to the train station at midnight, get on a train to Duisberg at 1 in the morning, get off and wait until 3 for our bus to pick us up to take us to the airport, and catch a plane at 6. We finally got to Treviso around 8 in the morning and checked in to our hostel, which was really beautiful. The chandeliers were made of murano glass and the villa was really cute and home-y. And the hostel was only about a ten minute bus ride from Venice itself.

After a well-deserved nap, a few of us took the bus over to Venice. We mostly spent the day just wandering around and seeing the city. We got to see all of the canals, walk the tiny streets, and see all the different shops. We stopped for lunch at a little back-alley pizza/ pasta place. We thought the food was going to be awesome because the restaurant looked like it had been owned by the same family for generations, but it was so sub-par. The pizza was really good, and home made with fresh ingredients, but the pasta was probably the worst pasta I've ever had. It was legitimately from a microwave meal. And they charged us 9 euros for it. Not worth it. So for dinner we stopped at a much more reputable looking restaurant and had really really great food.  Then we tried to find a place to watch the world cup soccer game.

The last day we were there the weather was terrible. It was like the worst monsoon I have ever ever seen. So trying to see the city was really difficult. I was meeting up with my cousins too, who I haven't seen since I was 12. So Danae, Laura, Matt and I were soaking wet in St. Mark's Plaza looking for my cousins. We finally found them and they took us to lunch which was really nice. I had this great penne pasta in a bacon/tomato sauce. So good!! After lunch, Laura, my cousins, and I went into St. Marks Basilica to see the inside. The inside is much more beautiful than the outside. The walls are covered entirely by huge mosaics that depict different religious scenes and meaningful things. And then you can walk along the outside of the rooof of the building. It was kind of scary because the floor slants out towards the street and it was slippery from the rain. There was also a mini-museum that had manuscripts of the old church song books, paintings, and tapestries. And then we had to finally leave Venice and make the trip back home.