Venice, Italy

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Our trip to Venice included myself, Jennison, our two roommates, and one of our Spanish friends, Santi. Venice was absolutely beautiful, the waterways are something I’ve always seen on T.V, but that does not quite capture it.  The major things that stood out to me were the food, how expensive EVERYTHING was, and the food!  However, I do not think I have mentioned this yet, but Spain does not have the clean up after your dog law, so there is dog poop everywhere.  After a month here, I have not gotten used to it and may be my biggest annoyance with Spain.  Venice was much cleaner, but still had this weird stench that I think might just be a Europe thing?  The food was awesome!  I think all we did was eat and drink while we were there.  We did go to the large square where are all the pigeons are and the girls fed them, I got some great photos of this! 

A great moment, which is another reason why I love my wife, was having a cup of coffee on the water.  It was pretty cold in Venice and after having lunch and walking back to our apartment we decided it would be fun to have coffee at an outside restaurant on the water and just enjoy the day and observe.  We receive this shot-glass-portion of coffee and just sat and people-watched.  When we received the bill, I grabbed it and took a look and for the life if me could not figure it out.  It said 11.00€, and I first thought hmmm it must mean 1.10, but that seems to cheap, then I thought we had the wrong bill... After further review I noticed the line items, which listed two coffees for 5.50 each.  I started laughing really hard out loud not noticing the waiter had been standing there the whole time. I hand the bill to Jennison still laughing and she quickly caught on.  Basically, we just spent about fifteen dollars on two shots of coffee… haha!  I guess what really made it was funny was the day before I had ordered a beer that ended up to cost 7 euros… (which is around $10). I had sworn to check the prices before ordering anything again, oops!  So, this time I really swore not to order anything with out checking the prices first! 

Hers

Oh Venice… I just cannot believe this place exists in real life. In our world. In our grasp. Our flatmate, Lauren, turned 30 last week and got to choose a destination to celebrate. The sleepy canals, shuttered-windows, endless wine, and delicious food drew us all in as “the place” to commemorate this monumental birthday. I have visited Venice twice in the past, about six and eight years ago and was curious to see how this experience would be different from the previous ones. We flew Ryanair from Valencia with an additional companion, Santiago, one of our new Spanish friends. As soon as we approached this floating city, I remembered the feeling. I love Italy. It is a difficult emotion to explain, but I just love everything about it. The smell of pizza and homemade pasta, the sound of the language, the wine, the narrow alleys and small doorways you seem to roam through for hours when you’re lost- but always manage to find your way home…

We stayed in an adorable apartment right in the center near Piazza San Marco. The three of us girls amped up the courage to feed the pigeons in the square in hopes to catch some silly photos and walk away unscathed, with clean clothes (and hair). We spent most of our time (and money) roaming the streets, eating amazing food, and drinking wine. Brian seemed to really appreciate this city and was impressed by the views nearly every time we turned a corner.

Highlight of the trip: At night, we would buy a bottle of wine (or three) to go and explore the streets and various islands, absent of tourists, in the company of good friends… IN ITALY!!

Piazza San Marco with the whole gang!

Feeding the pigeons in Piazza San Marco