Venezia Venezia Venezia

It's been awhile since I have last written so I will catch you all up to date! I moved into a new room (on a different floor in my dorm). Yay for no mold! Me and my roommate like our new room, although I'm sad that I no longer have a view of Rome...instead I have a view of the building's courtyard which is still beautiful!

By the way here is a picture of me and my roommate Maddie (she's awesome). She deals with my talking in my sleep habit just fine. It seems like everyday she has a new story to tell me about my slumbering mumbles. This picture was taken the night we went to a discotheque, which was a blast.

So last weekend we went to Venice for Carnavale. We spent Saturday through Monday there. I really have just one word for Venice. Charming. It was beautiful and the weather turned out to be sunny but a little chilly.

Highlights of the weekend: I spent the weekend with three great friends: Lindsey, Elizabeth, and Emily. We took a gondola ride, which is a very touristy thing to do but it was well worth it. Our Gondolier Marco has been giving rides for 25 years and his father and grandfather have all been in the business. We also went to Murano, an island near Venice that specializes in making glass. This is no ordinary glass, it was extraordinary! Glass makers were moved to this island to keep their glass making techniques a secret. We saw a demonstration of glass blowing, which was very cool. We bought some masks, had a Venetian dinner, and roamed around the city which was crowded with people in masks in costumes! It is basically their version of Halloween but it celebrates the beginning of Lent.



















I ran into my friend Meghan! I seem to find her everywhere all over Rome and even in Venice!!! There was an opening ceremony, which turned out to be a play that we did not understand. It reminded me of the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame and the festival that they have. We also saw all of the Loyola people all around Venice, such a small world.

Venice is not easy to navigate! But the city is very walkable. Most of our two days there were spent walking and exploring. We visited San Marco Square and St. Marco's Church which was very elaborate and beautiful! On our last night we went to Campo Santa Margharita where they had a DJ called "Club Wah Wah." We met people from Venice, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Istanbul. After dancing and chatting we called it a night and got some sleep before our flight the next morning.

Here is an example of the costumes that people wore for Carnavale. I also saw superhero's, jellyfish, people from the middle ages, the Joker, and "kings and queens." Apparently there are many costume balls that people attend that go up to 900 Euro for dinner and a dance. Maybe someday??

Flying into Rome was great because I saw the Swiss Alps and the Colosseum from the air. I'm beginning to become more and more comfortable with flying with great views like that.