I decided to start a travel blog for Justin and my adventures through Europe! I will do some brief recap of what we have been up to so far.
Venice: the beautiful city in the water! This city is unreal with water canals instead of roads-there isn't one car on the 118 islands that make-up Venice. A quote of an email I wrote:
"It is the epitomy of romance and beauty. You arrive on a boat because it is an island (118 islands in fact) and you are surrounded by gorgeous ancient buildings from another world with red roofs, iron balconies, flowers, all packed together to form tiny alleyways at the edge of the water. Massive churches are everywhere with extravagant arches and stained glass and filled with ornate decorations and Renaissance paintings. Marble statues are around every corner in the streets and you just feel like it's a magical place. Cafes and stores selling pretty glass art line the water edge. People come here for inspiration: painters and musicians are in every alleyway not just to make money but they seem so alive here! At night the main plaza next to the famous Basillica church has several string quartets playing at different ends of the square, and in the moonlike couples begin to randomly dance to the music. People are singing in Italian as they walk down the street. Of course the gondolas are gliding through the water carrying overly affectionate couples-feels like everyone is on their honeymoon! Basically it's everything I hoped Italy would be and more!"
Justin and I took a gondola ride. It looked pretty cheesy but thought we could not leave Venice without one! We did some expert bargaining by asking for the price and then walking away saying we would come back later, and the driver ran after us giving us a discount of 20 euros less! It was a 50 minute ride through back canals of the city, and we saw some famous buildings that housed Marco Polo and Oscar Wilde. We also had some free Italian music thanks to a fat Italian man in a gondola behind us singing and playing the accordian.
We finished the night at a restaurant near the famous Rialto bridge, and it was delicious. I love Italian food! Great start to our adventures.
