Venice

Hello Family and Friends,

That follow even thought I am really bad at staying up to date on what is going on in my life. But look here I am doing this past weekend before I Leave for EASTER BREAK!!

VENICE, Italy

Thursday April 2 through Sunday April 5 2009

Thursday was an early morning day for the whole group all 35 JWU students and the professor. Our wake up call was at 5AM. We got on a the bus witch we filled with our suite cases. Then even more people got on the bus and the bus was over crowded. Then we go to the train station it was still DARK. Then we got on our 10min train raid to wait 45min for our first 3hour train ride that took us to Milan then on to Venice.

When we got into Venice it was like 3pm and raining. This was the first city that when you walked out of the train station that you really fell like you are in the city that you planed on traveling too.

Then we got on the water bus or the vesbies to go to our hotel. Our hotels were on the main board walk of Venice. Once my Professor checked us in it was like 16:00hour, and we had the rest of the night to our salves. So my friend David and I went out and explored the city. We did this till about 21:30hour. By the time I got back to my room I was EXOSTED, a half a day of traveling and then 5hours walking around a city, can you say I sleped like a baby.

Friday April 3, 2009

This day started out a lot later at 8:45am when the group meet up for our 9am walking tour of the city. Our tour guide was great she was Venicine and have grown up and lived in Venice all of her life. She gave lots of history about they city, and what were see. She also told us about the government system that they had in the 14 century.

Then she took us into the Famous church of the government that took over 200 years to build (I don’t remember if that number is right but it took along time).

Then she took us into where all of the locals lives and told us about how many islands are in Venice 117. Every time you walk over a bridge you leave one island and enter into a new one. Each island has its own town square and church.

The cool thing about the city is that there is no slums the rich and the poor live right next to each other.

This went on for two hours, we learned about Marko Polo, and saw his house. That was really cool. The tour ended at 11am and it ended at the Rialto Bridge. This is the major bridge in Venice. It is lined with shops on both sides, and on the other side are all of the little Wine bars when millions of young people hang out.

When the tour was over we had free time till 15:00hour when we had a guided tour of Hotel Daneli. This was one of the first hotels in Venice. It is also one of the most Expensive Hotels in the world as well.

So in our free time I got lunch with some of girl friends and did some shopping. What I bought this day was a really nice leather hand bag. This bag is really nice it is bad of ITALIAN leather and feels like BUTTER. The color is a light brown, no crazy leather colors for me. The best part about buying this bag was that it was ON SALE FOR 30% OFF. My friend Michelle would be very PROUD parent.

15:00h –Hotel tour of the Daneli

This hotel is beautiful. The size of it and the rooms are all decorated in silk wall coverings. The wall sconses are all made of Merono Glass. The tour guide was the one of the mangers. He gave us the whole history of the hotel. He also gave us the major love stories that happened there. He told us who the major long term residents of years past were. This is quite a hotel.

After our hotel tour our day was fee again.

Before coming to Venice most of us had heard about Vineo founts where you can fill up a 2 litter bottle with WINE for about 3euros. So what do a group of 20 and 21 years do. We make the treick to fill up our 2litter plastic bottles with WINE. Of cores we got lost going there. The cool thing is our professor also went with us, she is a really cool Lady. She also bought us all GELTO that was really nice of her. That happed because one of the Eleanor was jocking around and said she should and she did.

Then we get to the vineo fountain, this is just the KOOLEST place ever, it is a hole in the wall place with just hug kegs of wine.

After our little wine trip, a group of 10 of us when on a goundla rides. You can only fit 6 people in a golinda so we got two 5 in one and 5 in the other. That was really nice. That lasted for about 45minets. That we did a little after 18:00h.

DINNER TIME the best time of the day. We went back to the same place we got lunch, and this time we had to many people for one table we had to get 2 tables. After that we were going to go to a jazz club/bar but they did not play live jazz so we just ended up walking around with our bottles of wine and our Plastic cups from the bath room. We were such lushes. We walked around till about 23:30h.

Saturday April 4th 2009

My tour day, so what did we do. We spent about an hour in Dodger’s places, and saw 2 church. They were cool but you could not take photos on the in side but I was ok with that. We saw many street performers today as well there was an opera singer and a guy playing the water glasses.

Then that was the end of planed items for my tour day. So then there was about 6 of us that went out to Merono Island to see the glass factory and of course buy glass. I saw them make a horse and blow a Vase. I would tell you what I got there but that would be giving gifts away. When after that we got lunch, and window shopped for about another hour or so.

Then I went back and walked around the city buy my self and got some art work, and then did more gift shopping. Then it was time to dinner and I met up with some friends. And of cores what did we get PIZZA and GELTO. Then it was time for our 20:00h ghost tour.

This tour was great, our tour guide’s family had been in Venice since the 1400’s. She told us all tour ghost stories. She also told us history about the city that we did not learn on our walking tour.

The city is very well know for their masks, and that is because before street lamps the laies had no light and people would kill the nobles and the used the masks to not show noblelity. The ones with the long noeses were wearn by the doctors with herbs so that they could not smell the dead bodies.

The City of Venice is one of the most hunted cities because every building has at least one ghost. People have seen the ghost when it is foggy out and here voices all over the city.

Then this tour was over it was about 21:30 or a little after. And some of us went back to the hotels. I went back to pack because I was not sure how I was going to bring everything back, in my book bag.

This was a great weekend in Venice.

So the whole time in Venice the whole group of students lived off of PIZZA and GELTO because they are really cheep and you could find them every where and they were filling too.

Sunday April 5th 2009

Traveling back to Switzerland, was an early morning. But this was do so that we could have 4 hours to do what ever we wanted to in the City of Milano, the fashion capital of the world. I did not do any shopping here because I spent way to much money in Venice. But I did see the 3rd larches church in the world.

And was it amazing, world can not describe it. Even the photos I took of don’t even do it just it ether.

We also saw that mall there as well, it is nice but I could not afford to buy anything there because it is all name brand everything.

Then we got back to school around 22:30h. long day of traveling.
Till next time, travel54s

Photos to come soon