Venezia!

On Saturday, October 10, we headed to Venice. My parents, Emily, Spencer, Jordan, and Ben woke up early and took a 2 hour train ride to the 'City of Water.' I have never seen anything like Venice. There were absolutely no cars and the city operated completely on water. Even the bus system was completely on boats, and driveways at people's homes were canals. It was really cool and so unique, even with all the rain, umbrellas, and raincoats. When we got there, we took a water bus on the Grand Canal to the center of the city, Piazza San Marco. It was perfect and felt like a tour because we got to see a lot of the city before we even got to the city.


Piazza San Marco is beautiful, but when we got there, the heaviest rain started. We decided to split up, the girls were going to go shopping, and the boys were going to grab a beer. We walked into almost every store in the square and stocked up on Venetian glass items. The rain continued so we sought shelter in St. Mark's Basilica. It was very different than any church I have seen in Italy. Everything I have seen thus far has been Gothic or Renaissance in style. This was more Byzantine in style, and kind of gaudy and over-the-stop, but still very pretty. Then Jordan, Emily, and I climbed to the top of the basilica and saw amazing views of the city and walked through the museum that was on the top floor of the church. After that, we continued to wander through the city, walk into more glass stores, and just explore. It was just such a cool city and we had a really great time there.

On Sunday, I took my parents to "American breakfast" and the Diner. Then we wandered the city for the rest of the day, packed up some of my things, and said our goodbyes. It was sad to see them go, but I had such a great time with them here and I am glad I got to show them the city that I have started to call my home. I will be back to good ol' New Jersey before they know it!