Today was jam-packed with activities, from the morning, we were constantly on the move. After hopping on the bus bright and early, Matteo informed us that we had to be at the train station before 12:30 PM in order to stay on track and make it to everything planned for us.
While our pit stop pushed us back some, we managed to make it to the train just in time. One of the only ways to reach the city of Venice is to take the train in over the water. From our location, it was around a half an hour ride. Venice is a city that has no cars or bikes, the only modes of transportation are walking and boats.
After we left the train station, I was hit with the beauty of Venice. The buildings along the water are stunning, and it reminded me of something straight out of a romantic movie.
We had a little bit of free time to grab a quick snack or browse before meeting our tour guide, so Emma and I explored the shops near the area. We were both interested in checking out the Venetian glass art, and we came across this cute store that had a variety of items in a rainbow pallet of colors. I haven’t really bought myself much on this trip, but the shop compelled me to make a purchase! I found a cute pair of circular earrings that were a mauve color for ten euros. The color could easily be paired with several other different colors and weren’t too big or bulky.
Afterwards, we met up wit our tour guide to receive a full walking tour of Venice. I feel like we covered a lot of ground on this one, and the facts about the city were extremely interesting. Here are a few:
- Venice is made up of several different islands, when you cross a bridge, you reach a new island.
- In history, Venice was a republic and was one of the only places with an elected leader.
- Venice regularly floods, roughly 150 times a year.
- A long time ago, Carnevale lasted for 5 months. While that it is not the case anymore, the city still celebrates for three weeks a year.
Our tour finished up with a gondola ride, talk about straight out of a movie! Six people can fit in a gondola and our gondolier took us around for a 30 minute ride. Getting on the gondola first is a little scary. You have to get used to the shaking and trust that it will not tip over. Once that feeling is over, the ride is so enjoyable! Viewing the buildings along the water was a sight to see.
Fun fact: Your gondolier does not actually sing to you.
However, we did cross paths with a gondola that held an accordion player and singer. In that moment, I think the six of us in the boat truly felt like we were living out a scene in a movie.
