Weekend in Venice and Trip to Siena

Thursday January 29th
Nice weather, perfect day for walking around the city. We get out of class around 1pm every day. The program has provided us with meal vouchers that are accepted at a number of locations around the city. Each voucher is worth 7 Euro and if not the entire amount is used in one meal, a refund is given. I’ve gotten into a bad habit of sampling the pizza and gelato from different places around the city. I can’t say I’ve found a spot I haven’t liked! Thursday night we met up with a few of Jess’s friends from home. After talking with some locals, we were informed about a secret bakery in Florence. As the story goes, there are 4 main bakeries that provide the rest of the city with baked goods. Every small shop supposedly is supplied by one of these four bakeries, as every shop is not able to bake such quantities on their own. One of these secret bakeries opens at midnight every night and will sell pastries and baked goods to those who know about it. It is located in a side alley, with no marks, and you have to knock on the door. We were a group of about 9 girls and we were all very intrigued with this story. We decided to go on an adventure and see if we could find this secret bakery. After following the directions we were given, we stood outside this frosted glass door with a sign that read something like, “Quiet, don’t disturb the neighbors”. From the outside you could smell the delicious treats being baked. We knocked on the door and entered. There was a small counter space then a large floor just full of ovens and baked goods. It looked like it was a one man show. One baker was doing all the prep and baking work, while selling to the small crowd that knew of this covert business. We all got a treat, very happy with this secret find.

Friday January 30
Friday morning we left for Venice at 8am. Our group took four large coach buses. I slept most of the ride, and I was told I missed some scenic views of Tuscany. The ride took about 4 hours. We arrived to the ferry location and took a small boat to Venice. The weather was sunny and beautiful. It was amazing to me to see how this city was literally built on water. Instead of roads there were canals, buildings go right into the water, and there are no cars, only boats. I thought it was pretty funny to see a FedEx boat delivering packages door to door. Our program leader, Rosanna, had informed us that our hotel would not be as up-scale as the hotel we were staying in while in Florence, and had warned us it would be ‘sort of like camping’. This made us a little nervous, but it would only be for two nights. Jess, Suzanne, Jackie and I were rooming together. The hotel was actually not as bad as we expected, just old. Jackie and I had bunk beds while Jess and Suzanne shared the bed. We were lucky enough to have our own bathroom. A few of our other friends were stuck with no bathroom and were forced to use the communal one in the hallway, even to shower!

We visited San Rocco School and the church located near it. This was used as a meeting place for artists and now houses their works. After the visit, we walked around the city shopping and just enjoying the nice weather. The streets were filled with small glass shops with beautiful jewelry, ornaments, glass figures, masks, etc. We got pretty lost walking around; the city wasn’t very easy to navigate. We didn’t have any planned events so it didn’t really matter, and we wandered the city for the afternoon and evening. We stopped for dinner at a delicious restaurant. I had caprice salad and then a gnocchi and shrimp with spicy red sauce dish for dinner. We had heard about a local karaoke bar, and decided to check it out. The bar was small, but fun. There were lots of locals there who were singing Italian pop songs. It was entertaining to watch and listen.

Saturday January 31
We slept in Saturday morning, after a long day on Friday. Saturday was much colder and cloudier than Friday had been. We made our way to San Marco’s square to see the cathedral and views. Not too long ago this square was under water, but luckily for us it was open for tourists. The outside was very impressive. We unfortunately didn’t go in, but marveled the beauty from the outside. Like I had heard, there were a countless number of pigeons in the square. There were even a few people who would let them land on them. I thought it was kind of gross. After a few minutes of searching, we found the brand new Hard Rock Café being built. The restaurant wasn’t open but fortunately the shop was. I got a pin to add to your collection Dad!

The only thing I wanted to accomplish all day was to go on a gondola ride. We found a little canal with a very Italian gondola driver. The five of us (me, Lizzie, Suzanne, Jess, Jackie) piled into the gondola and went for a half hour cruise. It was quite cold but very peaceful and pretty. Our boat guy had a thick accent and was difficult to understand, but he pointed out key monuments and buildings for us. I knew I couldn’t go to Venice and not go on a gondola, it was fun!

We spent the rest of the evening in and out of the small shops. We walked nearly all day, hitting all parts of the city. Venice was a great place for gifts. I bought myself some new earrings and a pendant necklace made from the famous Murano glass.

Sunday February 1, 2009
Sunday we had breakfast in the hotel lobby. As I was enjoying my cup of tea and cereal, I glanced outside the window and saw my worst fear. SNOW. I thought I left Vermont, but the snow followed me all the way to Italy. There are many kids in my program from California and the South who had never seen snow fall. These kids were all so excited, taking pictures, standing outside, catching snowflakes on their tongues. All the kids from the northeast were moaning and groaning. None of us were missing this sort of weather.

We visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection located in Venice. There were several Picasso pieces, along with Jackson Pollack, the only two names I recognized. After touring the collection, the girls and I went and got a sit-down lunch. We had done a lot of exploring the day before so none of us felt like doing anymore wandering in the snow. Our ferry was departing around 2pm, so we didn’t have much time to kill.

The ferry back to the mainland was very choppy. The 30 minute cruise couldn’t go by fast enough. We took the bus back, driving through the snow storm. Unfortunately the snow actually stuck, and was accumulating along the highway on the way home. Once we got back to Florence though, the snow had changed to a light rain. I can only hope that’s the last of snow I will see while over here!

We arrived back to the hotel around 7pm Sunday night, exhausted. It was Superbowl Sunday, and many local pubs were hosting events for the American students. I was way too tired to go out, and went to bed early.

I started the countdown to my birthday today, exactly 3 weeks until I’m 21!!

Monday February 2nd
After class today (Monday), we travelled by bus to Siena, another town in Tuscany. It was another rainy day. We started at a large basilica just outside the center of town. We were lead toward the center of town. Siena is not very big, the walk only took about 8 minutes. We toured the Duomo and building across from it. The building across from it was used as a hospital from the medieval times all the way up until 1995 when it was turned into a museum. After touring city hall, we were all soaking wet, and decided to sit in a café and warm up. We headed back to the bus for the hour long ride home. Only two more days left in Florence. I move to Rome on Thursday morning!