Canal, Canal, Gondola

Venice, Venice, Venice. That is all I want to write about for the rest of my LIFE. Okay, this may be a slight exaggeration- but we went to ~Venice~ this past weekend, and it was enchanting. It is literally a floating city!! Like, how does that work? But it does, and it is beautiful!

We took a bus ride to Venice Mestre which is the city right outside of Venice and stayed there for a night- but made our way into the actual Venice for 95% of the time. The first thing we did was go on a gondola ride, which was obviously a must. We paid 80 euro for the gondola for 30 minutes- which was a great deal there, especially because it was split between four people. The man did not sing to us on the gondola, but he did get slightly aggravated when we almost tipped it (rightfully so). We went through the big Grand Canal, but also through tiny side canals where people literally lived and their driveways were even tinier canals, it was amazing.

After we got of the gondola we walked through many side streets and got some snacks, including the best spinach ricotta pizza I have ever had. Since eating it I have had at least 3 dreams about it. There were also many shops with crazy inexpensive clothes- like 10 euro for sweaters!! But, you know I refrained because I don't want to blow all of my money. But, walking around it was crazy to think about how water was the main way to get to places, and definitely the quickest! Streets were windy and cars were out of the question. After we walked around for some time we went to dinner. Now, you should know that I am a huge yelper. I always want to research food and what I should be eating. So, before we traveled to Venice I saw that they are famous for this black risotto. It has seafood in it, but I didn't research why it was black.. Anyway- we are at dinner and this black risotto was calling my name, so I got it and I'm eating it, and it is really good- but it is literally dyeing my mouth and teeth black. So, about halfway through eating I decide to search why this is so black....SQUID INK. I don't know how they got the ink out of the squid- the more I thought about it the more inhumane I thought it was- so yeah. I ate squid ink risotto, and enjoyed it.

After dinner, which we had very late, we went to the airbnb for the night and decided to wake up early to explore different parts of Venice. On this day we found out that Venice's metro system is by water. So COOL! We made our way to the separate islands of Venice by boat, getting incredible views from the water. Next, we found our way to this tower that Maddy had scouted out from her research where you could see all of Venice from the top. Before waiting in line for this tower, we went to a breakfast place nearby where as we walked in they placed this steaming, beautiful quiche in front of our faces so we had to get it. This along with coffee- and some of our fellow travelers got fresh squeezed orange juice- we were ready for the day. We went to the tower and waited in line for about 30 minutes, but wow it was worth it. From the top you could see the different islands, the mountains in the background, all the cute buildings (please go look at my pictures for more), but pictures couldn't even do this place justice.

After that beautiful adventure I couldn't help but feel so grateful once again for this amazing opportunity. A beautiful city, with canals full of life, and buildings that could tell stories- Venice I will be back.

~Stay tuned for more beauty and adventures~

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