Venezia and Vespas

So I planned on doing this blog update a few weeks ago, but it’s been kind of a crazy week with all the preparation for midterms. Also, two of my roommates have friends here for the week from the US so most of our free time has been spent showing them around the city and entertaining them. They are both really cool guys though, and it’s been nice to meet some of the crowd that my roommates hang out with back at home.

Anyways, this past weekend I went with API for Carnivale in Venice. I think the weather Gods have been smiling on my trip here because this is the second big excursion we’ve gone on where the weather has been absolutely beautiful. It was clear, sunny, and not too cold all day long. On the way to Venice it looked like it may not be that nice of weather because we travelled through some of the mountains of central Italy and all we saw was snow for about an hour. If there is one thing I don’t want to see in March, it’s snow. Thankfully, Venice ended up being sunny and clear and we could, for the most part, enjoy our afternoon of tours in the city.

I say “for the most part” because I absolutely loved Venice and getting to see all the sights while also experiencing the city’s unique layout, however, Venice had more people in it than any other place I’ve been to in Italy so far. I guess I’ve been kind of spoiled since I’ve been here because it hasn’t been the peak of the tourist season yet so everything has been relatively quiet and enjoyable. Even Roma wasn’t too packed with people from what our advisors and guides told us. Venice, on the other hand, was swarming with people. It probably didn’t help that we were there for the last weekend of Carnivale, but still, it literally took us HOURS to go from one part of the city to the other because all the streets were so small, confusing, and packed with people that it was impossible to move. At one point during our guided tour we went to the Rialto Bridge and half of our group was stuck on the top for 30 minutes and got left behind. Yes, I was part of that group.

The other thing that I didn’t particularly care for in Venice was how expensive everything was. At least my roommates and I have gotten really good at packing a lunch for the first day instead of paying 15 euro for a slice of pizza. We did end up splurging a bit on an authentic Venetian seafood dinner, but that was about the only thing that we were willing to pay for.

As for the carnivale festivities on Saturday night, it was probably the most fun I’ve had in one since I’ve been here. We wandered around the city, danced in the streets, drank with Italians, and just had the time of our lives. I know I’ve never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but I feel like my carnivale experience in Venice was probably just as good, if not better, than what they have there.

We spent Sunday travelling by boat to some of the other Islands around Venice. First, we went to Murano, the glass blowing island, and then to Burano, famous for its silk. The glass blowing demonstration was pretty cool, but everything on the island was so expensive. We also didn’t get to spend much time there so we didn’t really get to see everything that the town had to offer. Burano, on the other hand, was definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in my life. The little island is about a 2 hour boat ride from the main Venice port, and when we finally got there we were greeted by the colorful array of houses. Every single house on the island is painted a very bright, vibrant color and it was just amazing to walk around and see them all. It almost felt like we weren’t in Italy anymore, but some small Caribbean Island. For anyone planning on making a trip to Italy in their life, make sure to go to Burano!

The rest of this week was mostly filled with class and studying. We have midterms next week so all of my teachers have been in review mode. The one thing I did enjoy about class this week is that we learned how to make pasta in my cooking class. Seriously, there was only one thing I absolutely wanted to do while I was here in Italy, and that was to learn how to make pasta from scratch. We made orecchiette pasta, three color pasta, ravioli, and potato gnocchi. The only thing about making past from scratch is that it’s a very labor-intensive process. Somehow I forgot that when you make shaped pasta you actually have to sit down and shape EACH INDIVIDUAL PIECE OF PASTA. It took us 3 hours to roll out and shape each piece of orecchiette. Put I won’t complain too much because the results were delicious. I will definitely be trying out some pasta recipes when I get back home.

The only other event this week was the scooter rental day. Yesterday, my roommate and his visiting friend decided that they wanted to rent scooters for the day to explore Florence. We’ve walked around Florence, we’ve biked around Florence, we’ve ridden buses and trains and taxis around Florence, why not scoot around Florence on a Vespa? Well, being the only one of us three that had never driven a scooter before, it was a bit terrifying to 1. Learn how to actually drive the thing and 2. Not die or kill anyone else in the process. We quickly figured out that downtown Florence is not the best place to learn how to drive a scooter, so we made our way out into the hills and switchbacks outside of Florence. I had been doing fine most of the day (minus one mishap with a wall when I was pulling out of a gas station) and I had gotten pretty used to zipping up and down the tiny streets and around the sharp corners. Apparently, the hardest part about riding a scooter is making a sharp turn form a complete stop.

So here’s what happened: we were at a stop light and the road we were on was cobblestone and the one we were turning onto was just asphalt, well apparently I hit the throttle a little too hard and I tried to turn to avoid a car, but the back wheel slid out from under me and I fell over right in the middle of the intersection. Thankfully, it wasn’t a very busy intersection and I wasn’t going that fast, but I still got scraped up a little bit and I added a few more scratches (120 euro worth) to the front of the scooter. Even though it wasn’t my most graceful moment, and I kind of hated that scooter for about 10 minutes, I’m still convinced that I want one of those things to get around on back in the US. Call me crazy, but the fall and the damage fees were kind of worth it for how much fun I had that day.

Anyways, I’ll close for now. This weekend will be one full of studying for midterms and next week will be awful because I have a different midterm each day, but at least I am right on the cusp of Spring Break. This may be my last post for a few weeks, because I leave for London, Dublin, and Amsterdam next Friday, but expect a novel of a blog post when I get back!

Ciao!