Second Time's The Charm!

Venice, Italy

         

We Matched our Backpacks...

   The week after spring break was exhausting. I was so dead and so tired, that I had no motivation to move all week. When it came time to plan for the weekend, I was so tired of traveling that I decided to revisit Venice. The last time we went to Venice, it was the second weekend I was here. It was cold, I was giddy with travel excitement, and it was extremely crowded due to Carnival. Randy and I both wanted to go back to Venice to go to the small islands of Burano and Murano. On Thursday night, Randy and I decided that we wanted to go to Burano Friday morning, and stay till Saturday night. We wanted to make sure that we made it back in time for the Easter morning celebration Sunday morning. The problem with booking a trip the night before you want to leave is that the chances of finding a place to stay are slim. Nevertheless, at 2am Randy and I booked a hotel and our Train tickets for Friday morning at 7am…Talk about spur of the moment. The next morning Randy and I packed up our backpacks and headed to Venice. When we left the house, Randy and I noticed that our clothes perfectly matched our backpacks. We laughed, but we thought no one would notice….WRONG….Throughout the entire day, five different couples informed us that we matched our backpacks, and every time they would tell us we would just laugh. 

Bright and Early, On the Way

            When we arrived to Venice, the weather was beautiful. It was warm with a slight breeze and there was not a cloud in the sky. Our first stop was Murano, home of blown glass. It was beautiful to see all the elaborate blow glass figures, however, after about an hour, we decided it was time to move on to Burano. The main reason Randy and I wanted to go to Venice a second time was to see the beautiful small island town of Burano. The island is packed with small stucco houses that are all painted a different color. They are also known for their lace. When we arrived to Burano, the houses and island were just as we imagined, if not prettier. We spent hours on the island just walking around looking at all the houses. After a few hours, we decided to head back to the main island and check into our hotel.

 

Randy and I Trying to Blend in!

The View from our Terrace

            When we got off the water boat to the main island, we were on the other side of the island. However, the sun was just about to set so the water and sky were beautiful. Walking back, Randy and I were joking around about how terrible our hotel could be because we booked it so late for so cheap, especially because it was the last room available on the main island. The address of the hotel lead us to a small alley was with a white door with the paint chipping off and not a hotel sign around. At this point, Miranda and I were starting to fear our jokes were becoming a reality. I found a buzzer on the side of the door and rang. A man picked up the phone and instructed us that we had headed to the wrong door and that the real reception desk was 2 doors down. When Miranda and I arrived at the actual reception desk, we were so relieved. The hotel was completely normal and clean. Our hotel room ended up being on the top floor of the hotel, and our room was so nice! We had a kitchen, bathroom, dining room table, king-sized bed, and a terrace to walk the beautiful orange and purple sunset! After a long day of walking, we decided we wanted Mexican food. We trip advised the best place to go and headed on our way. The restaurant was named Iguanas. It was a cute restaurant that was packed! When we asked to sit they told us they could not seat us without a reservation. I looked at the table beside us and it said the table was reserved for an hour and a half from the time we arrived. I informed them that we could finish in time for the reservation and they allowed us to sit…and I am so glad they did. The burritos Miranda and I had at Iguanas were the BEST burritos I have ever had in my life. I still dream about it today. Happy with our fun filled day, Randy and I got some self-serve gelato on the way back to the hostel and headed to sleep.

            The next morning, Randy and I slept in a little because it was both rainy and cold out. We then explored the market and main island. While exploring we saw all the locals drinking these red and orange drinks out of a wine glass. Interested to see what all the hype was, Randy and I searched for a place to sit down and try this local drink. We finally arrived at a restaurant that allowed us to sit down. Although we told them we were only staying for drinks, I think there was a miss communication. We asked to order two spritz, a red (which is bitter) and an orange (which is sweet). They then asked us what we wanted to eat, when we told them we were not eating, the waitress became super frustrated. She took up our bread and made us sit in chairs by the door that you would sit at it waiting for a table. To top it all off, the drinks were DISGUSTING. They tasted like cherry bitter cough drops. On that note, Randy and I were done. We placed 5 dollars on the table left our drink, and headed out. Never again will I drink one of those.

Easter Cupcakes!

        Sunday morning was Easter Sunday. Easter in Florence, Italy is split up into two days. Pasqua is celebrated on Sunday and la Pasquetta is also a holiday on the Monday after Easter, therefore we did not have school. Easter Sunday, Pasqua, is filled with festivals, feasts, and parades. La Pasquetta, is more of a traditional Easter with church services and celebrating the resurrection with families and friends.  Sunday morning, Randy and I woke up early to be front in line at 9am for the celebration in front of the Duomo. We knew that the celebration ended with this traditional Easter “cart” exploding with fireworks, however, we had no idea what was really in store. The celebration takes place as a tradition to welcome in a good harvest year. The celebration started at 10am. The parade started with horns, trumpets, and drummers all dressed in Florentine renaissance clothes. The parade ended at the from of the Duomo where they all lined up waiting for the Priest. Following the drummer boys was the flag brigade, and following them were two enormous white oxen, dressed in flowers, pulling a massive decorative Easter cart.  Next person to come in was the priest and his council. They were passing out branches and blessing the crowd and cart with holy water. The priest then gave a short traditional service in Italian and then the clock struck 11…The moment we had all been waiting was about to come, the explosion of the Easter Cart.  The priest, standing inside the Duomo, lite a white dove-shaped firework that launched into the cart and started an intense 5 minute long firework show, when you thought it was over, it started up again and again. It was loud, amazing, and exciting. After the explosion, the crowd cheered loudly and the parade progressed out of the center of town. Although we waited two hours to see this explosion, it was worth ever second to be apart of such a cool tradition. After we got back, Randy and I made Easter cupcakes, which ended up tasting like sweet cornbread (probably because they were out of a box, and Italians are all about making food fresh). We then ended the night by making brown sugar salmon, sautéed zucchini, artichokes, and
potatoes. It was a great was to end the day.

 

The Decorated Oxen

Edible Arrangement Cocktail!

            Monday was Kathryn’s birthday. Katherine, Kathryn and I woke up and headed out for the day. We got Paninos at Al’Antico Vieno, the number one rated restaurant in Florence, and ate them on the bridge overlooking the Ponte Venico. We then got a nice bottle of wine and sat in the rose gardens that overlooked the city of Florence. It was a beautiful relaxing day, and I was much better than sitting in class. We then returned home and all the roommates got ready to go out for Kathryn’s birthday dinner. We started the dinner at a small bar called the Art Bar. They are known for there crazy fruit filled drinks. There were so many different types of fruit on the edge of my glass that it looked like the bar tender made me an edible arrangement! We then went to La Giostra (aka the best restaurant ever). There I spoiled my self and had pear and pecorino ravioli followed by a white wine butter sauce sea bass with a vegetable medley...Yes, It was amazing. We waddled back home and prepared for classes the next morning.

            Overall, the weekend I had a great weekend with Randy. It was just what I needed after 10 intensive days of traveling. Of course, like always, I learned a few things that weekend. The first thing I learned it that traveling does not have to have set plans, in fact, spur of the moment, go with the flow plans are sometimes the best plans. I learned that when you think no one will notice that you and your friend match your backpacks, you will be wrong, everyone will notice and say something. I learned that sometimes, the best Mexican you will ever have, is in the country that is the farthest from it. I learned that Florence does Easter the right way and that America should not have school or work Easter Monday. Lastly I learned that you should never bake anything out of a box in Italy, it will taste like cornbread, and you will be disappointed after hours of hard work. Sorry that this post was so long. I know that it was not the funniest post. I will be posting posts more rapidly now because I have so many to catch up on, in such a short amount of time. Stay tuned! Ciao!