Venice!

For the last weekend of my family's visit, we traveled to Venice. It worked out well since my program was also traveling there that weekend, so I was able to spend the last half of the weekend with them. Venice is a beautiful city, and is probably my favorite city in Italy so far, apart from Florence.

The day I arrived with my family via train, we checked into our hotel right near the Grand Canal, and met a driver who was taking us on a day trip to Vicenza, a town in northern Italy about an hour from Venice. A collector of WWII memorabilia found parts of my grandfather's P-38 engine from years ago when he crashed in the mountains, and it is housed in a small museum in the city. This was the reason we were taking a trip to this area. Unfortunately, we were only able to get in touch with this man about an hour before reaching Venice, and he was out of town. Additionally, the museum was in the process of being moved. We were a bit bummed to not be able to see the display, but Vicenza turned out to be a fun city to visit anyway. We took a tour of the small town, which is historically known for it's gold and other jewelry. It is also home to palladian architecture, and we learned from our guide that Thomas Jefferson modeled his estate after some of the works in this area that were written about in Palladio's book.

The next day, we took our time getting up and then walked around the city after breakfast to see the famous Bridge of Sighs and take a gondola ride. The gondola ride took us through the narrow water-streets of Venice as well as through the Grand Canal, and pointed out significant churches and the home of Marco Polo. It was beautiful, peaceful, and one of my favorite activities in Venice! Following the gondola ride, we stopped for lunch at Harry's Bar, which is the home of the original Bellini, and was also a favorite of Ernest Hemingway's. The meal was incredible, even down to the bread. The Bellini's were amazing too! Now we can say we've had the original.

That evening, after a very nice dinner at a restaurant frequented by locals, my family dropped me off at my hotel to meet the program. They left early the next morning, and it was sad to say goodbye! However, spending Sunday with my friends in Venice was fun, and it was a beautiful day. We took another gondola ride, shopped, and got wraps on the side of the road for lunch before heading home on a bus. I already miss the water in Venice! If only ever taxi and bus were a boat.

Vicenza

Old theater in Vicenza

A class Palladian villa

Gondola ride!

Bellinis at Harry's Bar