Venice

Veneto Weekend, Part Two: Venice


Saturday morning we woke up and took a train ride to Venice and once we got off the train Julia and I went and got espresso at a cute little cafe by the grand canal. Did you know that in parts of Europe you have to pay to go to the bathroom? SO we're so bright.. why not go pay almost the same price for a drink and then go there. Look at me tricking the system.

Well we met with the tour guide and we started our walk.. did you know that Venice is really made up of over 100 tiny islands? It's crazy to walk through a little alley and then all the sudden run into a canal that runs between some of the most beautiful buildings to ever exist. We saw churches, museums, houses, little tiny hidden courtyards... etc. However one of the most interesting things to learn about was Rio Tera De Le Carampane.

Rio Tera De Le Carampane

Rio Tera De Le Carampane is the area where the prostitutes used to live. They would stand topless in their open windows trying to ensue the sailors that came in and out of their town for their "services". They were restricted to do this only at certain times of day and they were not allowed out at certain points in time. I don't remember all the details.. I guess that's what I get for waiting so long to blog about it huh? 

We went to lunch at a really awful restaurant.. I've never ever EVER been felt rushed to get out of a restaurant as much as we were there. And to think Italians spend 3 hours at lunch.. I'm pretty sure we were just in a very touristy area. 

After that I HAD to find a mask.. there was a super pretty one I wanted to buy but it was 51 euros.. and I realized the image I had in my head was me wearing it with a wedding dress like in A Cinderella Story.. As beautiful as that might be, that's not quite realistic. Unless my future husband wants a little mystery in our wedding? Replacing the veil with a masquerade mask (called maschera in Italian)...? So I just bought a normal cheaper one instead. 

We were determined to take a gondola ride but not to pay 80 million dollars.. I mean euros. So we walked away from one offer and then the little man started chasing us down the road and offered us a gondola ride for 15euros a person.. which is a pretty good deal. So Julia, Isabella and I got in one gondola and Kayla, Kait, Claudia and Kimi got in the other. Marco was our gondola driver and we tried oh so desperately to get him to serenade us. Let me tell you, gondola rides may be kind of cheesy but it would probably be the most gorgeous and romantic thing you could ever do. Besides grabbing Juliet's boob in Verona.. we'll get to that in a little bit... 

Seriously, I'd return to Venice with my future husband and stay in an adorable little bed and breakfast on the grand canal and take romantic gondola rides by moonlight? I mean.. a girl can dream can't she?

Me, Daniel, Paul and Birthday boy Phil!

That night we went back to Padua (what a wonderful city by the way.. NOT) and we had to celebrate Phil's 21st!! So we decided we would walk around until we could find a large gathering of Italians and just go there.. and surprisingly that worked wonderfully. This bar had GREAT drinks.. I finally got my margarita! So at this bar its kind of odd and there's a shot counter and that's the only place you can take shots. So Julia and I went up to the counter and we asked this guy what shot we should get.. HE FREAKED OUT! Because he only spoke Italian and these American girls were talking to him.. so he started like jumping up and down and then he grabbed his friend, the only one who spoke English. So they proceeded to try to get us to take this absolutely awful shot. Thank goodness for the bartender who warned us: "the last girl who took this shot threw up all over me". AWESOME.. so we skipped that and went for tequila shots. Now these tequila shots weren't like Athens tequila shots.. you get a real shot glass and a lemon and some salt. TOP NOTCH right there. But about Padua sucking.. what kind of town with 65,000 college undergraduates has bars that close at mezzanotte and the only discoteca is trenta minuti di distanza, not okay.

Me and the Birthday boy!!

Sorry the end of this post might be a little confusing.. we've been stuck inside all day because of the snow storm so I might have had a few glasses of wine...