Carnivale

Yesterday, I returned from Venice where I was immersed in the true Venetian culture during the first weekend of Carnivale. Carnivale is a 10 day long celebration leading up to the start of Lent. I went in expecting Mardi Gras but quickly realized this is less of a party and more of a sight-seeing event. The entire island was packed with people, some dressed in elaborate renaissance costumes with masks adorned with feathers and jewels and others wearing typical Halloween costumes (including one family of ducks and duckings). This was my first trip to Venice and I have to say it is one of the most fantastic places I have ever been. While I didn't enjoy the huge crowds of Carnivale, the city is absolutely beautiful so I will definitely be planning a trip back in the future. Katie and I enjoyed taking little adventures down random small back alleys and finding secret canals. We would break off from the group just for a minute whenever we spotted a narrow alley we couldn't see the end of. Below is a picture of Louis, Katie and I on a bridge over one of the larger canals. 

Once we reached St. Marco's Square, Elena and I had to get to the water (us below with our masks on); the view was unbelievable. After taking it all in from a bench by the docks, we found our group and made our way back to the Grand Canal to find a place to eat dinner. Since Elena and I wanted to eat on the water, we went to Ristorante Florida while everyone else went to a pizzeria further away from the canal. Since the host thought we were from Florida, we were given free Bellini, a delicious aperitif. We had a great time eating by the water and enjoying the beautiful scenery of Venice. After dinner, we were waiting for our group when several gondola captains approached us offering to take us on a ride for 50 euro each. We chatted with them for a minute and ended up haggling a deal for 15 euro each when Jackson and Louis showed up. Even though we had never planned on taking a gondola ride this weekend, we thought it was a decent price for a 25 minute ride, so we had to do it. It was awesome to see more of the city from the canals and to ride under the Rialto Bridge. I was even able to pick out a couple apartments that I liked for when I live in Venice, which needs to happen one day, even if for only a year. Elena, Ari, and I then headed back toward to the train station so we could catch a train to Mestre and walk back to our hotel.

Sunday started off great. We were just on time to catch a train to Bassano at 11:30. However, after about 5 minutes on the train I realized I had left my phone at the hotel. Thankfully, Elena is such a good friend and decided to accompany me back to mestre. We got off at Maerne di Martellago which is basically in the middle of nowhere. Since the next train back to Mestre was not coming until 1:15, we decided to walk into the closest town and find a bus stop. After several failed attempts at hitch hiking and even more failed attempts at finding someone who spoke English, we finally found a bus stop that ran on Sundays and headed to Mestre at 12:30. We had no idea where we needed to get off the bus so when we thought we were close to the train station and a large group if people exited, we made a run for it. However, right after I jumped off the door closed with Elena still on the bus. I ran alongside for a minute and the bus driver quickly realized what had happened so he stopped to let Elena off the packed bus. But then we realized that we had gotten off about 8 blocks too early then had to walk another 10 blocks from the train station to our hotel. On a better note, it was all worth it when we picked up my phone and then only had to walk back to the train station. Since we still had an hour until the next train to bassano, we had cheeseburgers at McDonald’s. So delicious. 

This weekend we have Thursday afternoon and Friday off for extended travel time. We haven’t officially booked anything yet, but I believe we will be going to Tuscany.

Ciao!

Back to Paderno

Budapest 

After nearly 12 hours on the bus, we arrived in Budapest Saturday morning around 9. Vanessa, Lauren, and I checked into our hostel and immediately left for a free walking tour. Our guide Agnese did a great job of telling us the history of budapest (which is actually pronounced buda-pescht) and giving us advice on places to visit while there. We walked all over the flat Pest side and the hilly Buda side. After a little rest, we went to a hummus bar for dinner. It might not have been traditional Hungarian food but it was delicious. 

On Sunday, we started off with a trip to the Kiraly bath house. It is one of the smaller bath houses on the Buda side with only 3 baths in it. Since it is so small there were less than 10 people there, including us! The water was so warm and relaxing. If I ever visit Budapest again, I will definitely go back to Kiraly. Sunday afternoon we went to the cathedral and the hiked up Gellert Hill. From the top, the views were amazing! After a nice long walk back to our hostel we got ready and headed to dinner at Cactus Juice to meet one of Lauren's friends studying at the central European university in Budapest. With the exchange rate in our favor, we were able to score big, juicy steaks for around $12. 

Vienna

We arrived in Vienna around noon on Monday. It was very cold and snowing which made walking around the city miserable. We opted to purchase transportation passes since Vienna was so big and the weather was not in our favor. With this being my first experience with public transportation, it took a couple wrong tram rides to get the hang of it. But in the end, I absolutely loved the metro system. We visited the Sigmund Freud museum and a vintage store before meeting some CIMBA friends for a valentines day dinner. I had a wiener schnitzel and shared potatoes with Elena. 

Tuesday we all met at the Spanish riding school to watch the Lippizaner's morning practice. I absolutely loved every minute of it but it made me miss riding so much. After the practice, Vanessa and I went on a tour of the facility. The barn and both riding rings were really nice. We then went to the Albertina Museum to see the staterooms and their abstract art collection.  Overall, I loved Vienna. The city was so clean, historic, and beautiful. I didn't get to see or do everything I would have liked since we had such a short time there so I want to go back in the future. 

Prague

We arrived in Prague around noon on Wednesday. After checking into our hotel we headed to the Old Town Square for a free walking tour. Our guide showed us all around the Old Town and New Town districts. The architecture in Prague is absolutely beautiful. Vanessa, Lauren, and I then went to Palladium Mall to warm up and do a little window shopping. We walked by the river before grabbing some dinner at a  traditional Czech restaurant in Old Town Square with some other CIMBA girls. 

Thursday morning we visited the castle district across the river. The hike up wasn't too bad and the views of Prague were amazing. Once inside the complex, we walked around and went inside the cathedral. It was even colder inside the cathedral than outside, but it was so pretty. Upon the recommendation of a friend we went to Bohemia Bagel for lunch. I have been missing my Brueggers since coming abroad so it was a special treat to have a fresh bagel. After lunch we headed to Charles Bridge which was so cool. There were bands playing and a lot of little booths selling souvenirs. Once across the river we stopped to take pictures at Lennon Wall. It reminded me a lot of the free expression tunnel at State, except that it's a wall of course. Vanessa and I then went back to Old Town to go to the Chocolate Museum. It was really neat to learn about the origins of chocolate and actually see it being made. We then met up with Elena, Kailyn, Megan, Kate, and Eric (Kate's brother studying in Prague this semester) at an Irish pub. There was a Prague vs Liverpool soccer game that night so it was fun to be there watching the game. 

Munich

When we arrived in Munich at 1 on Friday I was starting to feel a little sick. Once we checked into our hotel I decided to stay and rest rather than walk around in the cold with Vanessa and Lauren. Once they got back we headed to dinner at a little Italian restaurant and walked around Marienplatz, the main shopping district in the center of Munich before going back to our hotel. 

Saturday morning we took the S-bahn to the Dachau Concentration Camp. Our tour guide Franz was from the area and gave us a good overview of the horrific things that happened there from 1933 to 1945. Dachau is special because it was the first concentration camp to be opened and was in operation until liberation at the end of the war. It's hard to imagine how people survived the winters in Dachau working outside and sleeping in bunks without heat. The whole camp was converted into a memorial sight after the war with many monuments reading "never again". Once back in the city we did some sightseeing in Marinplatz before picking up some fresh fruit and going back to the hotel to watch movies. 10 days of travel was catching up with us; all three of us were exhausted and I was still sick and running a fever. 

Sunday morning Vanessa and I walked to a hotel around the corner to have breakfast; it was probably the best meal we have had since leaving the US! We then walked to Marienplatz one last time to discover all the stores are closed on Sunday's. Since we wouldn't buy anything, we did some window shopping and sightseeing in a nearby park before going to meet the bus. 

I am now back in Paderno and I have never been so happy to be here! As much as I loved Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Munich, I am worn out! I am looking forward to a nice nights sleep in my own bed before going back to the grind of classes, homework, LEAP commitments, and travel planning. Next stop: Venice for carnivale this weekend! Also, pictures from travel week will be posted soon.

Ciao!

It's break time...

Buongiorno! Just a quick update before I head to BUDAPEST, VIENNA, PRAGUE, and  MUNICH!! This past week has been filled with presentations, quizzes, and way too much homework. But none of that matters now because its travel week! I will have a lot to update once I’m back next Sunday. So goodbye to Paderno for now...

Ciao!

Firenze

This weekend was my first free weekend in Italy, so Katie, Elena, Kailyn, Megan, Liz, Emily, and I took advantage of that by spending it in Florence. After an early wake up call at 5 AM Saturday morning, a taxi ride and two train fares later, we arrived in Firenze (Florence) at 10:30. We were immediately greeted with warmer weather and a beautiful sunny day.

 First, we headed to our hostel to drop off our backpacks then went to a local Trattoria for an authentic Italian lunch. My spaghetti was absolutely delicious! We then took in the leather market and started our way toward the Duomo (pictured above with Katie and Elena). I didn’t go into any museums, but there were plenty of beautiful churches to visit and marble statues everywhere! My favorite part of Florence was visiting Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s oldest bridge) and looking at all the gold stores. It was built in the 15th century and was Florence’s only bridge spanning the Arno left intact during World War II.

 By the bridge, we found these railings full of locks. Apparently couples come to Florence, write their initials on a lock, attach it to the railing, and throw away the key. The “love padlocks” are supposed to signify locking one’s soul to another.

 For dinner, we went to Pizzeria Yellow based on the recommendation of a nice lady we met. It was absolutely fabulous; best pizza and prosecco I have had so far! After dinner, we went to a bar for drinks then to Club Space. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Late night McDonald’s on the way back to Plus Florence Hostel was a great way to end the night in American Style.


Sunday, we had to check out of the hostel, buy train tickets, and find lunch. We stumbled upon this fantastic little sandwich shop on the eastern side of Florence while looking for the Oil Shop. After an incredible roasted turkey, brie, lettuce, and sun-dried tomato sandwich we did some last minute shopping before taking the 3:30 train to Padova then Bassano.


Once in Bassano, we had an hour to kill until the CIMBA bus was picking us up so we decided to find some dinner. After an intense search, we found Shanghai Chinese. SO GOOD! The sweet and sour chicken was even better than from home!

Also, last week we had our first formal dinner. It was hosted by Hotel Fior in Castelfranco. The food was great and the company was even better. Getting dressed up and practicing the etiquette we learned in Business, Culture and Society made it a very special occasion.

Ciao!