Watch Me Wander

Ciao! As today is winding down, I figured it would be a good time to talk about Venice! Our program, ASA, took all of us to Venice for an overnight and it was BEAUTIFUL. Such an interesting city to learn about... We took the train Friday morning (8am...I'm exhausted) and got to Venice around 10:30. Once settling at our hotel, we took a private boat over to the other side of the city, Piazza San Marco. This is where we saw the beautiful basilica that is the current burial place of the evangelist, Saint Mark (I know for me at least, this was like an "oh my gosh, I've found Christ" moment). We learned that the church ceilings are covered in over 2 acres of 24k gold sheets and it's hella  old.  Besides the history, this weekend was the start of Carnival in the city, which is basically just Mardi Gras x100. It's the Venetian's excuse to start celebrating Fat Tuesday, like 2 months early (can't really say I blame them). Apart from buying an extravaga...

Ciao!! Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I made it alive  (I know I'm shocked too) and I absolutely am in love with this city already. My apartment's backyard is the Duomo, so I'm quite spoiled, but just walking around and seeing the architecture and the history is so mesmerizing! Excuse me... this is gorgeous. Piazza Santa Croce was fun to walk around (as seen above) But I'll start at the beginning... My flight out of NYC was fine but late leaving JFK (what else is new) so when Pat, Justin, and I (best travel group ever don't @ me) arrived in Amsterdam, we had only THIRTY FIVE MINUTES before boarding our connecting flight. Let me tell you, nothing pulls you out of a jet lag day dream like panicking through the Amsterdam airport. However, after running through customs and getting looks from the locals trying to sell us tulips, we found our gate on the opposite end of the airport!  Once we got to Italy, our program picked us up at baggage claim and dro...