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| Mama Mia! |
Thursday night, I flew into Venice with my roommate Liz and our new friends Holly, Jayne, Ziggy (her real name’s Erica but she goes by Ziggy after Ziggy Stardust!), Molly, and Kristen. Our hotel was outside of Venice so we didn’t really have a lot to do other then grab dinner and get to know each other. I tried really hard to choose a meal that night that didn’t have any gluten in it but I quickly gave up. I wanted to experience Italy to the fullest! Clearly Liz did too........
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The fact that I’m still breathing and functioning after all the gluten I ate this weekend definitely makes me think I’m growing out of it!! The 7 of us had such a great time together and we all got along very well. It was nice to be with new people.
We checked out early the next morning and took the hotel shuttle into Venice. The weather was a little colder than I expected and the hazy clouds blocked the sun. Regardless, Venice was breathtakingly beautiful. I would even say that it was the most beautiful city I’ve been to yet. We spent the morning walking around and I couldn’t believe how pretty everything was. After about an hour, we found ourselves in St. Mark's Square where St. Mark's Basilica is.
I felt like I was dreaming when I saw it. The Basilica truly took my breath away and made me say “wwwoooooooowww." Liz had to push up my gaping jaw. (so embarrassing)We then climbed the watchtower (well we really just took the elevator) and the view from the top was incredible. Hazy, but incredible.
We didn’t have a lot of time in Venice because we had to make an afternoon train to Florence. We took a water taxi on the Grande Canal back to the station which was so much fun and gave us a great view of the city.
Even though I was only there for a short period of time, I was glad I got to at least see it. I know that I definitely want to return to Venice in the future. Florence was just as wonderful and there was so much more to see!
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| The Duomo |
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| The inside of the dome! |
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| The building with the blue dome is Florence's beautiful Jewish Synagogue |
We also walked across the Ponte Vecchio which is a lovely bridge lined with windows filled with sparkling jewelry. See the back of the shops leaning off the water?
Another one of my favorite parts of Florence were the "Loving Locks" which hung right by the bridge...
Rumor is, that the tradition of these locks began when young soldiers had to leave their homes for battle. Before leaving, they'd attach a lock to one of the bridges as a promise to return home and survive the war.
Now a days, the locks have a more romantic implication! The act of attaching a lock to a bridge obviously symbolizes the unbreakable bonds of true love. The bridge, which unites land over the river, is also meant to unite the couples in love. By tossing the key into the water, they seal their love for eternity.
We saw so many couples doing this over the weekend. You could really see how the Italian men cherished their women and it made me miss Jack a lot. Especially since it was valentine's day weekend. I'm so thankful that he's coming to visit me in Paris though! Only 18 more days but the trip couldn't come sooner!
Early tomorrow I'm off to Marseille (in the south of France) and I'll be back a day early so hopefully I'll get a chance to write a more detailed post. I'd write more but I'm off to class.
Here are the rest of the pics:
Lots of love as awlays.
Ciao!!
XOXO
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