Today Alan surprised us with a brief stop in Verona, Italy so we could visit Juliet's balcony. On the bus to set the mood we all took turns playing our iPods and dedicating songs to loved ones, telling stories of how we met our loved ones, and filling in small cut out paper hearts to leave behind at Juliet's wall. This was really neat for me because I had seen the movie Letters to Juliet (and loved it) so I not only recognized the site from the movie but got to stand where it was filmed. Plus, on the way there we learned the whole story of how this balcony inspired Shakespeare when writing Romeo and Juliet. Thousands of people actually come to write all over the wall just outside her balcony, leave love letters, and stand at Juliet's statue (legend has it if you touch her right breast you will be lucky in love).
After leaving Verona we made our way to our campsite just outside of Venice. To celebrate Leisha's birthday (one of the girls in our tour group), we were given another surprise which was a big giant foam party! We played silly card games, jumped and played in the pool and were sprayed with foam every few minutes. It was great fun and yet again we crossed paths with two other top deck tours so we had the opportunity to mingle as a group but also meet new, fellow travelers. As you can see below, we had a blast!
Thurs 7/1-
It was quite the adventure getting to and from Venice. This city built on water requires buses, monorails, and skilled navigation to access. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, we finally arrived into Venice. Unfortunately, at first, I felt a rush of disappointment. The city just seemed dingy, run down, and awfully smelly... But as I walked the streets and took everything in I started really appreciating how amazing it is that there is an entire city built atop water!
Our first stop in Venice was to embark on a traditional gondola ride! Yay! I couldn't wait to get there. We learned that gondolas are a dying tradition in Venice and are now almost exclusively used for tourists. Additionally, we learned gondoliers can only practice their craft if it is taught to them and passed down from their fathers. I thought this was a very interesting fact. Our gondolier was quite the quintessential "Italian stallion"! Oh, and Amanda and I got the lovers seat in the back of the gondola, haha. It was perfecto!
After the gondola ride Alan took us to a blown glass demonstration! To me, this was almost the highlight of Venice. We watched a master (this is what skilled blown glass artists are referred to) make a horse in a matter of minutes and it was truly fascinating. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there but still, for the record, it was phenomenal and I highly recommend it if you can every see it.
The true highlight of my time in Venice wasn't the art, the city, the architecture, or the gondola ride... It was our dining experience. Alan suggested that in order to truly get to know Venice, we needed to lose ourselves in the city and wander down streets away from the tourist areas. Being that we only had a few hours, we opted to skip the attractions and do just that. We stumbled across a little bistro that had a completely Italian menu, did not cater to tourists, and had the most amazing food ever! Our server was amazing. He brought us free spritzers, shrimp samplers, and gave us food suggestions. The language barrier was difficult but he spoke some English so we got by. At the end of the meal we praised his fantastic service and he relayed that this was their usual behavior as service was the absolute most important thing to him. Amanda and I got the ravioli which is what he suggested was the best thing on the menu. We were not disappointed in the least!
After our meal we walked the streets of Venice listening and absorbing the wonderful sounds of all the Italians around us. We truly got lost in the city. No seriously, it took us forever to figure out how to navigate back to where we were to meet our group. The locals actually draw arrows pointing in the wrong direction on the street signs so that you head away from the tourist attractions and towards their shops. We ended up jumping on the Vaporetto, which is the local boat transport, and rode for about 45 minutes through the city (yes, we were really far away) to our destination... enjoying all the sites of Venice along the way! All in all, it was a wonderful day.
Tomorrow morning we are off bright and early headed in Florence!
I don't have enough time to upload pics tonight but I will try and do it from our next stop. Here is the link to pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/118224782848888880659/VeronaVenice?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGuyNydloS3wQE
Ciao!
-Lindsay
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Verona and Venice, Italy
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