The Fiercely Fine and Ferocious Four- June 16th

Katelyn (Blasiar)

I woke up this fabulous morn, birds twittering in my ear... and they told me I had two days left in Florence, and I hadn't done an ounce of shopping aside from what I purchased in Venice. Crap. So I quickly dressed and got ready quietly, because I had been told that the majority of the apartment wished to sleep in.
I grabbed my money and my sketching materials and headed to the Medici chapel first, because I had yet to see its wonder. Inside, I slowly made my way through the chapel to Michelangelo's sculptures of Dawn and Dusk (Lorenzo's tomb) and Night and Day (Giuliano's tomb) to the tune of a teacher shushing a large group of Portuguese students. The statues were amazing; more detailed and beautiful than I could have imagined. (Sorry, no pics allowed, and my sketches don't do any justice.)

After the chapel, I strolled around the adjacent outdoor market, and procured quite a few treasures. I took my booty (I guess technically both my booties) back to the apartment, where the girls were still sleeping in (long week!), and then went back to the markets again to check more people off my souvenir list. I repeated this pattern a few times because I hate carrying things while I look upon other things. At some point, a very kindly gentleman swindled me into buying an authentic Italian leather jacket... though I don't truly consider being "swindled", because I talked him down to 60% off. Maybe I swindled him... Another kindly Italian gentleman laughed hysterically at me when I purchased an umbrella from him (in the shape of the Duomo!!!) but packed it away even though it was raining. He couldn't fathom why one would buy an umbrella and decide not to use it (um... because it's in the shape of the Duomo! And I was already wet and liked the rain on my skin). "Crazy American girl!" he chuckled. Disclaimer: Photo not taken in Italy

When I finished shopping, I went back to the apartment (where Tamra seemed to be missing), and chatted with Amy and Taylor before shopping a little more in their company.

We went to Il Porcospino (the Porcupine) to have dinner together, and our waiter "LOVES Texans," so the wine flowed just as well as the conversation. This was by far my best restaurant experience in Italy. (We went back with Tamra the next night, it was so good.)

Taylor, Amy, and I met up with Payton and the other girls to try a bit of his Absinthe (which I decided I'm not a fan of because it tastes like black licorice... icky). We all made a beautiful piece of watercolor art together, then headed over to Julian's bar to meet up with Zach and the other ID girls. It was a fantastically fun night, but the free-flowing wine + the Absinthe + the beer = headache for Katelyn in the morning. No buono.

June 14th

Farewell Firenza! Our last evening here, and we'll miss you for a lifetime!

Rainy day after visiting David at The Accademia. Ann entering battle just as David did, only she was battling a cheap umbrella.

Ange doing her best David impression... being still at stone.

To celebrate making it through the two biggest and best museums in Florence we all got a delicious gelatto.

The celebration was cut short when the mountain of gelatto crumbled. Now Ange is walking piece of contemporary art.

Have no fear, Megan will save the day. Just scoop it back in! (I think even a homeless gypsy gave a look of disgust.)

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning a little more now that Megan and Ann gave it a little shove!

Oh! the lights at night of Venezia in San Marco Piazza. The water is so clear you can't tell up from down.

Enjoying the nightlife in Venice with our classmates. ( Sorry the waiter can't take pictures... Katelyn and Taylor)

Ange was a little freaked out by the swaying gondola, while Ann found a new boyfriend in Stefano our guide! Ciao! We love you Italy and cannot wait to see you again!

The Fabulous Four- June 12, 2010......Saturday

An angel awoke us for our adventure to Venice. No, actually it was Tamra knocking on our doors telling us to wake up, or we all would be late for the train....! Our weekend adventure to Venice was upon us. After arriving at the train station on time, I think we all basically did our own thing on the ride. Some slept some wrote in their journals, and some gazed out the window. It was always a beautiful view.
Arriving in Venice was like seeing a city created in someones imagination... it was just so unreal. I think that we all found it hard to believe that the entire city was built on water hundreds of years ago. After getting settled in our church museum monastery home hotel, we all went on a guided tour by an Italian fairy.... no really she was beautiful and wonderful. We learned a great deal.
After our tour, an elephant sprang from the great ocean like a Roman god, and poured wine from its tusks and trunk, which we drank as though we were Venecian warriors... not really....but it sounds good... :) After the three hour tour (a three hour tour) we were seperated for a bit to enjoy shopping and getting lost in the beauty of the city.

Amy and Tamara

We decided to get ready and find a place for dinner. We found a nice place to enjoy an awesome seafood dinner. Afterwards we just walked around enjoying the view. Venice is a quiet, relaxing place, free of vehicle and moped noise. It really is a pleasant place to enjoy a peaceful evening.

Katelyn and Taylor

Zach, Katelyn, and Taylor decided it would be a fabulous idea to attempt heading back to the hotel, but we seemed to get lost along the way. We'll be the first to say though, Venice is not the worst place to get lost...

After a while, we got ahold of a map and some information about the World Cup, and headed off to find some sports bars in Campus Square Margherita. We found one pub, shared a plate of absolutely delicious gnocchi, and had a couple beers (well, Taylor had a Melon Margarita... note to selves: frozen=with ice cube). We decided a little dive across the street seemed a little more bumpin (plus, the TV was about 10 inches bigger), so we popped a squat (or 3?) to watch US vs. England. Surrounded by Brits and Yankees, the experience couldn't have been better. And when Tim Howard managed another amazing save, Zach's vociferous response was: "I want Tim Howard to have my babies!!!"

Oh yah.

We stumbled back to our hotel, still drunk on adrenaline (and maybe a little beer), and knew that this first experience in Venice would only mark greater experiences to come.

Aloha

So where to start? Well I started with the beginning last time, but I'm no longer in Italy so lets start at the end:

Sorry for writing a book, but I just have so much to say about this trip. It’s been fun guys, and thank you so much Cynthia and Bruce, you both are great. Seeya later!

- Payton

So now that that's out of the way lets start at the end in a different way. I was assigned to fill out this here interblog on the last day, but that day consisted of a final glorious goodbye to Florence so instead I’ll give a retrospective now that I’m back in the great state of Texas.

Howdy yall.

This trip was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed. I laughed, I learned, I lived, I loved, and I laundered. The laundering part was pretty difficult, I must say. I got some soy sauce on the crotch of my pants at a Chinese restaurant (which was absolutely delicious I might add) and thus had to get the stain out. Keep in mind that these were purple pants so keeping the true hue was obviously of very high priority. Upon noticing the stain I sprinted home in anguish and threw said shorts into the washing machine. That’s where the trouble started... I feel as though I am well versed in the washing of shorts, as I have seen quite a few machines in my day and have many a pair of shorts in my wardrobe, but nothing could prepare me for the quagmire I was about to face. You see, in America washing machines have one button and a knob as a general rule. In Italy washing machines have 3 buttons, 3 knobs, and a variety of symbols as well as numbers and letters. At first I was confident this would not be that hard, but thirty minutes later I had been proven wrong. I simply do not understand the difference of pair of squiggly lines vs. a square vs. a spiral vs. an octagon in terms of clothes washing. It is down right preposterous! I could not let this machine get the best of me so after fiddling with the beast for ten minutes longer I finally discovered that it would start after turning the knob to: squiggle, 35, and W. The buttons were then to be pushed in a sequence of power button, small square button, then finally the red button. The stain came out and victory was mine!

As far as the other 4 L’s are concerned they are no less important. I laughed freely, because for two and a half weeks none of the worries and stresses that plague our day-to-day lives had followed me. I learned about the history of a beautiful city and country. I learned how to knock out some pretty snazzy quick sketches. Most importantly of all however, I learned more about myself. I lived my life for 2 ½ weeks in a foreign city, which I must say is a very humbling experience as well as one that makes you reevaluate the life that we take for granted back home. Finally I fell in love with the country of Italy and the people in it... Well most of the people. I was not a fan of some drunken boy who after USA tied the UK in the world cup called me an “American wanker”. That kid really sucks.

Florence truly is a wonderful place. So many great memories were made there, but I must say that the last day there was one of the best. My flight was booked separate from the group so Leanne, Alizsha, and myself had one final day in the city after the rest of our group left. Thank god for that. The previous day was not exactly the greatest one. I felt homesick yet sad that I was leaving such a great place. This was only made worse by the disgustingly grey and dreary weather outside which at one point began to hail. The final day was absolutely beautiful however. It was a sunny day with soft white marshmallow clouds floating in the sky. There was no humidity and it was a temperate 85 degrees all day long. I couldn’t have asked for better weather. Not that I really know whom I could ask to give me good weather… maybe Al Roker? I would certainly ask him to BBQ me up a rack of ribs if I got a hold of him, that’s for sure.

The day began with cleaning the apartment and saying goodbye to my home for the past two and a half weeks. The apartment Zach and I shared was absolutely majestic and I have a little less appreciation for that old olive shack I call home back in Denton now unfortunately. After checkout I met the girls at the school and after wasting half an hour on the popular social networking site ‘Book Face’ we located our hotel and took off. Upon arrival at Hotel Eden we were informed that the room we had booked was only a 2 bed. I could see the anger growing in Alizsha’s eyes as she had certainly booked a 3 bed. I was preparing myself to see her to give the desk clerk 3 quick snaps, a wag of the finger, and a loud “NUH-UH-UH!” but she managed to keep her composure and after 10 minutes we had been upgraded to a 3 bed. Now if this hotel is what Eden was truly like I can see why Eve ate that apple. The room was slightly less depressing than a $37 motel in Kansas City. The walls were grey and barren except for a single badly rendered watercolor of a Caribbean beach, which I could not get to stay straight for the life of me.

Next on our agenda was visiting the Academia to view David. We had previously heard that the line took approximately 3 hours to get in so we almost skipped seeing the famous landmark. Thank god we didn’t. We flashed our museum pass at a separate V.I.P. entrance and skipped ahead of the 300+-person queue. The first room had classic renaissance artwork, which although beautiful we looked around for only several minutes before deciding to skip ahead and find David. The three of us were laughing about a particularly creepy looking cherub we had observed in the previous room when we rounded the corner and saw David at the end of a long corridor. Conversation stopped immediately, my hairs stood on end, and the three of us stood speechless for at least 15 seconds before we regained composure and cautiously approached the behemoth. Words cannot describe how beautiful this statue is. I don’t feel like I would be lying if I said that I truly believe this is the most beautiful man made object I’ve seen in my life. It is truly perfection. I’m sure everyone has seen photos of the giant, but they do not do justice to how truly magnificent and HUGE this piece is. The sculpture is 17 feet tall, is positioned in a roman looking dome at the end of a long corridor, and rests on a platform positioned roughly a foot above the heads of the tallest visitors. We decided to sit and sketch, and even after 30 minutes of observing the piece it still seemed unreal. Everyone has seen a picture of the statue I am sure, but no photographs could do it justice, nor do any of the replications of the piece that were located throughout the city.

We left, still in awe and made our way to the greatest sandwich shop on earth. Unfortunately the name escapes me, but if you went to the one that our historic tour guide pointed out a block from the Casa di Dante then you know exactly what I am talking about. The employee and owner is a very nice young Italian man and the sandwiched are out of this world. In lieu of sending home several sandwiches via UPS (which I was considering) I decided to instead ask the owner if he sold the balsamic vinegar, which was the secret that took his sandwiches to the next level. This was a joke more or less, but we had gotten to know him after eating there 5 days straight, and with a smile on his face he produced a bottle of his own recipe and let me buy it at a discount. I’m going to miss that place.

Jimmy John, you should be taking lessons from that man.

After a long thank you and goodbye we took off to climb up to Piazza Michelangelo and say our goodbyes to the city. Alizsha was all tuckered out from the previous night however, so she stayed and sketched her Gough drawing. Leanne and I would not be stopped however. We crossed the Arno River and made our way up the 35-degree incline slope that could be considered a rite of passage for that view. After reaching the top, we avoided the swarm of North-African purse pushers and sat down upon a wide set of stairs to sketch. We sat and enjoyed the warm sun and the beautiful view while we both knocked our two of our best sketches from the trip. After about half an hour a limousine pulled up and a young newly wed couple stepped out and climbed the steps. They stopped 2 feet from Leanne and I then embraced and had several pictures taken. I somehow suppressed my urge to make weird faces and ruin the couple’s photos that I had somehow found myself in and instead smiled and applauded along with the 50 or so other people sitting on the staircase. It was really a really beautiful moment and so was she. He was a lucky man, and they were lucky to get married in such a beautiful place on such a beautiful day.

Honestly that’s the best word I can really use to describe the piazza and the day as a whole: beautiful. After a while Leanne and I walked slowly around the piazza and overlooked the city. Another newly wed couple strolled past us as we made our rounds then we sat and observed a gang fancy yet pissed off looking guidos getting their photos taken. Finally we stopped near a boom box that was blaring Michael Jackson and gazed off into the distance and talked for hours as the sun set. I wish I was a smooth enough criminal to steal that sunset… ZING! The sky was painted with warm pinks and cool blues. The orange roofs of the town glowed brightly as the setting sun illuminated them one last time. It was a truly great evening. The sun would rise over the city again the next day, but this was the last of it we would see. It was a bittersweet moment as we both knew that this was the end of something special, but I for one know that this was a day that I will hold dear until the day I die.

Different day, same Piazza.

The sun finally hid its head behind the mountains and as dusk enveloped us we made our way back into town. We wandered slowly in search of a pizzeria and along the way discovered a temporary stadium erected in the plaza of a beautiful church. Of course we had to investigate and as we got closer “How Low” by Ludacris became audible. We climbed the steps and found ourselves upon metal bleachers watching scantily clad cheerleaders upon a rectangle of sand demonstrating how low they could in fact go… and low it was indeed! After asking each other, “Uhhhh…. What the hell?” a net was quickly erected, an announcer came over the intercom. 4 girls then ran out and began a volleyball match. It was very surreal.

Neither of us cared about volleyball but we watched for several minute because it was just so bizarre, then took off cause our bellies were a rumblin’. It was night by now and we wanted to find an outdoor café but due to our hunger settled for the first place that took credit cards, and man I’m glad we chose this place. We ordered a prosciutto and mushroom pizza and after waiting for 15 minutes while it baked in a stone oven it was brought to our table. We asked for mozzarella and the waiter came back 5 minutes later slightly drunk after taking a wine and cigarette break with a block of fresh cheese in tow and grated it in front of us. We split it the pizza and it was incredible. While in Italy I’ve had my share of pizzas, but this one took the cake… well “took the pie” would be more appropriate I suppose.

A note about the pizzas: I found it interesting is that they are never pre-sliced. Instead you are given a big pizza pie and eat it with silverware. I would always use the knife to cut slices then just pick them up, but it seemed as though the locals ate it with a fork and knife. Also even eating an entire meal of a huge pizza never makes you feel heavy and unhealthy like our greasy American pizzas do. I suppose that’s true with almost all the food in that country. You’re served a healthy portion of healthy food instead of a monstrous helping of artery clogging, chemically preserved, and fried chow. All the ingredients seem more pure and none of the meat is pumped full of growth hormones. No wonder our country is so unhealthy…

Taste’s like freedom.

After a long and wonderful day we reunited with Alizsha at the hotel, took some melatonin to prepare ourselves for awaking at 4am the next day then talked until we could no longer keep our eyes open.

The next day was felt like I was slowly waking up from a two and a half week-long dream. We woke at 4am, had trouble in the airport while checking luggage, then spent the next 25 hours on and off airplanes. I don’t want people to take this the wrong way and think that I hate babies, because I don’t… but I was sat within 4 feet of a baby on EVERY. SINGLE. FLIGHT. Come on moms. Be considerate. Turn your babies on vibrate if you’re going to bring them on an eight and a half-hour flight.

Upon our return I felt a mixed bag of emotions. I love America don’t get me wrong, this is my home, but after living in another society for so long you notice certain things that they do differently and at times better. I don’t want to get political so I will leave it at that. It’s been a bit hard getting reacclimated to life back home to be completely honest as well. I’m certainly a different person than I was when I left, but I’d like to believe that it was all positive growth. I hope everyone else came away from this trip with as fulfilling of an experience as I have and it’s been great spending this time with you (even if some of us have gotten so much of each other we could use a month without seeing each other, haha).

Sorry for writing a book, but I just have so much to say about this trip. It’s been fun guys, and thank you so much Cynthia and Bruce, you both are great. Seeya later!

- Payton

Sometime in June...

So, there seems to be some confusion as to when I am supposed to be blogging. Sorry for the chaos! It could be due in-part to the internet at the school being the LEAST dependable thing on the planet or my laptop deciding to finally quit on me... RIP MAC-y macbook. :'(

Since I have no idea what day I am supposed to be writing about, I will just go over my highlights since the last time my apartment blogged.

Did I mention in my last blog that Ive been shopping?! Yeah. Everyday. Shop shop shop. I thought I had a shopping problem in the U.S but I am literally like a kid in a candy store on the streets of Florence.

I have become really close with Carmen, Kathryn, Leanne, Alizsha and Payton. I spend most of my days with them and they are awesome. I cant wait to get back to Denton and hangout with my new friends :)

But back to Florence...

Until June 7th, I was pretty sure I had about as much interest in perspective drawing as I do the anatomy of an armadillo. As luck may have it(!!), my professors are actually pretty awesome at it. Bruce gave me a private lesson at the Piazza della Signoria where we were surrounded by sculptures Ive learned about in Art History and Art Appreciation...pretty cool. I sat on the ledge of the "stage"-like area looking out over the piazza and went to work in my sketchbook like Da Vinci...or maybe just with similar enthusiasm. Thanks Bruce! Im pretty proud of the progress I made!! June 7th-9th I spent with Carmen and Kathryn...shopping. Shocking right? Maybe not so shocking if you are on this trip with us. I found these really awesome leggings that are printed to look like destroyed jeans!! So I bought a pair for myself and my bff Rachel for her birthday :) On this particular day, I also discovered the awesomeness that is H&M. I have since been back to this store on at least 3 separate occassions and found really cool 80's inspired, baggy white, graphic printed, t's and tanks that hang off the shoulder. Not to mention the 4 pairs of bright coloured and printed sunglasses I purchased!

Leanne snapped this great picture of me incredibly excited to embark on our journey into the Bobli Gardens at Pitti Palace. Note my new outfit. Bet you thought those were real jeans.

Enough about my great new wardrobe.

On June 10th, we had a nice relaxing day that ended in Leanne, Alizsha, Payton and I cooking dinner together. We warmed up our bellies with a little Pecorino Morbido cheese with crackers and bacardi and cokes. We then made Pesto pasta with mushrooms and onions and baked breaded chicken. It was sooooo delicious.

My favorite day of all on this trip was June 11th. We met at the school WAY too early. I however, grabbed a redbull or two and was very excited about life. Once we got on the bus to go to San Gimignano, everyone in our group slipped into a deep deep sleep. Leanne and I however, were WIDE awake and decided to listen and sing along to Brooks & Dunn. Youre welcome sleepyheads :) Upon our arrival in San Gimignano at approximately 11am, the four best friends that anyone could have (myself, alizsha, leanne and payton) embarked on QUITE a whirlwind of an adventure. Our first stop was to fuel up. We ate lunch at 11am at this little cafe. Then, we found ourselves in a miscellaneous store where Leanne purchased a garden gnome, payton landed on brass knuckles, alizsha got mini knives and I made my most exciting purchase yet, a slingshot, complete with wrist-strap for enhanced launching capabilities.

WARRIORS.

Suited up and ready for battle, the four of us roamed the city until we found a nice shady spot to stop at sketch. It was at this location that my battle skills were put to the test. With Payton as my first victim, I was given the thumbs up and loaded my slingshot with a smartie (British version of M&M but BETTER) and let it rain on him. The mark it left on his back can only be described as hilarious. It was something like you would expect from a paintball fired at 60mph. I think I have found my calling. Thanks Payt! After we recovered from rolling on the floor laughing, we continued on our expedition.

Alizsha, Me and Leanne.

This was the beginning of the trail we stumbled upon that led us to one of the most amazing views I have ever seen.

Alizsha and Payton off on a wild adventure into the wilderness of San Gimignano.

Vineyards and orchards for miles. Tell me thats not one of the prettiest sights youve ever seen...

Well, after wrapping up our nature hike, we met up with the rest of the crew and got back on the bus to go to Sienna.

In Sienna, we took a long tour where we went into incredible churches, and experienced a little bit of life outside the bigger Italian cities. My only complaint would be the fact that walking around this city was much like going to the gym and warming up on the treadmill at the steepest incline possible...maybe even worse. I thought I was going to die. Must start working out more when I get home.

A re-occuring trend I have become quite fond of in this great land is how in love everyone seems to be. Everywhere I go, I see the cutest displays of affection between couples of all ages. Its not like in the U.S when you go to the mall on friday nights at see 8th graders making out at the mall. No, no. Its literally like love is in the air, everywhere you go.

I captured this Kodak moment somewhere in Sienna. How cute are they?!

Ahhhh...makes me want to go home and fall in love :)

I have so much more I could write about but considering the great detail I went into on these particular days, the average person's attention span and the high-note I just ended on, I think I will wrap things up here.

Hope I hit a soft spot somewhere for everyone out there reading this.

Ciao!!

Keara

Thursday, June 10th

"Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life." -Anna Akhmatova

The famous Michelangelo staircase going into the Medici Library.

We took a trip to Siena and San Gimignano, we saw the amazing view of local vineyards and the Tuscan countryside. 

Megan, trying to blend in with her surroundings at the Mostaccini Fountain in the Boboli Gardens.

The three of us underneath the Cheriete Grande.  The row of trees that lines where an old street was.  This was the one thing on our treasure hunt that we searched so long for that almost kept us from winning.

-Ann, Ange, & Megan

June 13th, 2010

Emily:

The Fab three I joined for the weekend trip in Venice liked to plan out there day by hourly guestimation of the desired destinations; as a result, we were out by 9a.m. to catch the hour and thirty min boat to Bruno, the island of colorful buildings and lace; a must for those interested in photography according to Luisella our tour guide from the day before. Seeing how Megan's passion is photography, Ang's too, it was the first item on our list.

 Bruno was a much different town than anything I'd seen in Italy thus far based on the facade alone and I loved it if for nothing else the inspirational colour palettes infused with individuality by means of natural aging. It was gorgeous and difficult to capture the true beauty through a simple photograph.

Our second stop was Murano, the famous island of glass. Knowing how mesmerized I was by the glass gold mosaic tiles on the entry wall of the Duomo and how an entire ceiling of gold almost brought me to tears while viewing San Marcos, I loved, loved Murano. The glass pieces, so similar but completely unique, like people, made me feel excited and giddy. I told Angie as I rolled my four fingers together touching each finger to its matching other, "It's like being a kind in a candy shop!" all while having an enormous smile across my face. The glass was amazing and so were the chandeliers. There was an emerald green chandelier probably as tall as me hanging in one of the side shops. It was so specfabulous it could even be photographed!

At this point, our complementary croissants, cheese, and honey and/or yogurt with cereal was wearing off so we stopped and ate at an outdoor cafe sightly off the water. Upon reaching the white umbrellas and modernized lime green chairs pushed under blue checked table cloths, all our eyes drifted to the older couple whose desserts were being delivered. They looked so delicious and it was made up then, we WiLL be having dessert. Our waiter, who would end up giving Megan his Facebook information by the end of the meal, was a cute kid knowing some english and was trying his best to impress Megan.

Once the food hit the table the pesto pasta I ordered was almost instantly in my mouth! It was so delicious and my french fries too. I love Italian french fries; they are freshly cooked, never frozen and salty... mumm. Our waiter continued to flirt with Megan and because he liked her so much when she passed him and his friends flanking the door to the interior with her camera in her hand, they asked and gestured, "Picture?"  The poor man didn't know that she was going back into the bathroom she had just visited for a photo or two because it was so pretty... and well she turned the picture of him down and told them all she wanted to instead take a picture of the bathroom. Our waiter was instantly deflated, his co-workers laughed and his cheeks turned a light shade of red. It was definitely funny... shot down and for a bathroom none the less. Out of the meal, Megan ended up gaining balloons, two red spheres and an orange tube, a great picture with the balloons, tons of laughs and a discount at the owners glass shops. All-in-all a great time.

It was here, at "Pappa's" shop I used my "one splurge." Before leaving I told myself I would try to buy myself very little and if there was something I loved, even if it was too expensive for my ideal budget, I could splurge on one item. I did, on a sterling silver ring framing a gold, square Murano bead. I instantly loved it and the more I see it on my right ring finger, the more I love it. It reminds me of the gold mosaics I am such a fan of, it is both silver and gold, and its a ring; win, win, win... purchased! I am so glad I did too. I questioned it at first because Megan also wanted one but talked herself out of it in exchange for multiple small items. I was thinking at the time, should I have talked myself out of it...No! And then I had a conversation with myself in my head... you told yourself you could splurge, this is your one splurge. Back and forth, forth and back I went... but I made the right decision and love my ring.

The end of our day was quickly approaching, even more quickly than we realized. In Venice everything starts closing down around 6 and because we went all the way out to the other islands, we missed the Guggenheim. We were hoping it would be open till 7 and we would have then had an hours to visit, but it closed at six. It was a great day however and we ended it with a yet another great meal and night photos. I enjoyed my time with the Fab three. It was a great day. 

Asaki & LeAnne:

We started out the day by taking a boat to the island of Murano to see a glass-blowing and sculpture-making demonstration. It was amazing. The craftsman produced two items – a vase and a solid glass horse. We thought they were masterpieces, but we were assured they were not good enough and they were placed in a pile to be recycled. We were lucky to see the glass-blowing demonstration because it closed early in the afternoon. 

 

From there, we explored the island and found several wonderful places to sit and sketch. Murano had a completely different feel from the main island of Venice. It was even more relaxed and slower-paced. Being Sunday probably helped! 

          

We window-shopped the rest of the morning, stopping to see all the different Venetian glassworks in several of the shops. The varieties were endless. We ate lunch and then returned to the main island, looking for more places to sketch. We got caught in the rain, along with everyone else! The rain gave Venice a completely new look. 

We continued sketching the city into the evening. Sunset was beautiful!

Kaitlin & Terra:

We started off the day by going to the Guggenheim with Tamra, Amy, Carmen, and Kathryn. The paintings and sculptures were beautiful, and it was amazing to be able to see the originals of artists such as Picasso, Dali, and Pollock that we have learned about for years in school. 

Next stop was the island of Lido. The island felt completely different from the rest of Venice. We walked along the  beach through crowds of people and splashed our feet in the Adriatic Sea. Once we acquired our Venice sunburns, we left with Tamra for our adventure to the island of Murano. One wrong stop, and three boat rides later we arrived 15 min. after the stores closed. After our failed attempt and about 3 hours of on and off boat riding, we were finally almost back to our hotel. We had just stopped into a jewelry shop on our way when it started to pour, and felt right at home in Texas when the hail started coming down.

Later that night we went with Amy, Tamra, and Zach to a jazz bar to watch Germany kill Australia in the World Cup. Sitting between fans from each country, and eating delicious food was a great experience and a perfect ending for our day in Venice.