Week 4: Famous Last Words--Marco Polo

"I have not told half of what I saw."

This past Friday, we over here at OUA took a class overnight field trip to Padova.  And while Padova was awesome (I got to see the beautiful Scrovegni Chapel painted by Giotto and the Basilica of Saint Anthony--which of course holds St. Anthony's voice box, tongue, and jaw--as well as Galileo's house and other sites), Venice was beyond description!  Especially seeing as I got to go during CARNEVALE!!!

We didn't get into Venice until Saturday afternoon; once there, we stopped at our hostel where our hostess was kind enough to leave us a bottle of Proseco--thus the first thing we got to do in Venice was stare over the streets from our fake flower-y balcony while toasting our study abroad experience and drinking wine from fancy flutes.  Not bad.  Not bad at all. . .


So after meeting up with the rest of our group at the train station on the main island of Venice, we got our first view of the Grand Canal (see the top picture here).  That image is what you see when you step out of the train station.  That gorgeous view.  Gahhhh!!  It's just so amazing, so beyond words. . .

We then headed to get combo tickets for the buses and waterbuses, and we took a waterbus to see the beautiful islands of Murano and Burano.  Murano, famous for its glass blowers and glass sculptors, had so many beautiful shops and colorful products that it was just. . . just. . . *sigh*.  Beautiful.  Here are some example displays (I especially love all the glass with glass fish inside--don't know how they do it, but it's freaking adorable!)

Unfortunately there were no grand parties or big going-ons Saturday night in St. Mark's Square, but we were able to explore the city as it was lit up with twinkling lights and scattered with people in fancy costumes.  A waterbus back to the mainland and a short hike back to the hostel, and one day was sadly gone. . .

But of course, less than 5 hours after I went to sleep, I woke up and caught a bus back to the island in order to see the sunset over the Grand Canal.  (Even if it wasn't the most spectacular sunrise, it was totally worth it.)  A small group of us then wandered around the city on foot, walking through empty roads and piazzas and following whatever arrows and signs we could find to get to Saint Mark's.  A few wrong turns and dead ends may have been found, but being able to just amble through the city before the festivities began was so cool.  Especially since when I wandered with a friend back through the same streets later, we got to see the streets come to life--the contrast was fantastic and awe-inspiring.

We saw the parade of costumed Venetians with their percussion and trumpets reverberating off the walls of St. Mark's Square, we saw various people dressed to the nines in various bright and gorgeous outfits, and we saw-we saw--soooooo muchhhhh stufffff.  There was an ice rink in a random piazza off the beaten path, there were strings of musicians parading through main thoroughfares and back streets, gorgeous churches and monumental buildings around every corner, an amazing music box which you cranked to play bright and festive songs.  We found a small pizza shop with great character and groovy tunes, and wandered across as many bridges as we could find, haha.  We got to go into a shop where they made miniature glass sculptures and witnessed the owners sculpting a turtle and a bird right in front of us.  A corner was turned to find a random and unexpected park, and before that we saw couples enjoying the scenery from gondolas as their gondoliers sang to them while passing below.  There was just so much that happened that I cannot tell even half of it. . .

Therefore I will leave you with some images of people who went all-out in dressing up for Carnevale--which I, for one, much appreciate.  Especially since they usually couldn't make it two feet before being stopped once again by a crowd of tourists trying for pictures, haha.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic semester!  Buona giornata!!!  :)



Image Information.  All of these images are personal photos, taken on Feb. 7th and 8th, 2015.  In order (left to right if on same line), these are photographs of:  the Grand Canal as seen from the Venice train station; Saint Mark's Square, Venice; Murano glass on Murano; Murano glass in a shop at Saint Mark's; a canal on the island of Burano; a canal on the island of Venice; Venice's Rialto Bridge; a typical Venetian Carnevale costume; Nefertiti Venetian Carnevale costume; a white reaper Venetian Carnevale costume.