I think the title safely says it all! The start of the week was slightly average, I was sick for two days and then we had a school trip on Thursday so I wasn't exactly at school much. BUT I did manage to teach my P.E class netball. And although it was being played in a totally wrong way, I think they liked it and I liked finally having some semblance of my sport again!
So, on Saturday we left for Venice at 6 in the morning. Meaning I had to get up at 5.15AM. It was cruel and unsual punishment, but luckily I had a shower on the Friday otherwise it could have been a lot worse... So we started our 6 hour long drive and my host mum, sister and me slept for the most part because it was so early! We got to Italy at about 4 hours, and it was actually quite disappointing. I was expecting border control or some sort of big fanfare, but there was only a sign saying "Welcome to Italy". And it looked exactly like the part of Austria that we had just left. This sort of thing is confusing for a girl who's lived her whole life on an island! But then I realized that actually it was Italy when I saw a sign and realized that I actually couldn't read it. I thought it said we were 1000m above sea level, but apparently it said that a toll bridge was 1000m away. Slightly different... So we drove on through the countryside of Italy and it got way better, actually starting to look like a different country! Then when we got to Venice I got my first taste of what it was like not to understand anyone when we got to the parking garage and Barbara had to talk to the guy. Luckily she can speak Italian otherwise it may have turned out differently!
So we parked the car and then walked across the road to the bus station. Which, in Venice, means the boat station. Because the whole city is covered in canals, the only way to get around is either walking or by boat. How cool is that?! It was different than I expected it to be... It was certainly majestic and mysterious, but I didn't realize the effect that the water has on the buildings, making the water-facing sides quite dirty. And I also didn't realize that a lot of the houses are built on the water. Like literally, you couldn't walk out the back door or you'd fall into a canal. That was really cool. Our hotel was nice as well, like a lot of the buildings it had quite a plain façade, but it was very richly and beautifully decorated on the inside. So after we got settled in, we went for a walk to St. Mark's Square, the central point of city. It was massive and there were heaps of tourists (and pigeons!) but you know, we were tourists too so it was all okay! We walked from there to the biggest bridge in Venice and as we were standing there looking out at the grand canal (the biggest canal) I turn around and this other girl turns around at the same time and it's Sarah from America who is also an AFS student in Austria. What are the chances?! It was so surreal, meeting each other in Venice after having not seen each other since arrival camp (she lives in Kärtner which is about 4 hours away from where I live). So we ended up having a coffee together at a coffee house that we found and talking for so long that the waitress asked us to leave! Like literally, it was really funny. It was great to catch up with her and talk about everything that's different with our lives now.
So that night we went to a real Italian restaurant, and being the only one who could speak enough Italian, Barbara had to order everything for us. Although, it's quite good that she can speak it otherwise we may have been quite lost! The next day it was early to rise, although not quite so early and we went to the otherside of the city and looked at some churches before Constanze and I went off to try and find an infamous Hard Rock Cafe in Venice. It turned out to not be too hard, and we had an extremely overpriced sundae and chips. But it was still cool. Then that afternoon we walked around Venice some more and went to a couple of other churches and then the Accademie museum with heaps of Italian art. Very renaissance. Then that night was another real Italian restaurant with real Italian pizza! Very yummy.
The next day was Monday and our last day in Venice! Far too short... But we did some shopping in the morning and I bought myself a mask and some glass things from a couple of the millions of glass shops in Venice. Apparently it's quite popular. But they do have beautiful things. Then we went to St. Mark's Cathedral and it was amazing, the entire ceiling is decorated with gold enamel and it just looks stunning. After that we did a bit more shopping before having to go and pick up our bags and start the long journey home. There was also an AFS Stammtisch (chapter meeting thing) that night (well, last night) so as soon as we got home I caught the train into Vienna and caught up with some other AFS people. So a very tiring day!
Venice was amazing, and if any of you ever get the chance to go there I would highly recommend it because it's such an awesome city. Ciao for now!
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