blown away.

DAY TWELVE

The beautiful sea glass colors of Murano in the morning

As I stated in the last post... I woke up freezing.  Italy, why?  Oh well, at least my sleep was AWESOME (no sarcasm! Seriously!)!  Anyway, the hotel provided us a skimpy, but free breakfast before we left for another full day of Murano and Venice!

The ferry took us straight to Murano where we watched a man blow glass.  I originally read that part of the tour on the itinerary and blew (no pun intended) off because it sounded boring.  But boy was I wrong.  It was so cool, I was blown away!  I never knew how/what blowing glass meant.  They actually blow the glass and form it into vases and bowls!  It was crazy.  Even cooler, the man formed the glass into a horse!  Yes. I meant what I wrote... A HORSE!  And it was perfect.  I can't even... wow.  I wish I had taken pictures, but it all happened too fast.  He formed that horse in less than a minute!  Pure talent.
 

After that we had about an hour to walk around tiny, tiny Murano.  It was a very small town that literally based it's income off of glass, glass, and more glass.  All "made in Murano!"  The glass was actually really beautiful, but was very expensive and awfully difficult to carry, so I passed on all the pretty plates, chandeliers, and picture frames in colors of the sea.  It was an adorable little town, but there truly isn't a need to go back.  ALL WE WANT IS MORE VENICE!

Frolicking.

Today we got four straight hours just to frolic in the streets of Venice!  We walked immediately to this adorable little shop called, Oysho, where they sold these cool pants for super cheap!  And as you may know... I NEEDED pants!  We spent a long time in there trying o EVERYTHING in the store since it was all so cute.  Gah!  I love European clothing and I love being a current resident in Italy!  It just feels so right even though I am still struggling with my Italian.  "Build it, it will come."  Maybe?  Just look at me in Italy... don't I look like a native?  Don't answer that.  *Tourist*  

I guess the only thing that doesn't feel right for the other girls is the lack of American food.  They were craving hamburgers and French fries, so we had to dine at The Hard Rock Venice for lunch.  We stomped through puddles, dodged scary pigeons, and scaled bridges to find it!  Now... I am pretty sure I haven't eaten at a Hard Rock in about four billion years so I didn't really know what to expect in terms of expenses, but you have to remember, we are in VENICE so of course it is going to be ridiculously priced.  As is everything.  How do people eat in this city?  Is that why everyone is so skinny?  It can't only be because everyone smokes!  And when I say everyone... I mean everyone!  They all smoke.  It is as if they learn it in school or something because it is ingrained in all Italians and Europeans.  They just live it because it is all around them.  It is so gross, but it is a part of their culture that I have to accept over my stay here, unfortunately.

The meal was actually really enjoyable.  I don't know if it because I was starving (which I was), if I just really love pulled pork (which I do), or if I just really was craving American food, but I ate it ALL!  We lounged about for a long while, soaking up the Americaness of it all and people watching (of course).  There were these two girls on the trip with us who showed up at one point to eat and I was astounded at how much they wasted (money and food).  They both ordered two of what appeared to be a pina colada, hamburgers and fries, two sides of macaroni, and a potato skins to share.  They finished like 10% of it all.  Disappointed.

Bird on the arm... they just jump on you.

Anyway... Venice was almost complete by the end of the day and we were all ready to return to Firenze.  It was overall a productive experience because it is such a different city.  As we we were headed back to the boat dock to catch the ferry we all did something pretty vile... we played with the pigeons.  I know you aren't supposed to, but it happened and I don't regret it.  It was kind of cool even though I know my Dad has a vendetta against them because they seem to always choose to "do their business" on him in almost every country we visit.  Don't know why... but it's kind of funny (sorry Dad, but you know it's funny!!).  Anyway, if you just reached out your hand, they would all just fly up and land on your arm hoping to get crackers or bread.  They are obviously used to being fed, even though it is technically illegal.  Eh, we did it anyway!

So... four-thirty turned into five and our ferry still had not arrived.  I guess five o'clock is rush hour for boats too... who knew?  We waited for a little longer, as the docks became more and more crowded with people trying to get out and boats trying to get in.  It was a mess.  Finally we got on the ferry and headed back to the bus for our long trip home.  I slept most of the way, but woke up just in time to see our drive into Firenze.  It was beautiful because the sun was setting and the fog was weaving in and out of the beautiful lush green hills that surround the city.  It was a cool drive because tunnels are just built into the mountains and the roads are so curvy.  Luckily we weren't on any major cliffs because the speed limit is always pretty fast and that would be terrifying in a giant bus.  Home sweet Firenze! 

Sorry for a rather boring post today!  It is pretty late here and I have to get to sleep!  Hopefully the roommates and I will visit the Uffizi Museum tomorrow for a greater taste of Firenze!  We are gone so much that is it important to step back and actually experience what is right in front of us!  Buonanotte!

PS: Here are a few more pictures from today that I just liked, but had no where to put!