Rough Start in Venice

Ciao!

Well, I finally made it to Italy!!! However, my suitcase did not… I arrived in Venice on Sunday afternoon after a connection from Chicago to Rome, and it’s Wednesday afternoon and still no bag! Somehow the tag got ripped off when it arrived in Rome and they couldn’t find it until yesterday! Hopefully I’ll get it today. Thankfully I packed some extra clothes and toiletries in my carry on bag! A piece of advice to all future travelers- ALWAYS pack some extra stuff in a carry on bag. You never know what will happen with these airlines, especially when you have connecting flights!

Besides that mess, I spent the night in Venice on Sunday and it was beautiful! We wandered through the back alleys and canals and it all seemed fake like I was on a movie set or at Disney’s Epcot. We walked along the Grand Canal and went in some shops along the way, many of which had a vibrant display of cookies and pastries in their windows that looked INCREDIBLE, but I resisted. There were 9 of us and we went to eat at a small restaurant called Ostaria Nova that had all kinds of pasta and pizza. I thought it was so funny that they had a pizza called “USA” that was a cheese pizza with french fries on it! Are they trying to say we’re fat or something…? HA! At night when the sun began to set vendors came out to sell toys and “designer” purses on the bridges and through the main alley where all the stores were.

Another piece of advice to future travelers- if you go to Venice make sure to figure out the buses! Our group took buses to get around and we had horrible luck with missing them and trying to get one that went near our Bed and Breakfast in Ca’ Noghera. We felt like such American tourists! The language barrier has been difficult, as well, but I’m starting to pick up on some things!

I’ve had two days of classes now here at Paderno and they’ve been great so far! I’m taking Introduction to Law with Lon Moeller who is the Dean of the Tippie College of Business, and International Marketing with a professor from Kansas State. The scenery is amazing, it’s so beautiful! The mountains are all around us and it’s definitely a different way to wake up and go to class every morning. It’s been a little cold and rainy so far, but hopefully it will warm up for my weekend trip to Cinque Terre!!!

 

I’m so excited to travel this weekend and see more of Italy! It’s been beautiful so far, and I can’t wait to see what the Mediterranean coast looks like! I’ll keep you updated!

Arrivederci!