Venice!

Amo Venezia! Last weekend me and my roommates went to Venice and Padova. It was so incredible! Venice is absolutely gorgeous and it was so cool to see all the waterways and canals used as everyday streets! We stayed at a little hotel in San Polo just across the Grand Canal from Piazza San Marco and Doges Palace. The night we arrived, we took a gondola ride through several famous canals. We saw Mozart's house, Vivaldi's palace, Casanova's house, Elton John's house, and Marco Polo's house! We went out for a crappy dinner that night, but it was nice to spend time with the girls. We saw Harry's Pub where the first peach bellini's were invented. For just a little glass of bellini it cost about $25!!!! so we ended up just getting some at a less expensive place later on. The next day we saw all of Piazza San Marco including Palazzo Ducale (Doges Palace). We then took a water taxi to Murano where they do all the famous glass blowing! We saw a brief demonstration and I couldn't believe how easy the man made it look. It took him about 2 minutes to form melting glass into an incredibly exquisite little horse!
After exploring Venice we hopped on the train and headed to Padova, only a 45 minute ride from Venice. Padova has the second oldest university in Italy. The town was super cute and we saw several famous art exhibits. Our hotel was right across the street from Saint Anthony's Cathedral and Donatello's famous "gattamalata". We also made reservations to the Arena Chapel to see Giotto's famous frescos. One of my favorite moments of the weekend was while we were in Padova walking back to the train station. There was an old man, maybe around 60, with what I presumed was his granddaughter, about 3 walking hand in hand just in front of us. They were dressed nice like they had just come from Sunday mass. They walked into a chocolate shop to get some sweets for what I overheard him say was the family dinner. The man was so kind and sweet to the little girl and she looked up at him with the most big, blue trusting eyes. He lifted her up high so she could see all the different kinds of chocolate and let her pick out the one she wanted to try. He greeted us very kindly as they walked out of the shop and the little girl smiled at us as they passed. I might be the biggest dork on the face of the planet, but it was so sweet to see and it made me smile. It will be nice to be back at home with my own family next month!
Before getting on the train to go back to Perugia, we stopped at McDonalds. Yes. We did. I bought fries and scarfed down every single one of them!

Update

I have been so busy the past few weeks! Catching up on everything I've done is going to take so long! The weekend before our fall break we went horseback riding in Chianti, Tuscany! It was such an incredible experience and the perfect way to see the beautiful, rolling hills of Tuscany. After horseback riding, we returned to Perugia for the week-long Euro Chocolate Festival!!! People from all over Europe come for the delicious Perugian chocolate. I've never seen this city so packed and busy. It was absolutely insane! I drank some of the best hot chocolate of my life and saw some awesome chocolate sculptures. There was chocolate liquor, chocolate beer (Guinness with chocolate), chocolate for your dogs, chocolate covered anything you could dream of...etc. The city literally smelled like chocolate when you walked outside. I was in heaven. During this week, we unfortunately were all taking midterm exams. After the exams were over, we had a 10 day fall break! I went with my friend Mattie to England. I had an absolute blast!
We arrived in London and went straight to our lovely flat in SoHo. It was amazing; so much nicer than we had imagined! The location couldn't have been better. The next day we went to Buckingham Palace, briefly watched the changing of the guard, and then explored all of Hyde Park! I've never been to a more beautiful park in all my life! We walked all through the park and saw Kensington Palace and gardens, Holocaust Memorial Rose Garden, Peter Pan statue, and the Marble Arch.

We also took a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath! It was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and it was so nice to not have to worry about scheduling and catching trains. The Roman Baths were so awesome and the city of Bath was so cute and tranquil! It was also really cool to see the hometown of Jane Austen.
The other day trip we took out of London was to Canterbury and Dover. Canterbury was great and I loved the cathedral. Dover was soooo great though! It is located on the southern coast of England close to the English channel. We visited the medieval Dover Castle and saw all the old secret war time tunnels. As a history minor, I loved learning more about the English perspective of the wars and how very different and close to home the wars were for them.
After exploring as much of London as we possibly could over the next few days, we went to Thriplow Farm just outside of Cambridge where Mattie's extended family live. This was probably one of my favorite parts of our visit to England. Cambridge is AMAZING! I would die to be able to study at Trinity or King's College. I've never seen a more beautiful campus. Thriplow Farm was also incredible. I had my own bedroom which overlooked the huge backyard and the horse pastures. Every morning I woke up to the sounds of horses and leaves rustling in the breeze! I enjoyed home-cooked meals 3 nights in a row and actually loved taking a break from pasta and pizza!
England is absolutely phenomenal and I can not wait to return and see more of the U.K.!