Well, it's Sunday now and it's been almost a week since my last update. And for good reason. Last week was super busy. We only had 3 days of school, but we had other things on our schedule.
First being the city tour of Verona. We were supposed to do this when we first arrived, but it had been such yucky weather that we waited. Martin, our trip coordinator, is full of knowledge. He led us around and we got a better feel of the history of our home. We went inside the arena and to the top of the belltower. We also went to Juliet's house. (From Romeo and Juliet) If you a leave a note to Juliet on her wall, rumor has it that she will write you back. It was interesting to see all the letters on the wall. After Martin left us, we had lunch at a great little Bar, I think my new regular hangout, and got gelato from the best place in town, Patagonia. I went with the double scoop and it was well worth it!
Wednesday we finished class early and headed to Venice for the day. It was cold and there was a chance of rain. But we trecked there anyway. I'm sure if it had been a nicer day, I would have enjoyed Venice much more. However, it didn't live up to my expections or the hype that everyone puts on it. We toured the Doge palace and almost got kicked out. The Doge was the governmnet leader of Venice and his palace is incredible. There is a very lengthly selection process to the Doge and once he is elected, he has to live by himself in the palace and cannot communicate with anyone expect for at state affairs. This was to make sure every decision he made came from him. Martin was giving us the history lesson and pointing out interesting things to us when the trouble started. First, we got yelled at because we were taking pictures. Fine, no big deal, cameras put away. Then, in the next room we came to, the 'security' said Martin could not explain things to us. Whatever, we got away from her and entered the next part of the palace. Just as Martin was begining to talk, 'head of security' started yelling at him to stop. There were some words exchanged in Italian and I think it was best that we didn't know what was being said. Anyway, from then on we had security following us. It was like we were VIPs...
After Martin left us with money to get back to Verona with, we had a girls dinner. I've come to the conclusion that meal times are most difficult for us. It usually includes soem wandering, some "I don't want to eat here." or "It looks too fancy" before we finally settle on a place. The boys are the most difficult. They eat about 5 sandwiches a day and could care less where we eat meals. So, us girls have started looking for places on our own, while the boys grab a sandwhich and eat standing up. Then, they usually come to our restaurant and hang around our table finishing the leftovers. In Venice we found a great little place for some pasta and pizza before heading for the train.
The train took a little longer than expected and we were worried about being able to get ready to go out for "Crazy Wednesday" at our local bar, Campus Bar. After sprinting through the rain and then having our train 'cancelled' it was getting late. Once we finally did get back to Verona, we jumped on the wrong bus. FAIL. So, we get off at a random stop (don't worry parentals, Verona isn't THAT big and it is not dangerous) and try to call for a taxi. We find some young folk on the street and ask for their help. They said that taxis will only come to the next street over. So we follow the dudes and where do we end up. Campus Bar. We die in laughter. Some of the group decided to bail and head for home, but Tess had plans to meet up with her new Italian friends and some of decided to stay too. After being in Venice all day and getting stuck in the rain, we looked a hot mess. It was a fun evening and we had the next day to sleep in.
On Thursday, we headed to Paris at around 2 in the afternoon. I played travel agent and had all of our logistics figured out and was very thankful that it all worked out and things went very smoothly. I am going to have to update on Paris tomorrow. Too tired after such an awesome weekend! Let me just say though, I LOVE PARIS.
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