It was always my dream to go to Italy. I had never been, but my Dad served his mission in Milan and two of my sisters have gone and I love the Olive Garden (jk) . . . but seriously, I had always wanted to go! So, after Russia, Robbie and I went out backpacking through some of Europe- and of course Italy was included. We were lucky enough to have our good friends Aaron and Seth meet us there, which made it even more fun. Aaron had already been, so he was our unofficial tour guide, as well.
In Venice, we stayed with this little Italian man; in his apartment, actually. It was just an extra room that he rented out with three beds in it and included "Nutella toast in the morning" as it was advertised online. It was really fun because it was nestled right in Venice near the Rialto Bridge (the most famous bridge in Venice that crosses the grand canal, with all the shops along it) and down a little cute ally. We totally felt like we were "staying" in Venice, perhaps with a distant uncle, rather than "visiting" Venice.
Although the water is pretty gross, it was still amazing to see all the canals and bridges and gondolas throughout the city. There are basically no roads for cars, just pedestrian streets and water taxis everywhere. And so, although highly over priced- we just had to take a gondola ride; I mean we were in Venice for crying out loud! The only disappointment was that our gondolier didn't sing to us, but he was in the traditional "get-up" . . . and did carry on a cell phone conversation while steering us around the city- it's the "2000's" I guess. Ah- Amore!
