Winter Break: Italy

I spy with my little eye...our hotel.

The final installment of this three-part series offers a satisfying ending to a real nail-biter of a storyline. Hold onto your hats, people.

Today's guest star: FOOD. Many thanks to the Italians who've made this all possible.


Our arrival in Italy was generic. Plane landed, we collected our luggage and hopped on a bus to Venice proper.

Once we got off the bus though, Venice's charm swept me off my feet. I was instantly smitten despite the utterly frigid temps we battled on our walk to the hotel. The wind whistled through the narrow passageways and whipped over the footbridges crossing each canal.

Kara studied abroad in this fairytale city and guided us to our hotel right next to the Rialto Bridge (see above photo). Because we only had one night in Venice (thanks to Vueling, the most customer unfriendly airline I've dealt with in my life), we had to make the most of our time. There were lots of shops featuring beautiful Murano glass jewelery and intricate Mardi Gras masks. We had fun poking around and treating ourselves to souvenirs.

I'm forgetting in what order we did all these things in, but here's a non-chronological recap:
We ate some delish pizza at Kara's favorite place. Not too shabby to have Venice as your old stomping grounds, enh?

YUM PORK PRODUCTS!

We saw the Piazza San Marco, which was getting all spruced up for Mardi Gras. We saw the clock tower and the amazing Basilica. There were far too many birds there for my liking at this particular site, but for the sake of the experience, I pushed through.

Venice is awarded the Emily Stamp of Approval.

In Piazza San Marco.

My own personal hell. These birds weren't even afraid of humans.

The Grand Canal.

Having only been to The Venetian Hotel in Vegas, this was a total upgrade. It's basically like if Disney World came to life. After a few gelatos, our time in Venice was up and we were all aboard the Rome train. Yeah, we took a train to Rome.

This Roman holiday was...memorable. Our luck ran out weather-wise, and a big ole snow storm hit the Italian capital. The city came to a halt and many of the greatest sites were closed to the public. Not to worry though, we got our cultural fill. Here are the pictures to prove it:

He drank too much last night. Poor guy.

It snowed inside the Pantheon, too. There's a hole in the ceiling. It's not a structural problem- the hole is supposed to be there.

Still smiling because my feet weren't soaked yet.

The pope's interior decorator is top-notch.

St. Peter's Basilica.

Colosseum. Closed, unfortunately.

Couldn't go in The Forum, unfortunately.

Despite some weather-related obstacles Rome was full of pizza, pasta and gelato, so I was a mostly-happy camper. We met up with a fourth Fulbrighter in Rome (shout out: Jenna) and had some great adventures navigating Romes ancient and snowy streets.

THE END.
Check out Mary and Kara's blogs. They have pictures and hilarious anecdotes from our adventures that I didn't post.

I've since readjusted back to my Afyon life. School is in session, and the snowstorm remnants are finally melting.