February in Venice
It all started out with April and Courtney bursting into the computer lab. “You want to go to Venice?” “Sure,” I said, “When?” They then told me it was the next weekend, it was a really good deal, and it was going to be during Carnival. Next thing I knew I was on an all-night bus with 6 other CSUers and on my way to Venice, Italy.
The bus wasn’t all that fun. I don’t know if any of you have ever done an all-night bus, but it is just about the most uncomfortable sleep you can imagine. So, in order to help us sleep, I bought April and I some mini-bottles of wine to go. It was somewhat effective, we sure laughed a lot. Anyway, we arrived in Venice the next morning at around 7 or 8 AM. We were actually staying in a little town just outside of Venice, called Mestra. The deal was: leave Thursday night, drive all night, spend all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Venice and take another all-night bus back to Aix Sunday night. So, that Friday morning we were dropped off in Venice, extremely tired and groggy from the lack of a good night’s sleep on the bus. So, the seven of us found a café that was open and chilled out a bit, and figured out what we would do with our time that day. We mostly just walked around, took pictures, and ate. But it was a good time. I was excited because every now and then I got to practice Italian.
At 6 PM that night, we took a boat ride to Mestra, where we met our bus. Our bus then took us to our hotel. It wasn’t really a hotel, though. It was a convent. We were a bit confused because it didn’t really look like a hotel or a convent, but then again, who really knows what an Italian convent looks like. That night, we got a free dinner, prepared by nuns, rather hot nuns, I might add. They were wearing low-cut shirts and jewelry. Weird. There was bread, wine, and pasta, your classic Italian cuisine. Then, the hot nuns came around asking us if we wanted more. We all said yes because we were really hungry and might as well eat all you can. So, we all took seconds. But to our surprise, there was a second course. “Look you guys, we’re getting more!” I said. “Yeah,” April said, “Looks like dessert. Cookies.” “The nuns made us cookies?” I said surprised, “Cool.” The nuns then came around and served us our “cookies,” which were actually deep fried chicken and spinach patties. Nice, April, get us all excited for nothing. So, as it turned out, it was a full second course with the chicken cookies, veggies, and a salad. Then, after that dessert, which wasn’t all that impressive, a sugary waffle thing that exploded in your face when you took a bite.
After our very satisfying meal, we went up to check out our rooms. They were actually quite nice, with 4 beds, a living room area with a pull-out, and a fully-functioning kitchen. Who knew convents could be so nice?
The next day we had to wake up early and catch our bus to the boat which would then take us to Venice. We spent another day just wandering around, checking stuff out, and eating. There was plenty to see as almost everyone, except the tourists, was dressed up. The costumes were amazing. At one point I wanted to get a picture of this chick all dressed up in this elaborate silver costume, so I weaved my way through an outdoor café to get to her. I took my picture, and weaved my way back through to the group, of which all six of them were standing in a line facing me with weird looks on their faces. They were like, “Emily! Why did you do that?” “I wanted to get a picture,” I said. “You totally just walked through that chick's commercial! Might as well have decked her with your backpack!!” April said laughing. Apparently, there was a chick shooting a commercial for something, and I walked right behind her with all my tourist gear and most likely ruined that shoot. Nice. The funny thing was, everybody thought I did it on purpose, and that I was being sarcastic when I said, “what?” I guess I have a reputation for being a smartass. Go figure.
The rest of the day was filled with more yummy Italian meals, and going into shops. We all bought our masks for later that night. After dinner and wine, we decided to stand in an ally way and sip April’s whiskey. We then decided we need some more kick for our evening, and we bought two more bottles of wine. We then headed over to “Disco Fever” in San Marco Square. We’re talking like thousands of people dancing disco to a live band on stage. It was pretty fun. There was a giant conga line that captured April and Charlotte. At one point, they started their own. We had so much fun that night, but had to cut it short in order to catch our boat home. Kelly and April went off and bought two more bottles of wine. We got back to the convent, chilled in the eating area and played get-to-know-you games with our wine. Good times.
The next day we did more wandering around. At one point, everyone was at a complete loss of what to do. Some people wanted to do something, and some people wanted to do nothing. So, when April returned from the restroom, she asked if we had come up with a plan. I informed her that there were two categories: the somethings and the nothings. If the somethings could come up with what they wanted to do, they could go off and let the nothings be. The somethings decided they wanted to see the cathedral, and started walking. The nothings then decided they didn’t want to sit around, and started chasing after the somethings. I turned to April and said, “It looks like the somethings were just trying to get away from the nothings.”
So, we headed to the cathedral which had an entrance that was not so easy to find. We finally got in and it was beautiful. After that we went and had some gelato where Scott Baio worked. Ok, so it wasn’t the real Scott Baio, but I swear, he was the spitting image of Charles in Charge. We then decided to go to a museum. We walked up to the entrance, saw that it was rather expensive and went into the gift shop instead. The gift shop is just like a miniature version of the museum, so why not, eh? Then we went to a pub and had a nice drink or two. We searched for a place to eat, and found a yummy pizza place that served very large servings. Again, great food.
We said goodbye to chilly Venice at about 9 PM that night and boarded the bus for the ride home. This time April and I opted for the very back of the bus, where we figured we could get a better night’s sleep by spreading out. Well, we were wrong. Very wrong. The back five seats of the bus don’t recline. April and Charlotte took the sides where they could lean against the windows, whereas I, stupidly, took the center seat. I got to the point where I was so tired, that despite all my will to stay awake, I couldn’t and just kept bobbing my head and falling to either side. I woke up once to see April laughing at me. “This really is just awful, isn’t it?” “Yes,” I replied, “I’m sooooo tired.” “We have to do something about this,” April said with incentive. We then tried several different positions in hopes of finding something that would allow us both to lie down on the bench. But, you see, the bench was not wide enough for two people to lie down on it side by side. At one point April’s head was in my crotch and she was like, “This is perfect!” I told her to look where her head would be lying and she proceeded to laugh hysterically. Finally, we looked over at Charlotte, barely taking up half a seat, sleeping peacefully against the window. “Frankly,” I said, “I think she’s being selfish.” April laughed. We tried a few more crazy positions, and one of them actually allowed me 10 minutes of sleep lying down, but then April was like, “Wait, I’m in the exact position I was before.” It was hilarious, and we had a great laugh about it all. We even got shushed. We arrived in Aix at 6:30 AM. We trudged home. I took a shower, and went to my 8 AM class. That was rough.
The bus wasn’t all that fun. I don’t know if any of you have ever done an all-night bus, but it is just about the most uncomfortable sleep you can imagine. So, in order to help us sleep, I bought April and I some mini-bottles of wine to go. It was somewhat effective, we sure laughed a lot. Anyway, we arrived in Venice the next morning at around 7 or 8 AM. We were actually staying in a little town just outside of Venice, called Mestra. The deal was: leave Thursday night, drive all night, spend all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Venice and take another all-night bus back to Aix Sunday night. So, that Friday morning we were dropped off in Venice, extremely tired and groggy from the lack of a good night’s sleep on the bus. So, the seven of us found a café that was open and chilled out a bit, and figured out what we would do with our time that day. We mostly just walked around, took pictures, and ate. But it was a good time. I was excited because every now and then I got to practice Italian.
At 6 PM that night, we took a boat ride to Mestra, where we met our bus. Our bus then took us to our hotel. It wasn’t really a hotel, though. It was a convent. We were a bit confused because it didn’t really look like a hotel or a convent, but then again, who really knows what an Italian convent looks like. That night, we got a free dinner, prepared by nuns, rather hot nuns, I might add. They were wearing low-cut shirts and jewelry. Weird. There was bread, wine, and pasta, your classic Italian cuisine. Then, the hot nuns came around asking us if we wanted more. We all said yes because we were really hungry and might as well eat all you can. So, we all took seconds. But to our surprise, there was a second course. “Look you guys, we’re getting more!” I said. “Yeah,” April said, “Looks like dessert. Cookies.” “The nuns made us cookies?” I said surprised, “Cool.” The nuns then came around and served us our “cookies,” which were actually deep fried chicken and spinach patties. Nice, April, get us all excited for nothing. So, as it turned out, it was a full second course with the chicken cookies, veggies, and a salad. Then, after that dessert, which wasn’t all that impressive, a sugary waffle thing that exploded in your face when you took a bite.
After our very satisfying meal, we went up to check out our rooms. They were actually quite nice, with 4 beds, a living room area with a pull-out, and a fully-functioning kitchen. Who knew convents could be so nice?
The next day we had to wake up early and catch our bus to the boat which would then take us to Venice. We spent another day just wandering around, checking stuff out, and eating. There was plenty to see as almost everyone, except the tourists, was dressed up. The costumes were amazing. At one point I wanted to get a picture of this chick all dressed up in this elaborate silver costume, so I weaved my way through an outdoor café to get to her. I took my picture, and weaved my way back through to the group, of which all six of them were standing in a line facing me with weird looks on their faces. They were like, “Emily! Why did you do that?” “I wanted to get a picture,” I said. “You totally just walked through that chick's commercial! Might as well have decked her with your backpack!!” April said laughing. Apparently, there was a chick shooting a commercial for something, and I walked right behind her with all my tourist gear and most likely ruined that shoot. Nice. The funny thing was, everybody thought I did it on purpose, and that I was being sarcastic when I said, “what?” I guess I have a reputation for being a smartass. Go figure.
The rest of the day was filled with more yummy Italian meals, and going into shops. We all bought our masks for later that night. After dinner and wine, we decided to stand in an ally way and sip April’s whiskey. We then decided we need some more kick for our evening, and we bought two more bottles of wine. We then headed over to “Disco Fever” in San Marco Square. We’re talking like thousands of people dancing disco to a live band on stage. It was pretty fun. There was a giant conga line that captured April and Charlotte. At one point, they started their own. We had so much fun that night, but had to cut it short in order to catch our boat home. Kelly and April went off and bought two more bottles of wine. We got back to the convent, chilled in the eating area and played get-to-know-you games with our wine. Good times.
The next day we did more wandering around. At one point, everyone was at a complete loss of what to do. Some people wanted to do something, and some people wanted to do nothing. So, when April returned from the restroom, she asked if we had come up with a plan. I informed her that there were two categories: the somethings and the nothings. If the somethings could come up with what they wanted to do, they could go off and let the nothings be. The somethings decided they wanted to see the cathedral, and started walking. The nothings then decided they didn’t want to sit around, and started chasing after the somethings. I turned to April and said, “It looks like the somethings were just trying to get away from the nothings.”
So, we headed to the cathedral which had an entrance that was not so easy to find. We finally got in and it was beautiful. After that we went and had some gelato where Scott Baio worked. Ok, so it wasn’t the real Scott Baio, but I swear, he was the spitting image of Charles in Charge. We then decided to go to a museum. We walked up to the entrance, saw that it was rather expensive and went into the gift shop instead. The gift shop is just like a miniature version of the museum, so why not, eh? Then we went to a pub and had a nice drink or two. We searched for a place to eat, and found a yummy pizza place that served very large servings. Again, great food.
We said goodbye to chilly Venice at about 9 PM that night and boarded the bus for the ride home. This time April and I opted for the very back of the bus, where we figured we could get a better night’s sleep by spreading out. Well, we were wrong. Very wrong. The back five seats of the bus don’t recline. April and Charlotte took the sides where they could lean against the windows, whereas I, stupidly, took the center seat. I got to the point where I was so tired, that despite all my will to stay awake, I couldn’t and just kept bobbing my head and falling to either side. I woke up once to see April laughing at me. “This really is just awful, isn’t it?” “Yes,” I replied, “I’m sooooo tired.” “We have to do something about this,” April said with incentive. We then tried several different positions in hopes of finding something that would allow us both to lie down on the bench. But, you see, the bench was not wide enough for two people to lie down on it side by side. At one point April’s head was in my crotch and she was like, “This is perfect!” I told her to look where her head would be lying and she proceeded to laugh hysterically. Finally, we looked over at Charlotte, barely taking up half a seat, sleeping peacefully against the window. “Frankly,” I said, “I think she’s being selfish.” April laughed. We tried a few more crazy positions, and one of them actually allowed me 10 minutes of sleep lying down, but then April was like, “Wait, I’m in the exact position I was before.” It was hilarious, and we had a great laugh about it all. We even got shushed. We arrived in Aix at 6:30 AM. We trudged home. I took a shower, and went to my 8 AM class. That was rough.
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