It's Italy, the land under the hot Mediterranean Sun where the languid smell of the Venetian lagoon hangs in the air and there is enough gelato to send you quite happily into diabetic shock. I have been dreaming of an Italian vacation since I left Europe five years ago and am just soaking it all in. To be completely honest for a minute though, I find Italy a rather grungy country, lots of graffitti, and the fact that the building are all brown and tan don't help the fact that the sun is smoldering outside. I am, however determined not to let this disappoint me, because IT'S ITALY!!!!
Let me fill you in on the last three days:
Venenzia (Venice for you Americans):
First of all, there weren't as many canals as you would think. The island if really accessable by foot, but that one canal that you always think about when you see Venice in the moves is called the Grand Canal and it goes straight through the center of the Island. It's the one where you see all of the buidlings that have steps leading straight down to the water where you just pull the boat up. Yup, that's Venice. The last night we were there our waterbus took us through the canal at sunset and it was beautiful.
For all of you ladies out there the best thing to do in Venice is to go shopping, and there are two things that everyone must buy. The first is a Venetian mask (which I actually did not buy because I have no idea how to get it home and I had my eye on other things) the second is Murano glass. We went out to the island of Murano our second night in town and watched them make a vase which was so cool. some of the designs are so elaborate I have no idea where to even begin. Like these ducks!
My big purchase came in the form of a ring. I had been looking for one to go with my class ring I received in May and Mom made the brilliant suggestion of waiting until Europe. I fell hopelessly in love in Venice and decided to take it home with me!
Lake Como:
I had actually never heard of this little town before, but Blake had been before and was excited to bring us. By far the best part of the day was when we rented about paddle boat to go out on the lake for an hour. Imagine 2 guys, around 6 feet 4 trying to paddle and steer with their knees shoved again their chest and Christin (my roomate) and I sitting in the back with our legs shoved into the back of these iron seats, there was no room to even breath! That wasn't going to stop Ryan and Blake from trading drivers. They do a flip flop in the middle of the lake and then the next thing I know the steering wheel is in Blake's hands!
I went into panic mode with visions of us floating in a lake for 
hours until someone realized that we couldn't steer. Luckily though the wheel just slid right back in and we continued on our way. No matter how clumsily we clanked along. Regardless though, Como is an absolutely beautiful city, a sight not to be missed from the mountian. Oh, and random history fact for the day: Mousolini was captures in Lake Como just before his execution in 1945.
Milano:
The fashion capital of the world! This was the first time I got to see parts of Italy that didn't have that grunge factor that I was talking about earlier. We spent a large portion of the day near the Duomo and even took a trip up to the top! Then we wandered around the shopping district for a bit, enjoyed walking through Guicci, Louis Vitton, and Prada stores and buying absolutely nothing! I enjoyed studying the mannequins in the windows for new styles though. Oh, and get this, I grabbed a Glamor magazine just before I left Holland. Guess what's coming back into style? Uh, shoulder pads. I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
So that's basically life in Italy so far. I think I've practically eaten my body weight in gelato so far, my personal favorite is a pistachio and tiramesu combination. (They're good separately, not so much together.) And this is just the beginning, tomorrow I'm heading to Roma!
P.S. Fun History fact #2. I told you the Venetian masks were all the rage, but there
are two styles of them. The first is the typical painted masquerade mask, but the other one looks like this guy. If I had gotten a mask this what it would have looked like (understand what I mean now by my saying I had no room). Ugly isn't it? And a little creepy. Well, there's story behind this one. This is exactly what a doctor would have looked like during the Bubonic Plague. They wore the black robes as a sign of their profession, but the masks came in for another reason. The noses were made super long so they doctor could put herbs and spices up there in an effort to keep the disease away. Unfortunately the best thing the herbs did was scent the smell of thousands of sick and dying people. But it gives the doctors a distinct and incredibly creepy look.
