Venice Day Trip

Hey there,

So yesterday, my day began at about the earliest it has in over a year, as I found myself having to get up at about the same time I used to for morning swim practice.  My alarm was set for 5:37 AM in order to allow enough time to get to the bus station for our day trip to Venice, and it was a struggle.

We took public transportation to the bus station, where we got on our bus which ended up being pretty nice (A/C, bathrooms, etc...).  My friends and I also had a prime location on the bus as we had a table, so we could more easily converse on the bus.  Our bus left around 7 AM, and it took about seven hours to get there, with a 40 minute rest stop included.

Once we got there, we hopped on a boat to get to San Marco Square, another 40 minute ride.  This weekend, Carnevale was going on, essentially a Mardi Gras of Venice.  It was so packed!  Just tens of thousands of people everywhere.  Everyone had on either a Masquerade mask (I even picked up one for myself for just 5 euros) or any costume you could think of (e.g. Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland costumes, Super Mario Bros. costumes, etc...).  We wondered around for awhile, eventually settled on a place for dinner, then wandered around some more (where I had another awesome cannoli for dessert!).

The coolest part of the trip was towards the end.  They had a stage set up in the square with a DJ playing music, and a light show.  There were still thousands of people left as nightfall approached.  We stayed there for about an hour and then hopped back on the boat to the bus station, where we had another seven hour ride ahead of us (most of which was spent sleeping).  I was finally in my bed at around 6 AM.

This week, basketball should get started up, I have a day trip planned on Friday, and my parents are visiting at the end of the week.  Check back late this week for more.

JC