Frankfurt, Venice, and More!

I've been extremely busy the past few weeks, but hope that I'll be updating my blog more regularly as time goes on--I'll be making much more of an effort to do so! The first weekend of March, I met up with Patrick in Frankfurt, and we had a good time, exploring the city, then taking a tour and trying some of the local flavor. It was a good change from what I'm used to, with skyscrapers and more recent history, and I enjoyed it very much!

Last weekend, I went on a field trip with IES to Venice, and it was everything I imagined Venice would be and more! We went on a "bullet train", so we departed from Rome in the morning, and got to Venice 4.5 hours later. I took over 250 pictures over the course of the weekend, because I found the view breathtaking from almost every bridge I went over:


The first day we got to Venice, we went on a tour of the Jewish quarter (the oldest one in Rome), and then had some free time before dinner, so we decided to go on a gondola ride at sunset! After bargaining with the gondolier, we got him to lower his price a bit, and we enjoyed a nice 45 minute gondola ride. In this picture, you can see me, my friend Kristen, one of my roommates, Jeanine, and my friend Amanda (as well as the gondolier in the background):

We enjoyed our dinner very much that night, having pumpkin and mushroom risotto; steak, potatoes and vegetables; and then something unknown, but absolutely delicious for dessert! IES took us out to dinner both nights that we were in Venice, and it was fantastic both nights!

The next day, we went to Piazza San Marco, where we went on a tour of Palazzo Ducale and the Basilica di San Marco, and then we went to the Rialto Bridge as well--a bridge with shops on either side of it (because obviously, who can cross a canal without shopping on the way?). This picture is of Piazza San Marco:

That afternoon, we took a ferry to the islands of Murano (known for its glass) and Burano (known for its lace). I am extremely happy that we did this, because it's something I would not have known to do if I hadn't gone with IES, yet it was my favorite part, and something I recommend everyone do. We watched a glassblowing demonstration at Murano, and then had about an hour to walk around Burano, taking in the "multicolored fisherman houses" and little shops there:

My roommate, Jeanine, and me on a bridge in Burano:

For dinner tha night, we had seafood (the first time I've really had seafood since I've been here) in the form of seafood lasagne, then seafood pasta, a fish dish, and "essi" cookies for dessert. I never knew that the cookies in the shape of an "S" originated in Burano! I remember eating them for breakfast sometimes at home.

Things haven't been too exciting since I've been back...I had my Italian oral presentation yesterday, and I have my Italian midterm exam today. My area study midterms are all next week, so this weekend will be full of studying (hopefully outside, as the weather is supposed to be nice), but then I have spring break the week after that! I'll try to update again soon...Ciao for now!