I was so excited to travel to Venice for the free day available to us during our week in Florence. I had seen so many pictures of the city and was fascinated with the concept of the entire city being built upon the water. When we stepped off the train and outside right along the canal, everyone in the group was speechless. The entire vibe of the city is so entirely different than any of the other cities we have visited so far. There were no cars in Venice, rightly so, which added to the city’s sense of quaintness and the streets, besides the one by the main canal, were small and tightly packed. There were an abundance of dogs running around, usually without a leash, and one could always hear the water as busses, taxies, and gondolas moved throughout it. All of the buildings were either pink, yellow, or tan, which made for great pictures. I couldn’t get enough of the city. I also couldn’t believe we only had one day there.

The first thing a few of my friends and I did in Venice was go to a tattoo shop to see if they would be able to take walk-in appointments. I had already gotten my own tattoo in Florence, but my other friends wanted one too. Fortunately the shop took all three of them, and we spent about two hours there. Mandy got the word tre on her wrist, Kaleb got a square inside of a circle, and Chase got a compass on his back. All of their tattoos were connected with the course and with Italy itself, so we were all really happy with the entire experience.

After that, we all decided to go meet with the group for gondola rides because it would be stupid to miss out on an opportunity like that when you are only in Venice for a single day. The experience was amazing. As soon as the gondolier takes the gondola outside of the main canal, everything becomes quiet. All you can hear is the sound of the water, a few voices talking within the narrow streets, and the birds or seagulls flying in the air. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the gondola ride, for the lack of a better phrase, was the icing on the cake. I wish we would have been able to stay in Venice for more than a day, but I’m happy with the day that I got that only made me want to come back more.