5/19/12

 After our night outside of Padova, we drove one hour to the ferry that would transport us to Venice. Myself, Mullins, Lidija, and Claudia presented the group with some background information on the city and which sites to keep an eye out for. I recounted Venice's history and Venice by the numbers, detailing the 100 islands and 2000 bridges that made up central Venice. The 26 of us and the three coaches boarded the vessel and made our way up to the second level where we were able to get the best view of the Venetian waterways while journeying into the heart of Old Venice. After docking in front of the Palazzo Ducale, we walked as a group to the front of the cathedral of San Marco to discuss our schedule for the day's events. One thing that was immediately evident was the hordes of tourists within the city. Because I had researched the city beforehand, I learned that their economy mainly thrives on tourism and the lasting wealth from the 17^th and 18^th century during which they dominated East-West trade until America was discovered. Although I read about this beforehand it definitely didn't prepare me for the masses that we would encounter.

 Following the discussion of our schedule, we trekked away from the square to our first stop at a glass blowing factory and museum. We were lucky enough to have a private demonstration in which a glass blower created both a pitcher and a glass horse in less than a few minutes each. A museum guide explained the process as he was completing the various steps. We learned about the intricate designs that could be created with using three  simple tools. After this demonstration,  we proceeded through the museum to a table where  the guide explained more about the glass itself. We learned how different colors were produced by adding various elements and compounds to the sand when it is being processed. Much to our amazement he also knocked a piece twice on mirror without it shattering to demonstrate its strength. Once the exhibition was complete, we were able to peruse the gift shop and museum. Many of us purchased jewelry or items for our families. After our trip to the museum, we had free time until 4:00 PM (it was probably around 12:00 PM at this point).

As many of us were hungry, we immediately grabbed food at a pizzeria near the museum. I ordered a funghi (mushroom) personal-sized pizza. Once we were refueled, the group I was with proceeded to St. Mark's cathedral to wait in line and make our way inside. Even though the line stretched fairly far, it moved at a decently swift pace as we made our way inside. As we entered, we checked out the five mosaics that lined the top of the front side of the cathedral. Once inside, our breaths were taken away with the ornate style and massive size of the church. I was able to sneak one photograph while we were leaving. After regrouping outside, most of us headed to Ponte Rialto to see the main bridge that crossed over the Grand Canal. Others departed to take a gondola ride.   Navigating through the narrow and hectic streets of Venice was both an adventure and also a pain. The only street signs that really exist are ones that point your toward important sites, otherwise you have to rely on your sense of direction or following where the crowd is coming from/going toward in order to find the place you are attempting to go.

 Eventually we found the bridge, snapped some photos, and decided to explore on the other side for a bit. Myself, Kaele, Bri, Jess, and Jen spent the majority of our afternoon wandering around and stopping in various shops (and getting gelato). Kaele and Bri both purchased masks, which is the other product Venice is famous for aside from glass. We also made it a point to get some more footage for the video our team is making while we are here. Kaele, Bri, and I may or may not have Wobble-d down the Ponte Rialto. Our afternoon was also spent seeking out somewhere to get water, luckily we found an oasis after a few hours of exploring. Water fountains in Italy pretty much shoot the water toward the ground at a constant rate. What we learned from trying to drink water from these fountains via Jess: A wide stance is best, otherwise you're most likely going to get sprayed in the face. After our first round of attempts, we admired the skill of a 10-year-old in filling up her water bottle without getting a drop on herself. Hydrated and ready to move on, we walked to the water around 2:30 PM where the America's Cup was just passing through Venice.

 The streets were as packed as ever, and tourists lined the guardrails by the water to catch a glimpse of the different sailboats racing their way toward the finish line of this leg of the race. I was able to snap a couple of good photos of the Italian vessel in addition to the United States' boat sponsored by Oracle. When my dad worked for Oracle I remember him telling me about this race, so I was pretty excited seeing it in person and in Italy. When the Italian boat sailed by, the crowds let out loud cheers. When the American boat sailed by, Kaele let out a loud cheer. We joined in with a brief "U-S-A, U-S-A" chant that was immediately met with strange looks from the other bystanders. After observing the race, we had about an hour left of free time to kill. We spent about 30 minutes resting our feet by taking a seat on a bench outside of Doges' palace. During these 30 minutes, Bri chased pigeons and we watched a kid throw up in a trashcan. Good times. As our meeting time was approaching, we headed back to St. Mark's Square to walk around a bit more there before we had to depart.

 What I learned from walking through St. Mark's Square: Apparently tourists have little to no concern about the unhygienic nature of playing with pigeons. We couldn't believe our eyes as we watched a family sit or squat near the ground and allow the pigeons to approach and crawl on them. Oh, this family also had a baby in a stroller with them. Bird flu, anyone? It was hard not to chuckle at the various people allowing the pigeons to crawl over them for the sake of a photo op. I usually do what I can to get as great of pictures as possible, but this was a bit extreme. We also watched a little girl run around trying to kick the pigeons, which ended up being pretty unsuccessful on her behalf (which I guess you would consider successful on the pigeon's behalf). While we were people-watching, a couple of other tourists who didn't speak English asked Jen to take a photograph of them. What we learned from Jen taking a picture of non-Americans: You're able to identify who is American and who is not by asking someone to count to three on their fingers. Apparently Americans count "pointer finger, middle finger, ring finger", whereas Europeans count "thumb, pointer finger, middle finger." It's actually a pretty cool cultural difference and one that I had no idea about before. She counted with her fingers as she was taking the picture, and one of the people in the group asked her if she was American afterward because of this. While all this was happening, rumor had it that a pigeon had too close of a call with Caroline Coates and its feathered life ended a little hour too early.

 Right before 4:00 PM we walked back to our meeting spot, which was also occupied with a group of students that we soon learned were from England (plus one girl who was from Atlanta and DC which was pretty neat). We chatted with them briefly, while also challenging them to a dance off to be incorporated in the video we are producing. Mullins pretended to be an intern at MTV to provide some legitimacy to what we were trying to do, but I'm fairly certain they would have agreed anyway as they were pretty friendly. Once the entire group was there, we began a thirty minute walk through the crowded streets to a different dock than the one we arrived at. We had to depart from the other side of Venice as the America's Cup had the main entryway blocked off for the remainder of the afternoon. I would easily equate this walk to the rush hours of both DC and Atlanta. It involved a lot of standstills, frustration, and a big sigh of relief when we finally reached our destination. After ferrying back to the mainland, most of us paid the .50 Euros in order to use the restroom before our three and a half hour bus ride to San Marino. Yes, we had to pay to use the restroom.

 Once again, I fell asleep on the drive to San Marino and awoke only when we stopped at a rest stop again. The rest of my drive I read through my London travel book and asked our XL Travel Representative, Charlotte, about London as she is from Great Britain. We eventually drove from the hills of Italy into nation of San Marino, which is a country in itself. Our rooms got rearranged for our two nights in San Marino, so I am rooming just with Kaele for this portion of the trip. Our dinner was one of my favorite we've had so far. It still followed the same pattern of pasta then veggies and protein, but it provided a nice variety to our dinners that mostly consisted of chicken. We started off with bread then meat lasagna, afterward came the salad and flank (I think) steak. Lastly we had fruit cups for dessert. It was great to have both steak, salad, and fruit all in one meal. After dinner most of the team went to watch the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich game on the television in the hotel's lobby. It was really fun to watch the game with everyone, including Sue and Rachel. Our team had fans cheering for both sides, G would chime in with a "Go blue team!" which would always draw chuckles. After the nerve-wracking win by Chelsea in penalty kicks, we split up and went back to our respective rooms for the night.

 5/20/12

We had the luxury of sleeping in until 8:45 AM this morning, as opposed to our usual wake up time of 8:15 AM. The breakfast at the past two hotels have had a hard time living up to the one at the first in Como.  Regardless, we had a good spread of prosciutto and cheese on bread in addition to some yogurt and pastries to last us until lunchtime. After breakfast we drove up the mountain to meet our tour guide in San Marino. The bus ascended higher and higher and it felt like the roads were becoming more narrow as our altitude increased. Eventually we arrived at the bus parking lot and waited outside the Museum of Torture for our tour guide. Our ascent on foot up into the heart of San Marino was broken into different legs where we would stop at various spots and she would tell us the history of the country.

San Marino is a country independent of Italy. They have their own government, judicial system, economy, and more. During elections, 60 representatives are chosen by the people to represent them. Of these 60 representatives, 10 are chosen and heads of smaller sections, and two presidents are selected to do the general overseeing. What is interesting about San Marino is that despite it's population of 60,000 residents, there are still seven political parties. A unique part of this country is that they have had the same political system since it was originally established and haven't altered it at all because it has worked so well. They also were so satisfied with the size of their country, they refused Napolean when he offered them more land. We also learned of San Marino's "luck" with Garibaldi, Mussolini, in addition to the British during World War Two. To get citizenship for San Marino, you must either be born there, live there for 15 years, or have been married to a citizen for 45 years. They also only work 10 months out of the year. Mothers who stay at home receive penchant around the age people retire there "because they realize the hard work that has been put in during all of those years." To any of the moms reading this-time to start considering moving to San Marino?

The country was very distinctive in many ways, when we stopped outside of the government offices we were gathered very close to a nice car. We soon learned that the car, in fact, belonged to one of the presidents. It was pretty cool learning about the tight-knit community that has kept so close to its original political and geographic roots. Following the official tour, we continued our way up the mountain on foot to check out the three towers. A group of us decided to climb to the top of the second tower where we got an awesome view of the surrounding area. It was definitely a little terrifying making our way to the top, especially as the walkways were very narrow when we finally reached the summit (mom you would hate this). After snapping some photos and exploring the top of the fortress, we headed back down in search of somewhere to grab lunch. A large group of us found a restaurant near the top of San Marino. I was able to finally get a Caprese salad and we were treated to free granita courtesy of Fillipo the waiter. Following our afternoon in San Marino, we had about a half an hour at the hotel before going to the beach and our training session.

 As it was drizzling, we only stayed at the beach by Rimini for about thirty minutes. It was enough time to take some photographs and secure more footage for our video on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The trip to the beach was followed by a good training session at a field that was reserved for us.   Our team then bussed back to our hotel in San Marino and pretty much went straight to dinner which consisted of carbonara pasta, turkey, golden potatoes, and an apple crisp dessert. Some of us decided to check out the pool and sauna after dinner prior to heading to bed for the night. It was definitely a good way to loosen up our muscles after a hard training session leading into our game the next day.