Last weekend, I traveled to Venice and Verona with some of my friends (Grace, Katlyn, and Kennedy). Before I went, I had no idea what to expect. It’s kind of funny in hindsight, but I’ve never really thought much about Venice. Gondolas—what are those? Colorful, seaside homes—okayyyy. But once I went, I fell in love with the city. It’s so vibrant, colorful, and peaceful (if you don’t count all of the tourists). Verona is pretty much the same, but it’s not seaside, and I wouldn’t say it’s as colorful as Venice. It’s charming in its own way.

My friends and I left to catch an 8 am bus to Pesaro on Friday, March 9th. Our train was leaving from Pesaro to Bologna around 9:30 am, which would then take us to our final destination: Venice. The bus and first train were uneventful; I slept for most of it because I woke up so early. When we arrived in Bologna, we stopped at a juice bar before getting on our final train. The second train was also uneventful; I played games on my phone most of the time until we arrived.

My first impression of Venice was the water. I’ve been missing being around water for the longest time, so this was really refreshing for me. Just listening to the sound of the waves crashing or even the peaceful lapping of the water relaxes me. As soon as you walk out of the train station in Venice, you are greeted with a beautiful view: a long boardwalk, gorgeous blue water, and tall, colorful buildings in the background. Since we came on a Friday, Venice was already beginning to get crowded, but this didn’t bother me because of how excited I was to be there.


When my friends and I decided to come to Venice, we knew that we wanted to stay on the island. The original plan was to come with all 12 of our study abroad group, but when planning lodging, that became quite difficult. So smaller groups became a thing, and my group decided to stay in an Airbnb. Our host was named Giorgio, and he was really great! He gave us directions to get to a meeting point one we arrived in Venice, which is where he met us and showed us to our lodging. The loft we rented was gorgeous! It was bright and colorful (a great way to stay on brand in Venice); it was clean; and it was convenient. It was not too far from a grocery story, McDonald’s (which is apparently very important), the water, and the train station.

On the first day we stayed in Venice, I had a Skype Interview, so I stayed back for a bit while the others went grocery shopping. When they came back, we went out to check out Venice. There were so many little shops full of decor, jewelry, sweet treats, and clothes. Most Italian cities are like this, but Venice’s was really charming. The walkways were pretty tiny when you weren’t on the main road, but that’s a characteristic that wasn’t too hard to get over. When it got later into the night, Kennedy and I walked around more while Katlyn and Grace walked back to the Airbnb. For dinner, we ended up buying overprice Chinese food, but it was pretty good, so minimal regrets are had.

The next day, we woke up really early and took a train to Verona. Verona is not super popular among Italians; we were told that mainly Americans and British people love it because of Romeo and Juliet. (How could you not!?) Our main goal was to visit la Casa di Giuiletta (Juliet’s House). Walking into the house, we say colorful walls full of writing and postcards solidifying people’s love for one another. The further in you walked, you finally saw the balcony of Juliet as well as a statue of her beneath it. It’s good luck to touch her breast, so we made sure to do that. We also toured the museum, and we were able to actually go up on her balcony.


Our time in Verona was good. We met up with one of Kennedy’s Italian friends, and she was basically our tour guide. We saw an above-ground tomb, a statue of Dante, and the Verona arena. For lunch, we had pizza at a cafe. It was okay, but the customer service when it was time to pay was pretty poor. Would I recommend it? No. We could of have better. Regardless, it did not ruin our trip. It was time for us to leave Verona anyway.

When we got back to Venice, the four of us played a bit more Monopoly that we started the night before. (Our Airbnb provided games, which was great!) It was in Italian, so that was interesting to play—shout out to Google Translate—and we never finished the game before we left the city. After about two hours, we left to go to Le Zitalle (another part of Venice) for a home cooked dinner at one of the other group’s Airbnb. To get there, we had to take a water taxi. It didn’t take long to get to the others. Water taxis are Venice’s public transportation (like buses); they run frequently.

For dinner, the other group made spaghetti, garlic bread, and Grace brought a pizza to split. Another reason we met up was to celebrate Ryan’s 22nd birthday. We brought him some treats and a birthday candle (that broke and had to be melted back together). It was a pretty fun night.


The last day we were there, Kennedy, Katlyn, and I went to Liberia Acqua Alta, which is a huge bookstore with cats and a great photo-op. I really liked it because books are my thing. Unfortunately, it was raining all day, but we did not let that stop us. After this, we walked around Venice until we found the “hands,” which is basically an art exhibit attached to a hotel. It’s pretty popular and was really nice to see. After we did this, we didn’t have much time left, so we broke off for lunch. I simply had McDonald’s. Once everyone finished eating, some people went to a couple of shops, but I met up with them to grab some gelato before we left. (I’m officially addicted!)