Adventures in Germany: Week 10

Last time I was on here, I was on my train to VENICE!  I had to just left my family as they were heading back to the States, so it was pretty bittersweet at the moment.  However, once my train started to cross the ocean to the island, I was very excited.  It was my first time in Italy and I was beyond pumped.  Once I arrived at Venezia St. Lucia train station, I quickly disembarked and attempted to find my friends who had arrived there by bus about an hour earlier.  I was quickly overwhelmed by the large waves of tourists that had flooded the streets.  Fortunately, after turning on my data on my phone I quickly found my friends.  I was excited to see them, as it had been a week since I had seen any other students from my trip.  Our Airbnb host had offered to drive us to our Airbnb which was such a relief, as it turned out to be quite a trip away from Venice.  Once we arrived we were all relieved to see that our home for the next two days was quite nice!  Once we had all settled in and gotten unpacked, we walked to the nearby train station to make our way back to Venice.    Once there, we attempted to navigate the immense labyrinth of waterways and narrow alleys to find some food as we were starving.  Trying to make our way through Venice is seriously one of the most wild things I have ever done.  I don't know if I could ever live there because I don't think I could ever learn my way around without getting lost.  Thankfully, we were able to find a small, hole-in-the-wall pasta place which served to-go pasta.  Even though it was pretty good, it definitely made sense that it only cost 5 euro.  After quickly eating, we decided to get our first gelato of the trip.  I was convinced to get the nocciola (hazelnut) flavor and it was so good that I got that flavor each time we went to another gelato place that weekend.  After finishing our dessert it had already gotten dark so we decided to go see the famous St. Marco plaza.  Even in the dark the whole square was just magical.  But we knew we had to come back during the the daytime the next day.  After walking along the water we had started to get tired so we decided to head back to the train station.  After making our way back to our hometown, we decided to have a late dinner at a local pizza place which was great!  However, I don't think I will ever get used to paying a cover charge at each restaurant we ate at.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and clocked out for the night.

The next morning we literally took so long to get up and get going that we didn't even make it to Venice until 2 pm.  I had bought a couple of snacks while I was in Salzburg the day before so that is what I had for breakfast.  After finally making it to the islands, we decided to have a quick lunch at a to-go pizzeria.  After finishing up, went back to the St. Marco Plaza.  Before this though we HAD to get more gelato.  Seeing the plaza in all its glory in the daytime was a magnificent sight.  Truly a breathtaking location that I will have to go back to one day with my family.  We had plenty of time so we just decided to chill and walk down the boardwalk alongside the waterfront.  Seeing all the gondoliers was so cool, and I wish I had the funds to do one of those rides even though I know it is kind've a tourist trap.  We decided to sit alongside the water and have a couple of drinks.  We each got a Bellini which were just great.  The Preseco that Italy is famous for was great and I hope to be able to buy a bottle of some back in the States.  After chilling it looked like a storm was about to roll in so we decided to find a place to eat.  Unfortunately, all the restaurants near the plaza were pretty expensive so we tried to find a place out of the way.  We had to settle on another pasta-to-go place which was pretty disappointing but I didn't mind because it was very cheap.  We then had to get MORE gelato before calling it a night with food.  We then decided to head back to the hotel because there wasn't a lot to do in Venice once the Sun had set.

The next morning we had to get up earlier because our Airbnb max checkout time was at 11 am.  Once we had left, we had to wait about 45 minutes for the train to come but I wasn't too annoyed by that.  Once we made it to Venice, we dropped off our luggage before heading out for the day. On our final day we decided to buy a waterbus ticket that would take us to the islands for the day.  Our first waterbus took us to the island of Murano, which was a nice change of pace from the main islands.  We had lunch on Murano and my spaghetti Bolognese was very good.  We then had to get gelato one more final time and it was just as good as all the other times.  I think I definitely gained a few pounds while in Venice just from the gelato alone.  After feasting, we took another waterbus to the Cimeterio island which housed the island's cemetery.  The place was quite ominous but very pretty.  The architecture there was some of my favorite I have seen in Europe.  It looked similar to how I imagine Spain to be like.  After walking around, I was ready to head back to the main island because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to make it to the airport for our flight back that night.  Once our waterbus landed in Venice, we shopped for about 30 minutes before I decided to grab my luggage and head to the airport.  Fortunately, I caught the bus just in time to take me to the airport. It had started to rain pretty badly so I was thankful to be inside the bus.  Once at the airport, I got an email from Eurowings that stated that my flight was delayed 45 minutes. UGH!  I wasn't too annoyed but I just wanted to get back home from my 2 weeks of straight travel.  After messing around on my computer for a couple of hours I met up with my friends before boarding the plane.  Unfortunately, our plane didn't even take off til about 10:15 pm so we didn't land into Colonge/Bonn airport until around 11:30 that night.  I was worried we would miss the last bus to take us back to Bonn, but when I was passing by the baggage claim I saw Madeline and Lauren, two of my other friends who I hadn't traveled with that week.  I was thrilled as my phone didn't have data and we could all help each other to make it back to Bonn.  We asked this random dude where the Bus back to Bonn and thankfully we found it just in time as the last bus was leaving.  I can't even begin to describe how I relieved I was.  My luck hand't run out yet as when we made it back to Bonn, I was able to get on the last subway back to Bad Godesberg with minutes to spare!  I was beyond blessed and it was a great way to end my Spring Break.  I was exhausted, and after I had showered and put all my clothes up I hit the hay for school the next morning.

School this week has been pretty chill, which I am thankful because I was not ready to hit the ground running for school.  We have a test next week for Physiology and I am kinda nervous since I failed the first one.  However, I was the only one to pass my Lab Practical which was a great feeling.  We also had a Pharmacology quiz this week which kinda sucked but I could've done better if I had studied more.  But alas, I do have a presentation for that class in a couple weeks and I am confident I will do well on that.  Our second final draft for my writing class was due this week and I am thankful that whole ordeal is finished.  This Wednesday, I got to visit the Uniklinic here in Bonn and shadow surgery.  I got to a watch a spine surgery which was pretty cool!  They were putting these large into the person's spine which was kinda scary but I guess was necessary.  This weekend has also been chill, as the weather has been great!  We got to go to the Taco Bar on Friday night which as always was a blast!  I also found out who I will be living with next year which was the biggest relief!  This upcoming week will be a little bit more difficult week school-wise but I am confident I can rise to the challenge.  I can't wait to let y'all about all my adventures on next week's blog!

Until then,

Tschuss!