July 29th
Ciaowdy! We’re coming back to you live from Venice as we continue our journey into what Nadia and Mari described as one of the most beautiful Italian cities. Especially after today, we would have to heartily agree.
Eager to get a headstart into the day, we had a group of early risers venture down to the nearby Spiaggia Beach in hopes of capturing a beautiful sunrise. Paired with the delightfully cool morning air and stunningly vast views, the group enjoyed a peaceful stroll along the beach before making their way back to their hotel room for a quick nap before the real day started.
After the rest of us sleepyheads made our way downstairs, we were met with a charming, albeit limited variety breakfast featuring a large platter of croissants and variety of juices that many in our group appreciated. Wrapping up breakfast, our group journeyed down to the ferry station, which serves as our main mode of transportation throughout Venice, apart from walking of course.
Learning how to navigate the ferry station map, our group activated our vaporetto passes as we rode the ferry to the main island stop of San Zaccaria, right in front of Piazza San Marco. With the calming water invigorating our spirits and misty breeze flowing through our hair, we reveled in our main character, Marilyn Monroe moments. Upon disembarking from the boat, we took a short walk to the Doge’s Palace at the heart of Piazza San Marco, which we will be further exploring tomorrow (look out for tomorrow’s blog!). From the people who brought us the Rome Tours, we were introduced to our Venice guide, Sabrina, who gave us a crash course of the city’s architecture and past engineering feats. Her interesting stories were very well tailored for the architects and engineers in our group (the business majors are rethinking their life decisions right about now), enrapturing our full attention.
From Sabrina’s architecture lessons, we discovered
the construction process for Venetian buildings, starting from a marble foundation for strength and resilience, to brick walls for lightness and durability. In the past, buildings have split in half from their own weight before, and so architects – through a trial-and-error arc – began utilizing iron rods inside buildings to hold them together (the technique still works today), as they construct a city on sinking mud.
We were also given a brief glimpse on Venice’s history with the Bubonic Plague. Cats were and still are considered good luck because they caught rats, which famously carried the plague. Surprisingly, the famous tradition of masks from Venice can be traced back to the plague, as the use of masks – especially those with elongated noses or beaks – gained popularity from the plague doctors who donned these masks in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease (and the smell of the corpses).
Besides the big topics, we also learned some interesting facts about miscellaneous topics, like how the islands of Venice create a fish-shaped figure, and that tourism in Venice is currently three times as high as it can reasonably sustain. As a special treat, we went to the bell tower that was used as a filming spot in the hit movie Spider-Man Far From Home, though unfortunately we didn’t get to meet Tom Holland.
After our tour, our group split up as we each took on a new adventure and aspect of the large city to conquer. Fueling up with lunch at a variety of restaurants, our local Kansas resident John had seafood for the first time in over a decade, and Evan desecrated Italian cuisine by ordering Hawaiian pizza.
Every group had a different experience this afternoon, but one constant of that experience was visiting the Venetian bookstore Librería Acqua Alta and seeing its unique layout and vast collection of books for all ages and all languages. The books were stored in boats to protect them when the store floods in the spring.
Besides the bookstore, some people took a trip to the island of Murano, which is famous for its glass making techniques. On the island, we bought various glass souvenirs, and found the most expensive item on our trip, an eighteen thousand dollar glass chandelier.
Others were hoping to barter at the highest rated leather market in Venice, so they walked all the way across the island only to find that it was unfortunately closed today. After that, they made their way to the second best store on the original side of the island only to just miss the closing time. Finally, they trekked to the next leather store, where they made it inside with just 10 minutes until close.
Another group decided to fully immerse themselves in Venice by taking a 30 minute Gondola ride through the canals. After their excursion, they went to the beach on our island and got slushies. Others chose a more stressful pastime and decided to shop till they drop at a clothing store called Zara (ever heard of that one before?).
Once our groups met back up at the hotel for dinner, we were treated to a very un-Italian dish of rice, a chicken leg, and potatoes (oh my!). After dinner most people went to the beach for a sunset swim, and met a German friend named Noah, who accompanied us on the previous train rides and today’s beach visit. Each one of us found a different adventure in store today, becoming our very own Marco Polos and navigating the gorgeous city of Venice.
As we near the end of our trip, the salty water and our many many sidequests for souvenirs rejuvenated us as we look forward to our last day in Venice. Ananya and Evan signing off for tonight! Ciao ciao!
Evan Kostov ‘27 & Ananya Bhawsinka
