We were drunk when we posted last night and somehow didn't post everything we wanted to, here is the revised post...
Sorry it's been so long, we like to party.
Update on Blakeley's birthday bash: Remember how Ashkon slept in Emily's bed? Well, the 19 year old also PEED in the birthday girl's closet. There were little pee puddles all over. She was not amused.
Kids, it's time to learn.
Last week we went to the Doge's Palace and the Basilica of Saint Mark. In a nutshell, it's pretty freaking awesome. The columns surrounding the Doge's Palace are significantly shorter than one would expect, this is because over time they've built up the ground around the columns because Venice is sinking. Each column has a different capital, representing various virtues and stories from the Old Testament. The Doge's Palace was Venice's Civic Center. Inside was gorgeous, naturally. It displayed intricate Renaissance artwork and other pieces that dated from the 11th Century. The Doge's Palace also contains the original Venetian prison. The prison connects to the Doge's Palace through the "Bridge of Sighs." If you want to learn more, come visit us.
San Marco's is INCREDIBLE. It is a fusion of byzantine and gothic architecture. Being the lucky ducks that we are, we got a private night viewing. We laid on the floor of San Marco's looking up at the ceiling as the lights slowly turned on. The entire basilica was lit up. This was amazing because the basilica's walls are made up of golden mosaics. There is over 8,000 square feet of mosaics in the building. The mosaics document both Old Testament and New Testament stories. Below the alter lies the relics of St. Mark. Being the crafty people that they are, the Venetians stole the relics from Alexandria in 834.
On Saturday night we attended the opera at La Fenice (the phoenix). It is called the phoenix because it has burned down and rebuilt twice. It is also the origin of the opera. We saw "Turn of the Screw," it was weird. It was about some little kid who were molested and then creeped on by their dead molesters and they were possessed. The kids (brother and sister) were also hooking up, they were like 10. The opera house was cool though. Our tickets were hella expensive, but we couldn't see anything! Professore (a huge G) was able to score us box seats for the second act.
After the opera we went to dinner and drinks. We went to Harry's for drinks. We guess some famous people used to hang out there so they can charge 15 euro for a TINY bellini, plus cover charge. Professore felt bad that we broke the bank on a 5 oz alcoholic beverage, so he took us to a nice dinner and bought hella vino. This is where the night really began. We went through about 12 carafs of wine, it was awesome. Toasts were made and even professoressa was drunk. After some good ol' beef (we are SO over italian food), to Fabio's it was.
Honestly, we don't know what happened there. We know we danced, we drank, we took flaming shots, but that's about it. We attempted to go to casino. (BLAKELEY JUST FELL OUT OF HER CHAIR RIGHT NOW IN PERSON!! HAHAHAHAHA). Unfortunately for us, we didn't have ID. Who carries ID in Italy? They didn't believe Blakeley was 18. Haha, OK Emily's kidding, they just wouldn't let us in. So Jace escorted us/put us on a boat. It took us to the bus station, where we got on the water bus to take us home. We got on the bus and took a little nap. We woke up to some Italian man fanning us. Thank god, this country is HOT. We wake up in the morning, sweating. We spend all day, sweating. We shower. Then go to bed, sweating. I don't think we smell. The Italians do though! Apparently they haven't mastered the 3 showers a day method that we employ.
Before we knew it, it was Monday and we wanted to party again. Our class on Tuesday is a joke because professoressa teaches it instead of professore. Professoressa is as qualified as we are to teach this class and she doesn't wear a bra, she had lopsided nipples and she's crazy. We hate her. We didn't think it was a big deal to go out Monday night. So we skyped with Mad Dog, (WE LOVE AND MISS YOU) and decided it was time to go out after. Within 15 minutes of arriving at Fabio's, we had mojito's in hand and taken 4 shots. 3 of which were flaming. BAD NEWS OR BOMB DIZZLE, depends on the source. Within 1/2 an hour, we were wasted and loving life. We needed food. They don't have fries at Fabio's like they do at the Duch (weak sauce), so we went to a gyro joint nearby. Crochettes may be our new favorite food.
At around 2 AM, we decided it was time to make our way home. We thought we could just walk, so we went on our way. We were wrong. Reaching the peninsula of the little fish of Venice, we realized we were on the wrong island. SHIT. Fortunately, we are skilled. We made our way to a vaporetto (water bus) stop and found our way home. We arrived to our front door at 3:15. Emily decided it was a good idea to skype with her Dad, so she was up LATE. Good thing class starts at 10 and her Dad appreciates extreme levels of inebriation.
The next morning was rough, mostly because professoressa talked for about 3089300917094385093 minutes. She has awkard misplaced nipples and never wears a bra or pants you can't see her black panties throughhhhh!! GROSS.
We went to La Basilica of San Antonio in Padova yesterday. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. HollaB and Em-Thug both cried! It was so beautiful and touching.
P.S. y'all better start commenting or we'll stop posting. Also, apologies in advance because we have gotten more drunk as we've written this and do not have the capacity to spell check right now. We are going to BARCELONA this weekend, get READY FOR AMAZING stories. Also, Blakeley wants you to know we write this together, just from Emily's account.
Love and miss the shit out of you.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Love ya,
Emily and Blakeley
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Honestly, we don't know what happened there. We know we danced, we drank, we took flaming shots, but that's about it. We attempted to go to casino. (BLAKELEY JUST FELL OUT OF HER CHAIR RIGHT NOW IN PERSON!! HAHAHAHAHA). Unfortunately for us, we didn't have ID. Who carries ID in Italy? They didn't believe Blakeley was 18. Haha, OK Emily's kidding, they just wouldn't let us in. So Jace escorted us/put us on a boat. It took us to the bus station, where we got on the water bus to take us home. We got on the bus and took a little nap. We woke up to some Italian man fanning us. Thank god, this country is HOT. We wake up in the morning, sweating. We spend all day, sweating. We shower. Then go to bed, sweating. I don't think we smell. The Italians do though! Apparently they haven't mastered the 3 showers a day method that we employ.
Before we knew it, it was Monday and we wanted to party again. Our class on Tuesday is a joke because professoressa teaches it instead of professore. Professoressa is as qualified as we are to teach this class and she doesn't wear a bra, she had lopsided nipples and she's crazy. We hate her. We didn't think it was a big deal to go out Monday night. So we skyped with Mad Dog, (WE LOVE AND MISS YOU) and decided it was time to go out after. Within 15 minutes of arriving at Fabio's, we had mojito's in hand and taken 4 shots. 3 of which were flaming. BAD NEWS OR BOMB DIZZLE, depends on the source. Within 1/2 an hour, we were wasted and loving life. We needed food. They don't have fries at Fabio's like they do at the Duch (weak sauce), so we went to a gyro joint nearby. Crochettes may be our new favorite food.
At around 2 AM, we decided it was time to make our way home. We thought we could just walk, so we went on our way. We were wrong. Reaching the peninsula of the little fish of Venice, we realized we were on the wrong island. SHIT. Fortunately, we are skilled. We made our way to a vaporetto (water bus) stop and found our way home. We arrived to our front door at 3:15. Emily decided it was a good idea to skype with her Dad, so she was up LATE. Good thing class starts at 10 and her Dad appreciates extreme levels of inebriation.
The next morning was rough, mostly because professoressa talked for about 3089300917094385093 minutes. She has awkard misplaced nipples and never wears a bra or pants you can't see her black panties throughhhhh!! GROSS.
We went to La Basilica of San Antonio in Padova yesterday. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. HollaB and Em-Thug both cried! It was so beautiful and touching.
P.S. y'all better start commenting or we'll stop posting. Also, apologies in advance because we have gotten more drunk as we've written this and do not have the capacity to spell check right now. We are going to BARCELONA this weekend, get READY FOR AMAZING stories. Also, Blakeley wants you to know we write this together, just from Emily's account.
Love and miss the shit out of you.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Love ya,
Emily and Blakeley
P.S.
Before we knew it, it was Monday and we wanted to party again. Our class on Tuesday is a joke because professoressa teaches it instead of professore. Professoressa is as qualified as we are to teach this class and she doesn't wear a bra, she had lopsided nipples and she's crazy. We hate her. We didn't think it was a big deal to go out Monday night. So we skyped with Mad Dog, (WE LOVE AND MISS YOU) and decided it was time to go out after. Within 15 minutes of arriving at Fabio's, we had mojito's in hand and taken 4 shots. 3 of which were flaming. BAD NEWS OR BOMB DIZZLE, depends on the source. Within 1/2 an hour, we were wasted and loving life. We needed food. They don't have fries at Fabio's like they do at the Duch (weak sauce), so we went to a gyro joint nearby. Crochettes may be our new favorite food.
At around 2 AM, we decided it was time to make our way home. We thought we could just walk, so we went on our way. We were wrong. Reaching the peninsula of the little fish of Venice, we realized we were on the wrong island. SHIT. Fortunately, we are skilled. We made our way to a vaporetto (water bus) stop and found our way home. We arrived to our front door at 3:15. Emily decided it was a good idea to skype with her Dad, so she was up LATE. Good thing class starts at 10 and her Dad appreciates extreme levels of inebriation.
The next morning was rough, mostly because professoressa talked for about 3089300917094385093 minutes. She has awkard misplaced nipples and never wears a bra or pants you can't see her black panties throughhhhh!! GROSS.
We went to La Basilica of San Antonio in Padova yesterday. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. HollaB and Em-Thug both cried! It was so beautiful and touching.
P.S. y'all better start commenting or we'll stop posting. Also, apologies in advance because we have gotten more drunk as we've written this and do not have the capacity to spell check right now. We are going to BARCELONA this weekend, get READY FOR AMAZING stories. Also, Blakeley wants you to know we write this together, just from Emily's account.
Love and miss the shit out of you.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Love ya,
Emily and Blakeley
P.S.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
They Don't Have Party Hats in Venice
Blakeley is old, no longer 19. She turns 22 today. When your birthday falls on a Sunday, it is a weekend long affair.
We began her birthday celebration with her parents on Friday night. We went to a lovely dinner in a small town just north of Venice. It sat upon a hill that overlooked the entire town. It was gorgeous. After food and wine, we went back to their villa and played cards. We all know how much Blakeley LOVES CARDS. She dominates. Teresa says Emily became a card shark. There was a peacock on the grounds of their villa. Blakeley slept with one eye open. Fortunately for her, it was no where to be seen. We returned to Venice on Saturday morning to prepare for the real festivities later that night.
We started off the night at our apartment. Everyone in our program came over and we had drinks and hor'duerves. It wasn't long before everyone started taking shots of grappa. Grappa claims to be wine, but has a 40% alcohol content. It tastes like monarch. Yum. Within an hour we were drunk. We polished off 12 bottles of wine and over a liter of grappa and decided it was time to head out...but where was ashkon?
The bathroom door was locked and we couldn't get in, but we knew Ashkon was in there. After many attempts at picking the lock, we succeeded. Ashkon was passed out on the bathroom floor cuddling with a wet towel. Everyone needs some love. Being the stubborn drunk that most 19 year olds are, Ashkon resisted us as we dragged him to Emily's bed. With him sound asleep, we headed out.
To Fabio's it was. On the way all of the street vendors were out. Venice doesn't sell party hats. What were we going to do? Emily found the solution. Sailor hats. We looked awesome. Pictures to come. There were also a bunch of vendors out selling roses. Being true gentlemen, Eskender and Jason bought the birthday girls 3 roses. Again, Seattle boys take note. Blakeley looked like a pageant queen walking around with her sailor hat and flowers.
We got to the bar and naturally took shots. Blakeley got some for free because it was her birthday and Nadia loves her. Too much wine usually leads to short nights. After about an hour, we were crashing. We decided it was time to head home. Goose and Jace decided to stay out, we could only hope they made it home alive.
We got home to find Ashkon on the floor in our bedroom. We still do not know what he was doing there, but he was awake. Poor Emily slept on the couch.
We found out this morning that we were wrong about Goose and Jace. Fabio gave them 2 free shots of god knows what and they blacked out. Jace called this morning to inform us that he was found sleeping on the porch ("pulling a Blakeley") in the courtyard outside of his house. He had used all of his cell phone minutes talking to his dad that night. Goose woke up out of his black out talking to the police. Oops.
Luckily for us, we woke up before our hangovers could set in. We left the house and did some shopping. We found sour candy in Venice, it's rare here. Blakeley bought a pretty dress for the opera and we bought matching rings. All in all, it was a successful trip and a fun morning. That's it for now. We have 8,000 pages of reading and dinner tonight.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Ciao!
-Emily and Blakeley
We began her birthday celebration with her parents on Friday night. We went to a lovely dinner in a small town just north of Venice. It sat upon a hill that overlooked the entire town. It was gorgeous. After food and wine, we went back to their villa and played cards. We all know how much Blakeley LOVES CARDS. She dominates. Teresa says Emily became a card shark. There was a peacock on the grounds of their villa. Blakeley slept with one eye open. Fortunately for her, it was no where to be seen. We returned to Venice on Saturday morning to prepare for the real festivities later that night.
We started off the night at our apartment. Everyone in our program came over and we had drinks and hor'duerves. It wasn't long before everyone started taking shots of grappa. Grappa claims to be wine, but has a 40% alcohol content. It tastes like monarch. Yum. Within an hour we were drunk. We polished off 12 bottles of wine and over a liter of grappa and decided it was time to head out...but where was ashkon?
The bathroom door was locked and we couldn't get in, but we knew Ashkon was in there. After many attempts at picking the lock, we succeeded. Ashkon was passed out on the bathroom floor cuddling with a wet towel. Everyone needs some love. Being the stubborn drunk that most 19 year olds are, Ashkon resisted us as we dragged him to Emily's bed. With him sound asleep, we headed out.
To Fabio's it was. On the way all of the street vendors were out. Venice doesn't sell party hats. What were we going to do? Emily found the solution. Sailor hats. We looked awesome. Pictures to come. There were also a bunch of vendors out selling roses. Being true gentlemen, Eskender and Jason bought the birthday girls 3 roses. Again, Seattle boys take note. Blakeley looked like a pageant queen walking around with her sailor hat and flowers.
We got to the bar and naturally took shots. Blakeley got some for free because it was her birthday and Nadia loves her. Too much wine usually leads to short nights. After about an hour, we were crashing. We decided it was time to head home. Goose and Jace decided to stay out, we could only hope they made it home alive.
We got home to find Ashkon on the floor in our bedroom. We still do not know what he was doing there, but he was awake. Poor Emily slept on the couch.
We found out this morning that we were wrong about Goose and Jace. Fabio gave them 2 free shots of god knows what and they blacked out. Jace called this morning to inform us that he was found sleeping on the porch ("pulling a Blakeley") in the courtyard outside of his house. He had used all of his cell phone minutes talking to his dad that night. Goose woke up out of his black out talking to the police. Oops.
Luckily for us, we woke up before our hangovers could set in. We left the house and did some shopping. We found sour candy in Venice, it's rare here. Blakeley bought a pretty dress for the opera and we bought matching rings. All in all, it was a successful trip and a fun morning. That's it for now. We have 8,000 pages of reading and dinner tonight.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Ciao!
-Emily and Blakeley
We Really Should Stick Together
So we like to party. A lot. This is a known fact, but even though we haven't done this in the past four years on Thursday, Blakeley ventured out to the world on her own. Maybe not her best decision ever.
Besides without Emily who was she supposed to take secret shots with? But Emily was feeling a little under the weather, so Blakeley left the nest.
After we had all of the girls over for dinner, Blakeley, Laura, Patricia and Micheala (get used to these names....), met up with all the boys minus Ashkon (who was 'tired', what a baby). We hung out with Fabio. Who is officially our BFF. He loves us.
It was about midnight when we got to the bar and our vino buzz was starting to wear off. So shots were definitely in order. After a round, or three we played flip cup with some harvard kids... UW kicks Harvards butt btw. Then there were more shots, and then Blakeley met Fabio's whole familia. AWESOME. Nadia (his mama), even hugged Blakeley. Unfortunately bars close. Fortunately (depends who you ask though), we found the discotecca (sp?). Clubs in Venice are as sketchy as the ones in the US. And Long Island Iced Tea's are as strong in the discotecca as they are at Earls. But dancing was a must, don't worry Blakeley's dancing skills are as strong as ever and she only fell twice.
To get into the discotecca you have to knock on this little door and this huge black bouncer lets you in. Blakeley being the lucky girl she is, had caught the bouncers eye. Being the creepy place that it was, he was following her around the tiny club and kept on grabbing her bits. She was not a happy camper. Fortunately when he tried to "dance" with her, aka molest her neck Gustavo came in for the rescue.
After a great dance session to 'I Gotta Feeling,' our classmate Patrick went to the bar for another drink, for some reason he decided he needed to spit, and saw a bucket. He spit in the ice bucket. Not a great idea, he got kicked out.
At roughly 3:45, we decided going home was a must. Everyone in that club hated us. Our boys were cock blocking the sketchy people from molesting the girls, we took up the entire dance floor, and were having way more fun than anyone else there. Lots of glaring was coming from every direction. So we decided to jet, it was really one of those nights that you just wish you could call a cab and get home in twenty minutes. But in Venice that is not even a remote possibility. So instead it was the vaparetto. We got as close to home as we could and then had to walk the remaining distance.... AKA almost an hour. But we are alive and well.
Blakeley needs Emily's protection from now on.
let's stick together girlfriends.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Besides without Emily who was she supposed to take secret shots with? But Emily was feeling a little under the weather, so Blakeley left the nest.
After we had all of the girls over for dinner, Blakeley, Laura, Patricia and Micheala (get used to these names....), met up with all the boys minus Ashkon (who was 'tired', what a baby). We hung out with Fabio. Who is officially our BFF. He loves us.
It was about midnight when we got to the bar and our vino buzz was starting to wear off. So shots were definitely in order. After a round, or three we played flip cup with some harvard kids... UW kicks Harvards butt btw. Then there were more shots, and then Blakeley met Fabio's whole familia. AWESOME. Nadia (his mama), even hugged Blakeley. Unfortunately bars close. Fortunately (depends who you ask though), we found the discotecca (sp?). Clubs in Venice are as sketchy as the ones in the US. And Long Island Iced Tea's are as strong in the discotecca as they are at Earls. But dancing was a must, don't worry Blakeley's dancing skills are as strong as ever and she only fell twice.
To get into the discotecca you have to knock on this little door and this huge black bouncer lets you in. Blakeley being the lucky girl she is, had caught the bouncers eye. Being the creepy place that it was, he was following her around the tiny club and kept on grabbing her bits. She was not a happy camper. Fortunately when he tried to "dance" with her, aka molest her neck Gustavo came in for the rescue.
After a great dance session to 'I Gotta Feeling,' our classmate Patrick went to the bar for another drink, for some reason he decided he needed to spit, and saw a bucket. He spit in the ice bucket. Not a great idea, he got kicked out.
At roughly 3:45, we decided going home was a must. Everyone in that club hated us. Our boys were cock blocking the sketchy people from molesting the girls, we took up the entire dance floor, and were having way more fun than anyone else there. Lots of glaring was coming from every direction. So we decided to jet, it was really one of those nights that you just wish you could call a cab and get home in twenty minutes. But in Venice that is not even a remote possibility. So instead it was the vaparetto. We got as close to home as we could and then had to walk the remaining distance.... AKA almost an hour. But we are alive and well.
Blakeley needs Emily's protection from now on.
let's stick together girlfriends.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Week One Done
Ciao Amici!!
Our first week of classes is officially complete. We've learned so much!
We went to the Naval Museum this week and learned all about Venice as a maritime empire. In their prime, they could produce ships the way Henry Ford produced cars. Their oppoents were unable to keep up with them because they would get lost in the labyrinth of canals and their boats were not shallow enough and were too wide.
Gondolas cost over $500,000. Their oarlock, which many buy as artwork, costs over $1,200. It was madated that all gondolas be painted black in order to eliminate rivalry between the aristocracy. A gondola is built to naturally slant to the right. The gondolier always stands on the left side to compensate. This makes the boat more manuverable.
We also went to Burano and Torcello. Burano is a cute island about an hour away by boat. All of the houses are painted vibrant colors. Burano is also known for its lace production. A French woman moved to Burano 800 years ago and taught the locals how to make lace. They have stuck with the tradition ever since.
Torcello is similiar to what Venice was like 1500 years ago. It is very marshy. In its prime, 20,000 people lived there. Now there are only 18. It's church was built in 628 and exemplifies Byzantine influence in Venice. While in the church, our crazy professoresa made us sketch. It didn't go well. After sketching, Blakeley really had to pee. The class moved on to the church next door. Blakeley didn't notice. While in the other church, Emily's phone went off. It was very loud and she could not figure out how to turn it off. Our phones are so 1990. It was Blakeley calling, she was lost.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Our first week of classes is officially complete. We've learned so much!
We went to the Naval Museum this week and learned all about Venice as a maritime empire. In their prime, they could produce ships the way Henry Ford produced cars. Their oppoents were unable to keep up with them because they would get lost in the labyrinth of canals and their boats were not shallow enough and were too wide.
Gondolas cost over $500,000. Their oarlock, which many buy as artwork, costs over $1,200. It was madated that all gondolas be painted black in order to eliminate rivalry between the aristocracy. A gondola is built to naturally slant to the right. The gondolier always stands on the left side to compensate. This makes the boat more manuverable.
We also went to Burano and Torcello. Burano is a cute island about an hour away by boat. All of the houses are painted vibrant colors. Burano is also known for its lace production. A French woman moved to Burano 800 years ago and taught the locals how to make lace. They have stuck with the tradition ever since.
Torcello is similiar to what Venice was like 1500 years ago. It is very marshy. In its prime, 20,000 people lived there. Now there are only 18. It's church was built in 628 and exemplifies Byzantine influence in Venice. While in the church, our crazy professoresa made us sketch. It didn't go well. After sketching, Blakeley really had to pee. The class moved on to the church next door. Blakeley didn't notice. While in the other church, Emily's phone went off. It was very loud and she could not figure out how to turn it off. Our phones are so 1990. It was Blakeley calling, she was lost.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
We do more than party
So Venice is really f-ing awesome.
Our first day we couldn't sleep and Blakeley decided to go for a run. At about 6am, she left and got really fucking lost. It's okay though because within 20 minutes she had found the couture shopping district. After ogling at some clothes, she found San Marcos square. Not a bad way to start the morning.
There are over 400 bridges in Venice. It is only 2x the size of Central Park in New York City, but way easier to get lost. To build anything, Venetians drill pine into the ground, which combined with the saltwater becomes fossilized. This becomes the foundation for all buildings. There are only 30,000 Venetians in Venice. On any given day there are about 100,000 tourists. Needless to say, Venetians don't like us much. Particularly because Americans are louder than most.
Before we moved into our apartment, we were expecting a 1 bedroom with 4 beds, a kitchen and tiny bathroom. We were pleasently surprised to find that we have 2 large bedrooms, a newly refinished bathroom and a kitchen and a huge living room. It is amazing. Pictures to come. We live in Sant'Elena, which is on the far southern end of Venice. It was built in the 1920's by Mussolini, so the streets are much wider here and there are several huge parks. It is the only green part of Venice. There are no tourists in this part of town, so we are getting a true Venetian experiance. Awesome. We've already found our favorite spot, it's a pizza place/bar/coffee shop. Pretty much everything we need. Our new best friend, the waitress, is very fond of hammer pants. As are many Italians. Don't worry, we will not come back wearing them. It makes attractive women look like they are wearing giant saggy diapers. Not a good look.
When it isn't raining, Venice is stunning, a beautiful decay. We have both fallen in love. Yesterday, we went to the top of the bell tower. From here, you can see all of Venice. It is absolutely incredible. Check Emily's Mobile Uploads.
The food is awesome. As professore said yesterday, "it's so good, you'll want to rub it all over your face." He also called Blakeley's dessert a "food orgasm." Professore also says "f-ing" a lot, so it's kind of our new word. When he gets really excited, he says "fucking." We know everyone likes gelato, but until you've had it here, you have no idea. Laura taught us which was the real gelato and what was fake. We're pretty much experts. Blakeley's favorite is banana with chocolate. Emily is undecided.
Unfortunately, school starts tomorrow. We'll learn more, which means you will too. We have about 8,000 pages of reading to do before we go see Fabio again to watch the futball game. GO ITALIA!
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Our first day we couldn't sleep and Blakeley decided to go for a run. At about 6am, she left and got really fucking lost. It's okay though because within 20 minutes she had found the couture shopping district. After ogling at some clothes, she found San Marcos square. Not a bad way to start the morning.
There are over 400 bridges in Venice. It is only 2x the size of Central Park in New York City, but way easier to get lost. To build anything, Venetians drill pine into the ground, which combined with the saltwater becomes fossilized. This becomes the foundation for all buildings. There are only 30,000 Venetians in Venice. On any given day there are about 100,000 tourists. Needless to say, Venetians don't like us much. Particularly because Americans are louder than most.
Before we moved into our apartment, we were expecting a 1 bedroom with 4 beds, a kitchen and tiny bathroom. We were pleasently surprised to find that we have 2 large bedrooms, a newly refinished bathroom and a kitchen and a huge living room. It is amazing. Pictures to come. We live in Sant'Elena, which is on the far southern end of Venice. It was built in the 1920's by Mussolini, so the streets are much wider here and there are several huge parks. It is the only green part of Venice. There are no tourists in this part of town, so we are getting a true Venetian experiance. Awesome. We've already found our favorite spot, it's a pizza place/bar/coffee shop. Pretty much everything we need. Our new best friend, the waitress, is very fond of hammer pants. As are many Italians. Don't worry, we will not come back wearing them. It makes attractive women look like they are wearing giant saggy diapers. Not a good look.
When it isn't raining, Venice is stunning, a beautiful decay. We have both fallen in love. Yesterday, we went to the top of the bell tower. From here, you can see all of Venice. It is absolutely incredible. Check Emily's Mobile Uploads.
The food is awesome. As professore said yesterday, "it's so good, you'll want to rub it all over your face." He also called Blakeley's dessert a "food orgasm." Professore also says "f-ing" a lot, so it's kind of our new word. When he gets really excited, he says "fucking." We know everyone likes gelato, but until you've had it here, you have no idea. Laura taught us which was the real gelato and what was fake. We're pretty much experts. Blakeley's favorite is banana with chocolate. Emily is undecided.
Unfortunately, school starts tomorrow. We'll learn more, which means you will too. We have about 8,000 pages of reading to do before we go see Fabio again to watch the futball game. GO ITALIA!
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Ciao Bella!
Hey Girlfriends!
We made it. We've officially been in Venezia for 3 days. This is our first time with access to the internet. Who knew Italy was a third world country?
So mad dog, you were wrong on multiple counts. Our apartment is legit and we need rain boots. It has rained about 2 feet since last night. San Marco's square is completely flooded.
Chipper and T-Money have made it to the Venetian hood. They didn't trust that we could make it here alive on our own. We had a delightful dinner with them on Friday night. We polished off 2 bottles of wine with our meal and then Boo Boo and Em bought some road wine and walked around with dixie cups drinking it. Can't you tell we're classy? While in San Marco's square we saw a seagull dismembering a pigeon. Chipper was enthralled. In Venice, seagulls attack pigeons, peck them until incapacitation and then poke out their hearts and eat them. After they do that, they dismember the pigeon and you see feathers floating down. Gross, but awesome. As I typed that, a pigeon was cooing outside my window.
Yesterday was our orientation. We got to meet our fellow program homies and did a meet and greet for 8 hours. Serious. Luckily for us, we are best friends now. Seattle friends, be worried. We already had a slumber party. We started our night at dinner, had some vino with the professore and professoresa (sp?). We pretended to know Italian...Blakeley has natural talent. After about a liter each of wine at dinner, we went to the student bar. Fabio works here. He is the Steve to the Duchess. AKA Free drinks. We had 14 free shots (one for each person in our program). The shots were called Sex in Italy. Something red, with something else and absynth. We then lit them on fire and it looked like a flaming Italian flag. Not surprisingly, Blakeley lit the bar on fire. Thankfully, Fabio blew it out. After our Sex in Italy, we went back to Ashkon's apartment. You should know that Ashkon is Greggor's friend/frat bro. He's 19, the baby of the program. Here we played fuck the dealer with wine and finished 8 bottles. When we ran out of vino, we went to see Fabio again. The bar closed at 2...too early. We had the brilliant idea to walk home. We live on the opposite side of Venice.
It started off as a pleasant walk and then the heavens opened. As Seattlites, we know rain and we're used to it. This is a different story. Within a minute we were soaked. It looked we had all jumped in a canal. For some reason, the program boys thought they'd walk us home...so chivalrous. Seattle boys, take note. An hour and a half later, we made it home. It was raining even harder then. The boys live on a different island and had no way to get home. Being the natural born hostesses that we are, we invited them to stay on our couch. Fortunately, our apartment is huge and the owners left us about 100 blankets. With the boys in the living room, we went to bed at 4am. When we woke up at 10, it was still raining. We lent the boys some v-neck tees (so euro) and hopefully they made it home.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Love ya,
Emily and Blakeley
We made it. We've officially been in Venezia for 3 days. This is our first time with access to the internet. Who knew Italy was a third world country?
So mad dog, you were wrong on multiple counts. Our apartment is legit and we need rain boots. It has rained about 2 feet since last night. San Marco's square is completely flooded.
Chipper and T-Money have made it to the Venetian hood. They didn't trust that we could make it here alive on our own. We had a delightful dinner with them on Friday night. We polished off 2 bottles of wine with our meal and then Boo Boo and Em bought some road wine and walked around with dixie cups drinking it. Can't you tell we're classy? While in San Marco's square we saw a seagull dismembering a pigeon. Chipper was enthralled. In Venice, seagulls attack pigeons, peck them until incapacitation and then poke out their hearts and eat them. After they do that, they dismember the pigeon and you see feathers floating down. Gross, but awesome. As I typed that, a pigeon was cooing outside my window.
Yesterday was our orientation. We got to meet our fellow program homies and did a meet and greet for 8 hours. Serious. Luckily for us, we are best friends now. Seattle friends, be worried. We already had a slumber party. We started our night at dinner, had some vino with the professore and professoresa (sp?). We pretended to know Italian...Blakeley has natural talent. After about a liter each of wine at dinner, we went to the student bar. Fabio works here. He is the Steve to the Duchess. AKA Free drinks. We had 14 free shots (one for each person in our program). The shots were called Sex in Italy. Something red, with something else and absynth. We then lit them on fire and it looked like a flaming Italian flag. Not surprisingly, Blakeley lit the bar on fire. Thankfully, Fabio blew it out. After our Sex in Italy, we went back to Ashkon's apartment. You should know that Ashkon is Greggor's friend/frat bro. He's 19, the baby of the program. Here we played fuck the dealer with wine and finished 8 bottles. When we ran out of vino, we went to see Fabio again. The bar closed at 2...too early. We had the brilliant idea to walk home. We live on the opposite side of Venice.
It started off as a pleasant walk and then the heavens opened. As Seattlites, we know rain and we're used to it. This is a different story. Within a minute we were soaked. It looked we had all jumped in a canal. For some reason, the program boys thought they'd walk us home...so chivalrous. Seattle boys, take note. An hour and a half later, we made it home. It was raining even harder then. The boys live on a different island and had no way to get home. Being the natural born hostesses that we are, we invited them to stay on our couch. Fortunately, our apartment is huge and the owners left us about 100 blankets. With the boys in the living room, we went to bed at 4am. When we woke up at 10, it was still raining. We lent the boys some v-neck tees (so euro) and hopefully they made it home.
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Love ya,
Emily and Blakeley
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Ciao Seattle!
We know you willl miss us so to ease the pain we will be blogging. In addition to updates on facebook, a complete series of our adventures in Venice can be found here. The good, the bad, and the embarrassing; you'll get it all. Start following, we'll keep you posted..."because who wouldn't want to be us?"
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Ciao!
Emily and Blakeley
That's what you get for waking up in Venice.
Ciao!
Emily and Blakeley
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