After a full week of classes, my roommates and I decided that we needed to adventure out of Florence to Venice. Having been in classes for a week I have a general idea of how my classes will be at Accademia. My schedule allows a lot of exploring on both Monday, Thursday, and Friday so for those days I, along with other students explored Florence. We have now been here for a little over a week and have a good sense of where we are as we roam around the city. Most of the time we find some landmark and know how to find the arno from there, and then know how to find our way home. But it is reassuring to know that we are able to find our way around a city that a week ago was completely foreign. Since September fills Florence with tourists, we decided that instead of waiting in lines to see all the sights, we would go to Venice for a day to get a different view of Italy.
We were able to book our tickets the night before our day trip. Our trip to Venice required two train changes on the way there. And for three girls who had never used the Euro Train system, this was very daunting, especially at 7 in the morning. But we were able to ask around and get onto our first train to Prato Centrale. We were supposed to transfer over to our next train to Bologna right away but we misread our ticket and thought we had an hour to spend in the train station. When we realized our mistake we went to the ticketing desk. The attendant spoke no English so we google translated our situation to him. He informed us that we could just get on the next train and that it would not cause any issues. Once we got to Bologna we read ALL the train signs and the tickets and were able to finally get on a train and finally find our way to Venice.
Our day there was filled with getting lost in the city. Venice has a very confusing lay out but we found a lot of joy in finding the little nooks of the city and appreciated the quieter parts of the city. We were able to go to the Basilica and cross the Rialto Bridge, but we tried to stay away from the touristy areas because there were so many people there. After walking 9 miles in all directions and crossing multiple bridges, we decided to head back to the train station. This time, we had no questions, we were able to get onto our trains and transfer without any issues. I think what I loved most about this week is seeing how comfortable the country is starting to feel. My Italian still has a long way to go, but I am no longer afraid to ask for help and try to speak the Italian I do know. This week has also left me extremely excited for my coming term here at Accademia. Though there are days that classes leave me extremely tired, I see how much I am going to learn and experience and that’s something I look forward to.
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