Spain: Day V (Madrid)

Sunday, August 7^th:

A Matador Fights a Bull:

            Today I got to experience one of the cooler cultural events of my life, a bullfight. But we will get to that. We slept in a little bit before getting a cab to the Barcelona train station. I should note that a couple of days prior we had stopped at the train station to purchase our train tickets. This was one of the main times that I had to use my Spanish, as the ticket agent literally spoke no English, but I did fine. We managed to get the correct tickets and we were on our way to Madrid in no time. I should also mention that it was odd after travelling on so many trains that the Barcelona to Madrid train is the only one where we had to pass through metal detectors and put our luggage through security. This must be aftermath of the Madrid train bombings.

The Real Casa de Correos (Office of the President of Madrid) at Puerta Del Sol:

            The train ride was relatively quick and offered some cool views of the Spanish landscape. There is a lot more desert than I had realized. Anyway, we arrived around midday in Madrid and took a subway to the Puerto Del Sol Square. We then took the short walk to check in to our new hostel, the RC Miguel Angel hostel, where we were greeted with tiny bunk beds and very few amenities. Oh well, we are only here for a couple of nights.

We were eager to check out what the city was all about, so we wandered around for a little while before deciding to get food before the bullfight. We found a place called La Taurina which fit right in with our evening plans. The walls were covered with autographed photos of famous bullfighters alongside the heads of many famous bulls. TVs all over the restaurant also displayed vintage bullfights for anyone to watch. I enjoyed some Paella, Mushroom Caps with Minced Ham, and a tomato salad. With little time to spare, we took a cab to the Madrid bullring and got in line for our tickets.

The Plaza De Toros Las Ventas (Madrid Bullring):

            The atmosphere at a bullfight in Spain can almost be compared to going to a baseball game back home. Thousands of people come out for the events that happen about once a week in the summer, and many people are regulars that occupy the same seats each time. The line for tickets was long, but street vendors selling waters, sodas, beers, nuts, fruits, veggies, and seeds are there to help you through the line. We bought some sunflower seeds and purchased our actually pretty expensive tickets to a Corrida de Toros (bullfight) at the Plaza de Toros Las Ventas (Madrid bullring) and made our way inside.

A Poster Advertising the Corrida de Toros (Bullfight):

            While we purchased some (bucket sized) Cruzcampo beers, we were informed that it was considered rude to enter the seating area while a bullfight was going on. We were a little bit late, so we had to watch the first fight on the TV screens in the vendor area before being allowed inside. Not to worry, though, each event features three matadors who each get two bulls to fight, so missing one fight was not a big deal. After the first fight we made our way to our seats, apparently in the Ernest Hemingway section, and sat down to watch.

The Bullring at Dusk:

            The bullfight begins as an angry bull is released into the bullring. Assistant matadors called Banderilleros use purple and yellow capes to fight the bull. This offers the matador a chance to see how the bull will react when he gets his chance to fight it. It also gives the fans in the stands a great opportunity to see the bull charging in all its fury. The matador may also participate in this stage, but mostly he is watching and learning from the moves of the bull.

A Banderillero Confronts the Bull:

In the next stage, two men on horseback called Picadors come out wielding long lances. In the days of old, horses would frequently perish by the bullhorns hitting their undersides, so the horses now wear blinders and are heavily padded from such attacks. The Picadors wait until the bull charges the horse, and then open a large and deep wound in the back of the bull. This is the main wound that will weaken and fatigue the bull over the course of the bullfight. They try to open two or three deep wounds before making their way out of the ring.

A Picador Lances the Bull:

            Next, the Banderilleros return. In a bizarre act, the Banderilleros tempt the bull to charge them while they also run at the bull. The goal is to attach two weighted sticks called Banderillas to the opposite sides of the wound in the bull’s back. This will help keep the wounds open to tire the bull even more as he loses blood. Once the bull is prepared for the fight with the matador, the stage is set for his entrance.

A Banderillero Stabs the Bull with Banderillas:

            These guys are like Spanish celebrities. People cheer as the matador enters the ring with his majestic red taunting cape. He is given a large wooden sword to use to taunt the bull some more, and he begins the Faena, or display. This is the part everyone has come to see, as the bull charges the red cape and the matador dances out of the way. As foolish as this sounds, it is quite beautiful to watch and really takes some skill. The matador is awarded by cheers and good marks if he can get the bull as close to his body as possible without being struck. The bull expands most of its energy in this stage, and all the while it is losing more and more blood through the wound in its back. After a long series of displays and charges, the bull finally will tire to the point of not charging from a mere few feet away.

The Faena (Display):

            The matador will then ceremoniously receive his Estoque, or the kill sword, and prepare his kill strike. Good matadors are able to kill the bull in one quick strike to its heart while it charges, through the open wound in its back. This is seen as a quick end for the bull, and the animal does not suffer as much. Unfortunately, this does not always happen, as we saw. The kill strike, or Estocada, is pretty brutal, and a massive animal quickly passes away after a deep blow. The bull is then carted off by horses and the ring is prepared for another fight while the matador receives cheers, jeers, hats, roses, and applause. With rare, exceptional performances, the judge can award the bull's ear, both its ears, or its tail, or any combination of these items to the matador as a prize.

The Matador Prepares the Estocada (Killstrike):

            We got to watch five of these over the course of a couple hours. After you get passed the fact that you are watching the killing of a live and beautiful animal, you realize how cool the event actually is. It is just beaming with Spanish culture, and you can tell from the cheers that people really live for these events. We did see one matador awarded a bull ear for his performance, and we also saw the same matador get jeered out of the stadium after his second fight. He struggled to kill the bull in that one, and people do not like to see the animal truly suffer.

A Deceased Bull is Carted Off:

            We enjoyed quite a few beers at the bullfight, and had a nice long walk across the city at night. There are some beautiful buildings in Madrid that are lit up with pretty lights at night, and I am eager to see the city during the day! We stopped for another drink near the Plaza Del Sol, where a protest was occurring outside of the Offices of the President of Madrid, the Real Casa de Correos. I think it had to do with the economic problems that the EuroZone was facing at the time, and about unemployment in Spain. After a long day of travel, it’s time for bed!

The Palacio de Cibeles (Madrid Post Office) at Night:

Spain: Day IV (Barcelona)

Saturday, August 6^th:

A Mosaic Lizard in Park Guell:

            Today we visited even more parts of Barcelona that we had not seen before. This has to be one of the bigger cities I have visited on the trip. We woke up extraordinarily late, as we did not get to sleep until around almost 8am. Collins was out looking for his wallet and phone, which was eventually presumed pick-pocketed, so we decided to head out around 4pm to see some more sites. With none of us really hungry at this point, we walked straight over to the Medieval district of the city to check out the famed Gothic Cathedral. On our way we also passed the Arc de Triomf, a red and smaller version of the famed arch in Paris. Some movie company was also filming what looked like a scene of death and destruction at the Arc, but we carried on.

The Gothic Cathedral of Barcelona:

            We made our way to the important site of the day, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, also known as the Gothic Cathedral. Unfortunately, the church was undergoing renovations (I was doing so well for a while without these!) but visitors were still able to go inside and explore the church. It reminded me a lot of the ones I had seen early on in my trip in Germany and Scotland. The church walls were made of stone that seemed almost scorched and charred, and the interior was filled with magnificent gold decoration. We hung out there for a little while before grabbing a cab to check out Park Guell, a park designed by Antoni Gaudí.

An Entrance Building to Park Guell:

It was actually a pretty long ride before we were there, but it was quite apparent when we had arrived. The entrance to Park Guell looks like it is straight out of Dr. Suess Land in at Universal Studios. The buildings are designed in such a unique and distinct style—none of us had ever seen anything like it. Each building that Gaudí makes is just so different than the next! As the park is also situated on one of the higher hills in the city, we walked around the park trails to take in all of the incredible views across the city to the Mediterranean. It also gave us a pretty cool and unique photo opportunity overlooking the Sagrada Familia. Pretty cool that the city is so interconnected with the life of Gaudí and his famous work.

The Sagrada Familia from Park Guell:

            Following our time spent at the park, we decided to walk back down the hill to our hostel and get some food on the way. It was now dark and we were very hungry, so we stopped at an Italian place where I ate some Barcelona Pizza (Minced Beef, Onions) and a Caprese Salad (I just can’t escape these even if I wanted to!). The walk took a very long time but we were happy to enjoy our last night in the city. We also found our way back to the Sagrada Familia so we could experience what it looked like at night. The building is illuminated with powerful lights, and it will truly be a world masterpiece upon completion. It already is now! We decided to turn it in pretty early after some post-dinner drinks seeing as we had such a long night prior. Tomorrow we will take a train to the capital city of Spain, Madrid!

The Arc de Triomf:

Spain: Day III (Barcelona)

Friday, August 5^th:

The Olympic Courtyard and Estadio Olympico:

            What a long but incredible day and night! Today started out as the others have, sleeping in a little bit before heading out sightseeing. Matt had not been to Las Ramblas, and Max and I had not been there in daylight, so we started our day in that direction. Las Ramblas is far less sketchy during the day, and the shops that line the street are really quite charming. There is also much less, if any drug traffic during the day, so that is one positive note.

Fruits and Vegetables in Mercat St. Josep:

Candy in Mercat St. Josep:

We spent a little time wandering down Las Ramblas before ducking into a beautiful and crowded market called Mercat St. Josep La Boqueria. This is one of the prettiest markets I have ever been in, as all of the fruit, vegetables, candy, fish, meat, and shellfish are all laid out in gorgeous fashion, and the lighting really accentuates the color of everything the eye can see. It actually reminded me a lot of the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey that I had visited in the Spring. It was, however, very crowded, and making us very hungry. Since we had no means of really cooking our own food, we decided to find a place to stop for lunch, and we settled on a place called Rita Blue, a little shop where we drank some Cava and Regular Sangria and ate Beef Carpaggio and Tortilla Chips with Guacamole.

The Estadio Olympico (1992 Summer Games):

            After lunch we continued our wandering to the West, a part of the city we had not yet explored. We walked and walked for what seemed like hours, until we stumbled upon the area where the 1992 Olympic Village was! It was pretty cool to walk through the beautiful gardens and less-crowded architecture on the way to the Olympic Stadium. We did get to go inside the massive Olympic Stadium, and we actually spent a few hours on the grounds—I actually caught a couple hours of naptime on the base of the Olympic Torch structure. This part of the city also offers some cool views into the adjacent valley, still part of Barcelona, where the big office buildings are. The city really is quite huge.

The National Art Museum of Catalonia:

            All of the wandering around the Olympic Village really took up a good portion of our day. We walked all the way back (which took about an hour) to our hostel to rest up for a long night. My friend Sam Day, who spent a semester abroad in Barcelona, gave us a good idea of what we were in for that night. According to him, the game-plan is to have some drinks before heading to the clubs, because the drinks there are far too expensive (he was right, they are more than ten euro per cocktail!). He also suggested to dress our best, and to show up with girls if at all possible, because the bouncers aren’t very inclined to let a group of American males into their clubs. These clubs also have cover charges, and since everyone takes a Siesta nap during the day, nobody shows up until around 1am. They also spend the rest of the night partying and dancing at the clubs, and watch the sunrise over the Mediterranean at around 7am. Yikes!

The Lliure Theatre in the Olympic Village:

            We did decide to follow his advice, however, so we rested up and woke again at around 10pm for our long night. We grabbed some food at a Tapas restaurant called Txapela, where we stuffed ourselves with basically everything on the menu, before beginning our real adventure. We started the night again at the basement bar of our hostel before walking across the city to the clubs on the beach. Thanks to Matt, we drank some wine on the way as well. Once we got there, we decided to go into the club called Opium Mar, one of the trendiest in the city. We got inside with little issues, and had an absolute blast. It was pretty crowded, but the music was lively and we had a great time. The time really flew by, and since we got there at around 2am it quickly got to be around 5am without us even noticing. We made our way out onto Barceloneta Beach and hung out, jumping in the water a bit, and watching the sun come up until about 7am. I even met some kids from Swampscott, Massachusetts, a neighboring town to my hometown of Marblehead! All-in-all it was a really fun and crazy night, and the only casualties were Collins’s phone and wallet…

Las Ramblas:

Spain: Day II (Barcelona)

Thursday, August 4^th:

The Sagrada Familia:

            Spain is a crazy place. Today we had a lot of fun, and it was the first day Matt Collins was with Max and I on the trip. We started our day by sleeping in to wait for Matt, then grabbed a bottle of red wine to walk around the city with and enjoy. We decided to first find some of the buildings designed by famous Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudí. These buildings are extremely unique because Gaudí was the father of modernist architecture, and all of these buildings are profoundly modern in design.

Casa de las Punxes:

We walked through Plaça de Catalunya on our way to the Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, and Casa de las Punxes. While each of these buildings are beautiful and unique, we decided to skip the long queues to go inside them, and instead admired them from the exterior. I should also mention that we stopped for some lunch at a Tapas restaurant near Plaça de Catalunya. Here we sampled a range of Tapas, including Veal, Grilled Baby Octopus, Fried Chicken Strips, Sausages with varied Sauces, and Meatballs. It was quite the feast, but not as filling as it may sound like listing out all of those foods, as each serving is quite small.

The Front of the Sagrada Familia:

            After some more wandering around this massive city, we found ourselves standing in front of the masterpiece of Gaudí’s life, and the center of Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia, or the Basilica of the Holy Family. We finished up our wine and waited in line to go inside this massive structure while admiring the still-unfinished exterior of the church. Unfortunately, Antoni Gaudí died in 1926, and the project has yet to be completed. The church is scheduled to be completed near the one-hundred year anniversary of his death. Fortunately for visitors, tourists, and religious communities, the interior of the church has been completed, and is used as a tourist site and for religious activities.

The Interior of the Sagrada Familia:

            The interior of the Sagrada Familia is unlike any other basilica I have ever seen. It is profoundly modern, and built on an incredible scale. The ceiling measures close to one-hundred fifty feet above the floor, and the entire nave mimics branches of trees. The entire room is also filled with literally thousands of colors coming through the multicolored stained glass windows that coat the sides of the nave. It is truly a site to behold, and the three of us spent over an hour inside just staring at the ceiling. This is one place I will have to return to, especially if it is ever completed to the full extent of Gaudí’s plan.

Some of the Beautiful Stained Glass Inside the Sagrada Familia:

            Following our visit to the Sagrada Familia, we stumbled upon an Irish bar that happened to be named Michael Collins, also the name of Matt’s father. We popped inside to discuss the coincidence, grab a Guinness, and eat a few snacks. After lunch we made our way back to our hostel to change into bathing suits and walk across the city again to the beach. We spent the afternoon sunbathing, swimming, and watching Collins clumsily chase after pretty Spanish girls. I think the beach was called Barceloneta Beach, and it was very pretty but very weird how close it was built to some skyscraper hotels, kind of like Miami. After a long afternoon in the sun we were pretty tired, so we headed back for a nap but not without grabbing a quick dinner. We again stopped at the Cervezaria Napoleon for some more Estrella with our food. I ate some Salami and two small Flatbread Tapas Pizzas.

The Modernist depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ on the Exterior of the Sagrada Familia:

            We napped for a bit after dinner to get some energy for the night. When we woke up, we enjoyed some more drinks at the bar located in our hostel basement. The bartender was very friendly, and they had a special on Spanish Sangria, so we sampled a fair amount of that before heading out back towards the beach towards the big, crazy Barcelona clubs. Along the way we stopped at a couple of bars here and there, and before we knew it, it was getting very late. We eventually decided to save the crazy club night for the following evening, so we could be completely rested and prepared, and we spent some time in one of the smaller, less trendy clubs. This also saved us from having to change our clothes and spend money on cover charges. Tomorrow will be an intense night, though.

Italy: Day XVI (Como) - Spain: Day I (Barcelona)

Wednesday, August 3^rd:

A Building near Plaça de Catalunya:

            Today was our last day in Italy and our first in Spain. We slept in late in Como and spent the first part of our day taking in the scenery one last time. I really will miss this country, as it is so laid back and the food is sooooooo incredibly good! I will definitely be back here with friends and family in the not-so-distant future, perhaps with a few other destinations in-mind.

            Max chose to relax a little more while I went to check out Como Cathedral. I can see why it is nicknamed the Como Duomo, as it looks like a miniature version of its namesake in Florence. The inside is covered in many different colors of marble and the walls are filled with beautiful stained glass. I particularly liked some of the extremely old and delicate tapestries depicting famous Christian events that hung along the sides of the nave. The church is also complete with a massive dome, although there is no famous fresco of the Last Judgment on the inside of this one.

Como Cathedral:

            After spending the good part of the day in Como still, we finally headed to the train station (lugging our bags uphill the whole way) and hopped on the train. We were soon at the bustling major city of Milan where we got on a plane and headed to Barcelona. Ciao Italia! Now onto a place where I can speak the language… ¡Hola España!

            We arrived in Barcelona at dusk, and found our way from the airport to our hostel by taxi. In Barcelona we are staying at a new hostel called Hostel One Barcelona Centro right near the famed Plaça de Catalunya. I said before that I know how to speak the language, which is only partially true. Barcelona is in Spain, where Spanish is spoken, however it is in the region of Spain known as Catalonia, where they speak Catalan. Catalan is some sort of weird combination of French and Spanish, and the locals do sometimes get upset if you assume they speak Spanish. They have a very vibrant and fun culture, however, and they compose a massive and important part of Spain’s economy. This is probably why they are fighting for independence.

The Casa Batlló (Gaudí):

            We decided that we were really tired and wanted to rest up for the coming few days of partying and clubbing in the city famed for it, but we did walk around the city a bit. The city is absolutely massive and built on a grand-scale with Parisian promenades and huge intersections. We ate dinner near our hostel at a place called Cervezaria Napoleon where we had some Steak Bomb Tapas, some Cider Sausage and Sweet/Spicy Sausage Tapas, and Seafood Paella. It was all delicious, and we washed it down with some Estrella beer.

            For the rest of the evening we just wandered around. We did make our way to the famous street known as Las Ramblas built for the Summer Olympic games of 1992. This is the place all of my friends had warned me about regarding pickpockets, so I held my wallet and phone very, very close. It is definitely the center of city life, as street sellers are everywhere trying to get you to buy their goods, toys, or foods. It is incredible how prevalent drugs are in this area too. As you walk down the street, literally people will walk behind you and whisper “Marijuana? Hashish? Cocaine? Ecstasy?” in your ear. Unbelievable that this goes on daily unchecked, but whatever. We walked down Las Ramblas and made it to the harbor with all of our belongings intact and still on-person. We hung out enjoying the beautiful night at the harborside park for a while before taking a taxi back to our hostel for the night. Rest up, Collins arrives tomorrow.

Italy: Day XV (Como, Bellagio)

Tuesday, August 2^nd:

The Village of Lenno on Lake Como:

            A bit of a change of plans today from our original intent on getting a car or a moped in Como to go to Switzerland. It turns out that no automatic cars are available for rent in Como, and neither of us has enough experience driving a stick-shift that we opted out of that. Not only that, but there are no moped or boat rentals at the southern end of the lake! Again, if I had known there was more to do to the north, I perhaps would have stayed up there instead, but Como is beautiful nonetheless.

The Como-Bellagio Hydrofoil Ferry:

After spending the morning trying to figure this out, we got on a Hydrofoil ferry up to Bellagio, a bit farther north. Bellagio sits right at the point where Lake Como splits in half, and the ferry ride offers beautiful views of all of the surrounding villas that Hollywood celebrities have been flocking to purchase in recent years. These are some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen in my life. We even got to see the Villa del Balbianello where Casino Royale and one of the new Star Wars movies were filmed.

The Villa del Balbianello:

A Villa on Lake Como:

A Villa on Lake Como:

We spent the afternoon walking around Bellagio (yes, the namesake of the famous Vegas hotel) and taking in the sights and sounds. I almost purchased a custom Italian silk tie at the shop where each one of the recent presidents to have visited Lake Como has bought ties, but I opted to save money (expensive!). Instead we wandered a bunch and had a late lunch at Hotel du Lac. I enjoyed yet another Caprese Salad, this time accompanied by fresh fruits and Bruschetta with Prosciutto and Artichokes. We hung out by the docks while we waited for the ferry again, and took the forty-five minute ride back, again admiring all of the ridiculous lakeside mansions.

A Village on Lake Como set in the Italian Alps:

            We were greeted by an absolutely spectacular sunset over the Southern Italian Alps. Max and I had some beers outside while checking out the sunset before napping and heading to dinner at Ristorante Bistro, in our hotel. I had a lightly breaded Fried Veal Slab with tomatoes and rocket. We took it easy tonight as tomorrow we are finally leaving Italy to go to Barcelona in Spain! We need the rest while we can get it, as we will be meeting up with my friend Matt Collins in Spain and will definitely check out the notorious nightlife!

A Sailboat Marina in Bellagio:

Italy: Day XIV (Venice, Como)

Monday, August 1^st:

The Southern Tip of Lake Como (from our Hotel Balcony):

            Ah, more relaxing time at Lake Como. We slept in this morning and went for another slow, leisurely walk in Venice before making our way towards the train station. This time we hopped on the Bus-Boat down the Canal to get one last view of the city from the water. Venice is truly magnificent and a feat of city planning that will never be recreated. I took a bunch of pictures of the palazzos that line the Canal before arriving at the train station and making our way up to Como. The train ride seemed very short, and we were there in between the Southern Alps in no-time!

The Rialto Bridge in Venice from our Bus Boat:

            Como is a very romantic little town. In hindsight, I may have stayed in a town farther North than Como for this adventure, as there is not a ton to do at the southern end of the lake, but it was still very enjoyable. Max and I walked around for a little while to find our hotel, the Hotel Barchetta Excelsior. It took us a little while, but once we found it we quickly checked-in and dropped off our luggage to go explore the tiny little town. The main landmark in Como is their own Duomo, Como Cathedral. The church was closed due to a service, but we decided to go check it out tomorrow.

The Como Duomo:

We wandered for a little while before getting really hungry and grabbing some food around dusk. We settled on a small spot called Nero China, an Asian-fusion restaurant with some Southern Alps flair. I had a Grapefruit basket with Mussels, Squid, Clams, and Prawns inside as well as Spaghetti Scampi with Crayfish and Prawns, Fried Risotto with Lake Fish Fillets, and we drank a bottle of Italian Müller Thurgau white wine.

Como at Sunset:

            After dinner we wandered around some more before grabbing a couple bottles of Italian wine to taste on our hotel balcony and take it easy that night. Like I mentioned, the nightlife is not crazy in Como and we wanted to rest up for the upcoming wild nightlife of Spain, so we spent a good part of the night enjoying the wine, views, and listening to music and watching TV. We did wander out late at night to find an Ice Cream vendor in the streets where we each got a cone and ate it on one of the lake docks. Tomorrow we plan on trying to rent a car or moped and going to Switzerland for the day!

Italy: Day XIII (Venice, Murano)

Sunday, July 31^st:

The Grand Canal from the Accademia Bridge:

            As I had mentioned before, Venice is a very small place and does not require as much time as some of the other cities I have visited on this trip, but there was a welcoming sense of relaxation today as we made the most of our last full day in the floating city. We spent the morning heading to the last part of the city that we had not been to, the southwestern peninsula, where the Gallerie dell’Accademia art museum is. First, we stopped at the same café that we did the day before to grab a cappuccino and a Panini to eat while walking through the city. We also got to see St. Mark’s Square flooded for the first time. Venice was built below sea level, and is slowly sinking over time. So when the tide comes in, water comes over the city edges and up through the sewers, and tourists have to deal with their favorite destinations being flooded!

The Flooded Entrance to St. Mark's Basilica:

            The Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice is very different from the one in Florence. For one, this museum was far smaller. It houses works from many of the great Italian painters and artists such as Veronese, Tintoretto, and Titian. The most prized piece in the collection is the famous Vitruvian Man by Leonardo de Vinci in the late fifteenth century. Unfortunately, the drawing is so delicate that it is only on display for about twenty days a year, and today was not one of those days. Max and I spent about two hours wandering the museum before heading out for other activities. I would recommend that people visit the museum, but it was under renovation and a bit lackluster compared to others we had been to recently. Perhaps that is a bit too high of a bar to hold against it, however!

The Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, and the Campanile from the Venetian Lagoon:

            For the rest of the afternoon, we decided to take a ferry and wander around Murano. Murano is a tiny island near Venice that is the true center of glassblowing. The ferry ride on the way over gave us some cool views of Venice from the water—the way the city was meant to be seen. Murano and Venetian glass is known all over the world, and we got to check out some of the glassblowing studios! We watched an artist work the kiln and make a few glass items before wandering around the shops to buy some gifts for family (if I can keep them from breaking…). Murano is basically a tiny version of Venice, but without all of the tourists and with the addition of tons of glassblowing shops. We got dinner on Murano at a place called Trattoria-Pizzeria Marlin. Here we had one of our biggest meals yet, as I had a Caprese Salad, Spaghetti Carbonara, and a Bolognese Pizza! Only in Italy.

Glass Art in Murano:

            We took the ferry back just before dark, and decided to do a bit of bar hopping. I should mention the beers we tried that we liked: Birra Venezia Blonda, Sans Souci Birra, and Ceres Strong Ale. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in our spot by the Grand Canal, taking in the sights one last time. I should also mention that we skipped the Gondola ride, as the Gondoliers kind of act almost as shady as Taxi drivers back home looking for fares. They can be a little in-your-face trying to get you to go for a ride, and they are very expensive at eighty to one hundred Euros each! Not to mention two dudes in a Gondola isn’t ideal, Ha ha. Before bed we got to experience yet another round of incredible thunderstorms. They are much like the ones back home, but the location made them so much cooler. Tomorrow we are off to Lake Como!

Gondolas and a Palazzo on the Grand Canal at Night: