Freezing in Milan, but SNOW IN VENICE!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008. Venice--the city of SNOW!

So sorry that it has been SO long since I last posted! Last week was crazy with Mommy and Ms. Ellen here then leaving, then a week of class etc. It was sad to see the fam leave on Tuesday morning, but I knew that the week was short and MER WAS COMING TO VENICE!!! Not much to note about Monday-Thursday.

Friday AM I got up and took the shuttle to the airport. I brought my book just in case which was a good plan considering that Berlin was COVERED in snow and thus Mer's flight was delayed. I hung out in the airport and read until her flight flashed "arrived!" I eagerly anticipated her sweet self to walk through the doors. She finally did and it was great to see her! We chatted away like usual with no time for any breaks in our conversation. We walked back from the bus via Pizza al Volo where we picked up some lunch then headed to the house. It is so refreshing to show the city to someone who is not so desensitized to its beauty! I showed her the house and then we hung out for a while. Around 4:30 we decided to to Salute, a church very near by, that was having a "party" of sorts that they have every year to thank the Madonna for ending the plague. To each his own, right?

The church was really beautiful with candles (and TONS of people) but perhaps the best part was the chocolate/sweets market that was outside of it. Mer and I had an almond cookie and the most delightfully UNHEALTHY fried donut with Nutella! YESSSS!! Then we came back to the house for dinner and a house party! There were even more people here than usual because Tom had his cousin over with a bunch of his friends (they study in nearby Parma).

We got up Saturday morning READY FOR LOFF!! We had both been counting down the days and were SO excited! We walked around Venice a little--probably my fave walk in the city that I have done thus far! We went crossed over the temporary bridge that they put up for Salute to St. Marks, then to Rialto, then all the way up Strada Nuova to the train station. We hopped on the bus to the airport (my second time in 2 days) to go get Loff. We got there with a little time to spare. We were standing outside the sliding doors that separate the baggage claim from where Mer and I were but we saw Loff pop her head into view and wave PROFUSELY. Typical. We picked her up and went back to Venice. How sweet it was to get to have both Loff and Mer!!! Whats not to love about a bestie and a sister?!?! She also came bearing gifts!! She brought me the Chi Rho Christmas CD from Allye (YESSS!!!!)

We made Loff go DIRECTLY to the train station where we got on a train to Milan. What, you may ask, did we do on the train for 3 and a half hours? Talk incessantly. Apparently we have no problem with finding things to talk about. I packed a lunch for everyone of pb&j sandwiches, apples, chocolate, and Bellinis--you know, a typical Italian lunch. We arrived FINALLY and checked in our hotel. There was actually a lot of getting lost in there, but we got there. Our hotel was actually pretty nice. It was 30 euro a person, but was actually nice. We even had free breakfast included.

After getting settled, we went to the Duomo area for dinner and to see the Duomo. We had pizza at a really cute restaurant then headed over to the Church to take a whole bunch of pictures. It was SUCH a great time! We laughed and laughed and laughed. After getting some Grecian boys to take our picture, we took our FROZEN bodies back to the hotel for some slumber party time.

Mer got up at the crack of dawn (o'dark thirty, if you will) for her plane back to Berlin to meet her cousin. It was SO unbelievably sad to see her go. I spent the majority of the day trying to not think about how sad I was that she left. But I had Loff, and that made everything infinitely better! We ate breakfast, and made our way back to the train station. After a quick trip back, we took the Vaparetto to the house. Loff loved it! Then we toured, cuddled, watched a movie, cuddled, talked, cuddled... :)

Anyway, now is a regular Monday except for one thing. I WOKE UP TO SNOW IN VENICE!!!!!!!!! I am lucky if I can get snow in Winston or Atlanta, but VENICE!?!? I am not sure what Loff wants to do for the rest of the day. I guess she'll come to class with me and just kinda hang out! We will just have to see.

Anyway, Ill try to post more frequently again and get my pictures up.
Love yall
xoxo
McKin