A Dream Come True: Venezia

Ever since I saw the Angelina Jolie movie based in Venice in 2010 or something, I have had this longing to visit the beautiful city built on water. So during my time in Italy it was one of my top places to visit, and even if it was only for a day I was completely satisfied. 
Taking a ferry from the "mainland" to the major island of Venice I immediately knew I had found one of my new favorite places. This island only accessible by boat (no cars allowed) was captivating to me. I felt like I was wandering through a postcard it was so magical and beautiful. 
Before our tour the leaders reminded us countless times to stay on the right side of the streets because they are so narrow and Venetians are quickly annoyed with tourists taking too much room...they weren't kidding! Several of the streets we found ourselves walking in single file lines because there was truly no extra room. Thank god we had a tour guide because apparently Venice is notorious for its maze-like setup and it's ability to keep tourists wondering around lost in circles for hours or days. On our tour I was beyond delighted to find that the symbol of Venice was a winged lion, so everywhere you turned there were large lion statues, as if this Italian gem needed another way to win my heart. Everything about Venice was just completely fascinating to me. There was the local obsession with carnival and the extravagant and delicate masks worn to hide identities in the weeks leading up to lent so the Venetians could truly do whatever they pleased. Every other shop highlighted these masks, and nestled in between the mask shops were small boutiques presenting another Venetian specialty: glass blowing. I had been to glass blowing demonstrations in Bar Harbor, Maine before, but they were nothing compared to the detail and elegance of the pieces I found here. One of the most popular items was the tiny beads and pendents made with the craziest but best put together selection of colors. However my favorite was the glass blown balloon the size of a basketball, all I could think of was how difficult it must have been to create this masterpiece. Finally my favorite trademark of Venice, the canals. 

Throughout the city these canals are dotted with gondolas surrounded by the most beautiful brightly colored buildings, the most perfect set up of anything I have ever seen before. Being in Venice I felt like a kid in a candy store, there were so many beautiful and delightful things that I wanted to admire and try but there was not nearly enough time or money for all of it. Next time I go back, I plan on riding through all of the canals in one of the gondolas with a picnic and some good wine. The gondolas were the cutest things I have ever seen, they just looked so perfect against the azure colored water. Most of the boats were painted black with gold trimming and seats for couples or families and then there was room in the stern for the gondola captain. Standing in his blue and white stripe Venetian uniform topped off with a captain hat, he would row/paddle the boat through the canals and under the bridges--heaven for any hopeless romantic!Alongside the canals were the extravagant arching bridges for pedestrians leading around the minuscule streets. Aside from being so small the streets were cool because they were very uneven due to the fact that they were built on top of the water. So the constant flooding causes them certain tiles to rise or fall. The buildings try and overcome this movement by placing arches over the streets between two so they don't collapse into each other. It's amazing this city has lasted so long! I think that is my favorite thing about Venice, it has been here for hundreds of years, is completely illogical, but so magical and perfect at the same time. I felt like I could spend days just getting lost around the winding streets, some day I plan on doing just that.