December 30, 2014
Well, Here I am, in Venice!!! And what a whirlwind it has been!
Sunday night Natalie arrived and we didn’t get much sleep because we were repacking my suitcase and just too excited to sleep!
Monday morning we headed up to the airport and grabbed breakfast beforehand! Our flight from Minneapolis to Chicago was breeze, as always. When we got to Chicago we had about 4 hours to kill so we went to Chili’s to have chips & salsa and (our last) burgers and fries. We also attempted to learn Italian, whilst eating the delicious food. It is harder than we anticipated. Opps.
Next, we headed on a shuttle bus to our new terminal. Terminal 5 at O’Hare is so fancy! It was like stepping into a whole new airport! When we got to our gate we saw that our plane was a double decker! So crazy!
Once loaded, the gravity of the trip hit both of us. So Natalie went to town sorting all of our things into the overhead compartment and I cried haha Not like a “ I don’t want go” cry but more of a “I really don’t want to be on this plane for 7 hours” cry.
The flight ended up being all right. I watched Transformers 4. We each had our own mini tv’s so that was nice. The food they served was edible. Then we tried to sleep. I rested for a while and only got about 1 hour of sleep. There was a little turbulence and then some poor lady woke up screaming from a night terror and woke half the plane up. Poor thing.
Nat slept for a few hours. I managed to capture a truly special face she makes when sleeping… hehehe J
After trying and failing to sleep more, I ate my breakfast and watched 2 episodes of Friends.
When we landed in London, I was in awe of the airport! We went thorough security and such, and then went to find our gate. It wasn’t posted yet so we went to the bathroom to freshen up. I just wanted a shower at that point.
We finally got to our gate, ate some breakfast, and then went on our merry way to Venice! The flight was easy enough, minus being exhausted. We flew over the English Channel, Through France and Germany, and over the Alps, to Venice. In 1 hour, 50 mins. This is why I love Europe! It’s so compact and productive!
When we arrived in Venice, the excitement set in. We went through customs, (another stamp for me!), and then grabbed our bags from the baggage claim. Everything arrived safely! Yay!
Next we took a bus to our hotel. We got on, and I knew the name of the stop, and the ETA, but the bus had no way of telling you which stop was which. So I ended up attempting to ask people around us, half in English, half in Spanish, and we ended up figuring it out and making it to our hotel just fine. Lets just say that was the start of our language barrier issues today.
Our hotel is an older hotel on the mainland of ‘Mestre’. The manager was super kind, gave us all sorts of details, and told us what sites to see and what buses to take, etc.
Then we unpacked, showered, and headed in Venice. Its beauty astounded me! It looks just like the movies! We were so excited!
We hopped off the bus and just decided to start walking, map in hand. We stopped in some cute shops, saw the Rialto Bridge, some gorgeous churches, and hundreds of beautiful buildings and people!
Nat is letting me play photographer for this trip, so I went crazy with her nice camera! Such a fun toy to have here!
We had a nutella crepe for a snack, stopped in for a drink to warm up (we underestimated how chilly it was today, so we paid for that a bit), and then had a pizza to top off an INCREDIBLE day (that happened to be INCREDIBLY long!)
We also managed to get a little turned around in the twisting, turning streets. But with the help of the map, our waiter, and some friendly Venetians, we somehow communicated and made our way back to the bus and back to our hotel. We really need to learn some Italian…
Currently, we are in our room, in our pj’s, heat blasting (to thaw us), and ready for a full night’s sleep.
Tomorrow we will visit Venice and spend New Year’s Eve there as well. It should be quite the experience and I am excited! Especially since we were able to get the lay of the land today, somewhat haha
Pray for restful sleep, rejuvenation of our bodies & minds, and for a sense of adventure and exploration that keeps us motivated as we continue on this whirlwind adventure! <3
