Today, as part of Jo's birthday celebration, we headed to Bristol City Centre to try on the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, which was in town for a rare appearance. Being avid Harry Potter fans, we were all excited to see which house we would be sorted into.
Christmas!!! Happy December!!!
Being in England for the holidays is so busy and exciting. Every town has a Christmas Market... parks and squares have ice skating rinks, and almost all of the streets in the city centre have bright lights and decorations. I love it! There is so much I want to experience during this time, I don't even know where to begin! Very generic items at the top of my list include going ice skating, making Christmas cookies, attending a caroling service, and going to as many pantomimes as possible. Thankfully, there is all of this to do and so much more in London. Check out this list of 101 Things to do in London for Christmas. It's a great guide to fun holiday activities, and also gives options of new places to go and visit to do them at, which is a really great bonus for me. Let me know what number you'd have on the top of your list if you were here in December. On our last morning we decided to head to Cafe Florian for the Casanova breakfast which featured multiple pieces of toast and jam, a croissant with jam inside of it, a fresh fruit bowl, yogurt, and chocolate cake and whip cream, plus coffee and orange juice. We thought it was well worth the extra trip back to the Piazza, and it was another beautiful sunny day which made a perfect final walk around Venice. After brunch we made our way back to the ferry which took us to Murano, the island of glass blowing. We had plenty of time to kill before arriving at the airport, so we spent a few hours walking the streets of Murano and looking at the various glass creations. Our final meal in Italy was actually eaten outside, because it was so beautiful and sunny! It was at a hidden restaurant that was wonderfully scenic, next to the basilica and water with boats passing by us and under a bridge across from us. After lunch we headed back to the ferry and made our way to the airport. We had saved some cannolis to eat before going through security, and enjoyed them with some coffee as we reminisced the trip, looking at pictures and charging our phones. All to soon, we were back on the plane to England. Our first vacation together in the books! We had another busy day planned that started bright and early with Mass at the Basilica. It was a carol service, so most of it was sung which was gorgeous. We may not have been able to understand it, but it was still a moving experience. After Mass we headed straight up to the museum and balcony of the Basilica to see the sights of the Piazza and watch the bells chime at noon. Following lunch (snacks we got from the local bakery) we headed to the gondolas! We got right on a gondola and had a fantastic tour that actually took us past Marco Polo’s house, Casanova’s house, and our own Bed and Breakfast! We continued to walk around after our gondola ride (following a peaceful environmental protest and stopping for hot cocoa) to make our way to the last of Venice island we hadn’t yet seen, the route to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. We managed to see a beautiful sunset from the side of the canal, and saw tons of lights in the city from the Salute. We had to head back to the main city centre quickly in order to attend Venezia, a comedic play about the history of Venice. We both really enjoyed it, the personalities of the actors and workers at the Teatre, and the drink specials! We ended the day with dinner along the Grande Canal, right next to the Rialto Bridge. We started day 2 in Venice by making a game plan for the remaining four days. We poured over maps and pamphlets, all while doing multiple “Top 10 Venice, Italy” Google searches on our phones before coming to a final decision. There were six neighborhoods on the main island, with a few other islands we could go and visit. We decided to visit each of the six islands and the island Murano. Since we were staying in Cannaregio, we quickly walked around to find some snacks for our busy day of walking. We had planned to circle Cannaregio, and make our way to the Piazza as well to see a lot of “Top 10” sights. We walked around Canneregio, back to the seaside where we had first arrived and found a spot to get freshly made pizzas, quiches, pastries, and croissants. We also purchased butter and milk as we realized we needed it to make our dinner, plus fruit juice and water bottles. We took what we didn’t need to bring with us on our adventure back to the B&B, and headed off. We had already mapped out the way to make it to the Piazza di San Marco, where a good portion of the “must see” spots were located. Along the way we found a few theatrical spots that I was able to take a look at and see how theatre programs and schedules were run in Italy. After many twists and turns down roads and over bridges, we made it to the Piazza di San Marco. The only issue was that we couldn’t get in! The canals had overflowed and each tunnel that bridged the path under the buildings from one side of the canal into the Piazza were filled with water at least a foot deep. We backtracked, and found our way down a number of other roads, crossing one bridge after another and coming to another unexpected dead end... a tunnel filled with water. Along the way we saw many people with plastic boot and pant covers, obviously knowing they were potentially going to be walking in deep water. We also started to see platforms being lowered down, which allowed people to still walk down streets filled with water without getting wet. They were wooden platforms on metal stands about 2 feet high off the ground. Even after the water lowered, they were still out and stacked on top of one another, ready for the next time the canals overflowed into the streets. Since it was taking awhile for us to find a path into the piazza that was not filled with water, we took our time walking the streets off the path we originally mapped out, stopping to look at all of the unique items in the stores and talking about them. (You really wouldn’t be able to guess how long we sat outside talking about those busts). We also took a look inside some of the many churches we passed, and of course, took more pictures of the unique sights of Venice. Along the way we stopped at a shop to get parmesan cheese, olive oil, and tomato sauce... realizing all too late that we should have gone to a grocery store to purchase them instead of a speciality store. Our tomato sauce was organic, the chunk of cheese was massive for the remainder of time we had left in Venice, and the olive oil was covered in gold foil... 7 Euros for 50mL. When we eventually found a grocery store, we saw that the olive oil was about 3 Euro for 2 Liters. Eventually, we made our way to the Piazza and took a look around at all of the top spots including the Basilica di San Marco, Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, and more. We had fun playing with the panorama setting on our phones, and quickly discovered that I am awful at taking pano shots, but Dayne is very good and very creative... able to capture me in the same picture two times, bookending the panorama of the piazza. We made our way out of the piazza towards the water, and decided there was a good spot to eat our snacks, but not sitting down. We were swiftly attacked by dozens of pigeons as soon as they realized we had food in our hands, and decided to walk and eat. We made our way further down the seaside and found a quiet little courtyard park to sit in. The sunshine was glorious and warm, which made us not want to get up! When we did eventually leave, the change in temperature was apparent. I was shivering the rest of the walk. On our way back, we found Teatro la Fenice, which is a famous opera house in Venice. Since I was freezing, and we had been out exploring all day long we headed back to the B&B and I tried my hand at making the dinner we bought the day before. I'd brag about my elite cooking skills but I wasn't too confident what I was making was actually being prepared properly as I had never made it before, nor did I know what it was! Perhaps that was my first mistake... get a sauce seasoning package you recognize! Realizing we hadn’t gotten a dessert, we headed out once more in the evening to get gelato from a nearby shop, and then walked back to the Piazza to see it in the dark. Dayne had done some research and discovered a historical spot, Cafe Florian, the oldest coffee shop that has been open consecutively in the world (tied with a cafe in Paris). We hopped in there quickly after finishing our gelato and experienced the most elite upper class coffee house spot that we will likely ever encounter in our lives. I actually really did enjoy my hazelnut coffee/chocolate concoction, but Dayne had a trickier time with his filtered coffee. We weren’t too impressed with our first experience... though I think we were just too tired to think to make filtered coffee correctly, or via devices created in the 19th century. However, the Casanova breakfast caught our eye and we decided that we would have to come back and split it before leaving Venice on Day 5. I am at a loss for words... so here are a few short comments about the exhilarating build up to finding out that we were heading to Venice, Italy this morning!
Meeting us at the dock was our host, Elena, who owns the bed and breakfast Dayne had reserved through Air B&B. She walked us through the narrow streets from the dock to our accommodations and explained a bit to us about the area and the history. She was quick to point out the popular spots really nearby, such as her favorite restaurant, a bakery, the Mercato di Rialto, and more. She also provided us with the all important essentials, a map of Venice and the wifi password. The Bed and Breakfast had a beautiful view of the canal that frequently had gondolas go past. The bridge that went over the canal also gave us our first true view of what Venice is known for... bridges and canals. We dropped off our carry-on baggage and took off to explore. Our first destination was the Rialto Bridge, which was a convenient 5 minute walk from the Bed and Breakfast. It took us a little longer to get there, however, because we... I was distracted by all of the shops, restaurants, and vendors lining the busy streets offering all sorts of delicious Italian snacks (crepes, gelato, etc.) and souveniers like marionettes and masques. Eventually, we got to Rialto Bridge and walked over it. Although it was under construction and difficult to make out and see the true view of the Grand Canal, you could still decipher just how large this bridge was. We continued exploring, making our way to the Mercato di Rialto, which was almost completely shut down for the day. We managed to purchase items for a dinner at the Bed and Breakfast from one vendor, and then stopped at a butcher for ham and cheese to accompany it. Later in the evening, we purchased a bottle of wine from another shop. However we didn’t make dinner that night. When on the bank of the Grand Canal, we stopped to share a pizza at one of the restaurants next to the Rialto Bridge. Afterwards, we walked maybe one restaurant down and saw the desserts on the plates of one of the guests sitting outside. We grabbed a table there and got dessert. I loved all the different set ups along the river and took plenty of pictures of the different decor. We continued walking, stopping frequently to look at the different architecture of the apartments and buildings, the views from the many bridges we crossed, and unique details like the fountains and wells, doors and balconies. After many hours of exploring on our own, we made our way back to change before going out for a proper evening meal. Dayne had done some research and found an incredible restaurant with live jazz musicians, Taverna del Campiello Remer. We tried our very best to order and speak to the waiters in Italian, and indulged in delicious food and wine. The ambiance was incredible... dark with candles throughout the entire restaurant, including in the wine cellar that was to my immediate right. It was so beautiful. The musicians that evening played the piano and bass. The piano man sang each of the songs, most of them classic American tunes which surprised me. It was a wonderful location. Here are pictures from our first day in Venice! You know you have a great boyfriend when he plans surprise trips for you...
Dayne & I have always talked about traveling to new countries & cities we haven’t been to before. We really want to take advantage of the opportunity to visit as many places as possible while we are both living in the UK. We are so close to Europe, and flights are a ton cheaper from London than from America. It is a little difficult to get (the same) dates & time off of work & school. Thankfully, we are pretty good at planning ahead. Plus, we have plenty of motivation to go given the short amount of time I have here. I know... a year abroad seems like forever! However, two of those twelve months are already gone and I’m home to work for at least three months in 2016, so... I’ve really only got about 7 months left! Crazy, I know! Tomorrow we are departing for our first true vacation together... meaning we are leaving from the same airport we are flying back to when it is all over. It’s so nice to be in the same country! It is perfect timing, as we both just celebrated our birthdays a few days ago, our anniversary is tomorrow, AND Thanksgiving is tomorrow! [November is such a great month!] As sad as I am that I am not home for the holidays, I can’t think of a better way to distract myself than by traveling to a new place. I keep saying new place and new country because I have NO IDEA where we are flying to at 8:30am tomorrow. Dayne picked the destination and planned it all out. All I know is we needed Euros instead of Pounds. He's a keeper! |
Hiya!Jacq is a "Made in the Mitten" gal experiencing life & love across the pond. She enjoys the theatre, both onstage and off, traveling, & taking pictures. You might spot her on her way to class or enjoying a hazelnut latte. She hopes to soon find a good spot to do yoga in the city. Follow her adventures as she discovers her favorite places & spaces in Bristol, Bath & beyond! Topics
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