Another week in Italy

   Last Thursday while roaming the streets of Florence with a few friends, we discovered something so amazing it cannot be perfectly described in words: the world chocolate festival, right here in Florence Italy!!! Although it was a particularly cold day in Florence, I felt a surge of excitement and life in my body that I forgot existed when we realized what was before us.  We immediately indulged ourselves in the festival, starting off with a strawberry and banana chocolate kabob that tasted like heaven on a stick.  I was so overwhelmed with the rich chocolate flavor that I forced myself to resist having any more treats until later on in the day.  So after a few hours we made our way back to the chocolate grazing area and treated ourselves to the most delicious cup of hot chocolate I've ever had in my life! I mean seriously, the stuff I drink at home is practically water compared to what I tasted.  Although I did overreact a bit when I took the first sip and am now still suffering from a burnt tongue, it was completely worth it!  And here comes the best part, the festival will be in Florence until February 19th-- my dream come true!!!  

    Moreover, on a more cultured note, last week in Italy my roommates and I decided to venture out of Florence and to the city on water, Venice, to celebrate their famous festival, Carnevale. Carnevale is basically mardi gras on crack and lasts a few weeks (I can't remember exactly how many days).  Before leaving Florence I remember feeling the slightest bit of hope that maybe Venice would offer just the tiniest bit more warmth than what Florence has provided.  I was wrong.  Venice was not left out of this cold bubble Italy is in the midst of, and as a matter of fact, it was even more cold in Venice than has been in Florence (you can imagine my enthusiasm).
     After a four hour ride up north we finally arrived in Venice where we were basically pushed off the bus and told to meet back at 10 pm (how helpful). Actually that's not entirely accurate; before exiting the bus our bus leader informed us that that the city of Venice does not have a sewage system and that all their waste is dumped into the "beautiful" canals we would be seeing that day. I guess that's why everyone warned me to not see Venice when it's hot outside. Anyways, we checked out two islands before heading to the main attraction where the Carnevale takes place. The first island we visited we impulsively bought masks with feathers, paying way more than was truly necessary.  The second island we visited was Burano, and is the island where the majority of the Venice pictures are taken that attract tourists. It did not disappoint! There were beautiful houses decorated with vibrant colors, tons of bridges with boats lining the canals, but most obviously there was the sharp wind and freezing air that made us want to retreat to a warm store or cafe. By the end of our visit to Burano I think I had set a personal record for amount of complaining in such a short period of time.

     Our final stop during the day in Venice was to see the festival in St. Marks Square where a night of music dancing and drinking takes place for everyone in Venice to enjoy.  In the middle of massive cathedrals and magnificent tall buildings there was a concert held on a huge stage with a band singing American music from the 80's and 90's. Everyone was dressed up in flamboyant costumes, much like how we would dress for Halloween but with much more glitter.  We joined in the dancing and singing with the hundreds if people that showed up and had one of the greatest nights in Italy.  But as it grew closer to 9:15pm (the time we needed to take the water bus back to our starting point) we started to make our way back to the water bus that would take us to our land bus.  Right as we were approaching the dock we watched as the boat we were supposed to be on floated away. The next boat wouldn't arrive for another 20 minutes and would take 40 minutes to get us to our bus. So of course we were forced to wait in the cold for an additional hour, and showed up about twenty minutes late to our bus.  Luckily everyone else seemed to be side tracked too, and after running around the parking lot trying to hop on the right bus we were finally seated and ready to head back home (to Florence, of course).

    This week is supposedly going to be in the 50's here which makes me so much more excited about getting out and exploring Florence.  Also, I will be heading to Rome this weekend for a few nights so I am sure I will have plenty of stories to report back by then. Ciao!!