HANNAH SHARES

Last Saturday we took the train from Vicenza to Venice to spend a few hours wandering around with absolutely no plans. It was a chilly, cloudy day, but it was still nice to be out and about. I have been to Venice a couple of times, but always during the summer when the city is full of tourists. This was a completely different experience due to tourist restrictions abroad and within Italy.

The city is currently celebrating Carnevale – an annual festival that lasts about two weeks and ends on the Tuesday before Lent. The festival is famous for its costumes, masks, and special sweets, like frittelle (pictured above on the left), special filled doughnuts served only during the Carnevale season. The city was decorated beautifully and there was colorful confetti covering the ground and people dressed up in traditional Venetian Carnevale costumes.

We stopped for a cappuccino and a traditional frittelle when we got off the train on our way to the famous Piazza San Marco, the most famous square in Venice. We crossed the many bridges and canals as we wandered our way through the city. Most of the shops and restaurants were open, but the city was not crowded by any means. We ate lunch at a quiet little spot called Taverna Scalinetto. A wonderful place to stop if you ever find yourself in Venice!

Since Venice is a quick 45-minute train ride away, we weren’t worried about seeing all of the sites since we can go back any time, and the Basilica and museums weren’t open anyways. We still managed to walk over 10 miles in our few hours there and enjoyed spending time off-post!

On another note, we found an apartment! It will be the perfect spot to call home while we are here. We signed the lease today and will be able to move in at the end of next week. I’ll share more when we do!

xx Hannah