Weekend Trip to Venice, Italy

Friday morning my friend Brett and I left from Seville to travel to Venice, Italy for the weekend. This was my first trip to Italy so I was really looking forward to the trip. We got a great deal on roundtrip airfare, less than 60 Euro, and booked a trip for 3 days. We got into Venice around 10 and made it to our hostel. It was actually a camping ground about 5 miles outside the city. We booked it a couple weeks before and had no idea what to expect. Our "hostel room" was a canopy tent with just enough room for 2 twin beds and a small space to put our bags. There were probably about 20 tents like this. There also were place for RV's to hook up and places for people with their own tents. We took the bus back into the city and decided to spend the day walking around, taking photos and exploring the city. We didn't have any plans to see any sights except the main plaza of San Marcos. 

Busy Market on the way to San Marcos Plaza 

I was really blown away by the city. I have seen photos and videos before, but it was something I didn't expect. The layout of the city was so incredible. I was fascinated by how long and difficult it had to be to build and create. The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The building were built on a foundation of long wood poles that were driven into the earth. It was easy to picture what it must have been like in ancient times in this city of water. 

The weather was perfect all weekend. Warm and sunny with a slight breeze. Many people told me the city would stink, but there were only a few obscure sections of the town that had an odor. We walked around all day the first day we were there taking photos. 

The main water way is called the Grand Canal. Branching off the Grand canal were endless amounts of smaller waterways with boats and canoes lining the sides. Most buildings had a direct entrance from the canal where they could dock their boats.

Grand Canal

Rialto Bridge

We went to the Plaza of San Marcos and hung out for a bit. The Basilica of St. Mark is in this Plaza. It is a Italian cathedral that was constructed in the 11th Century. It did not become a cathedral until the 1800's. The plaza was massive and there seemed to be an endless amount of people pouring into see the Basilica and other monuments.

St Mark's Plaza

We waited until the second day to go into the Basilica. The first day we did wonder into a few churches. The style of Italian churches differed much from the Spanish ones; The cathedrals in Italy had less gold and more stone inside. They also were more open with less chapels and had many statues and paintings. You had to be dressed appropriately in the cathedrals; If you had no sleeves or low cut pants they would ask you to leave.

Ceiling of church

The town was filled with tourists. More tourists than I have seen in a while. I couldn't believe how many Americans were there. I had two really strange 'runnins' during the weekend. First, I saw a guy wearing a "Geneseo Maple Leafs" T-shirt. Geneseo is a small town of 6000 people that I grew up in until I was about 12 in Illinois. I went up to the guy because it was just too weird. He wasn't from there, but worked at a church in the town one summer and was given the T-shirt. The other random encounter was on our last day. We were getting on the bus heading back to our campground when 2 Americans got on and stood next to me on the packed bus. We did the usual Hey where are you from. He happened to be from Fayetteville, Arkansas, where my parent and other family lives, and he knew my cousins. 

Gondolier making his way through the city

The only downfall to the weekend was I was getting sick and I didn't even realize it at first. The weather was warm, but I was REALLY hot the whole weekend. Saturday morning I woke up to my throat being very swollen and sore. I thought I had mono for a second, but when I got back to Seville I went to the doctors and had some blood tests. Thank God the results were not mono, but I did have tonsillitis and they gave me medication to get better. Even though I was sick and low on energy we had a great time in the city.

passing by an art gallery, very funny painting

The last day we took a 4 hour island tour that consisted of a boat ride to 3 small islands near the city of Venice. The three islands were named Murano, Burano and Torcello. The first stop was Murano, which is famous for their glass blowing. We got a quick demonstration and the guy made a vase and a glass horse figure. The second Island, Burano, was my favorite. It was a small, less crowded Venice, with colorful building that lined the small canals. 

he made this in less than 2 minutes 

Italian pride on the island of Burano

Burano

Burano

boat leaving the Venice as we made our way back from the island trip

Trip to Cordoba, Spain

Friday afternoon I took a day trip to Cordoba, Spain with my roommate Nacho, his coworker Javier and my friend Jennifer. There was a "Patio Festival" in the city and that was the main reason for our visit. It is very common in Cordoba for the buildings to have a communal patio that meets in the middle of the building with an open roof and filled with flowers, plants, and usually has a fountain of some sort. These leafy patios have provided summer shade and a place to talk and entertain for centuries. The festival had 3 routes around the city where there were official patios to view. Some were very hard to find but all were marked with 2 small trees at the entrance on the street. 

We left Seville at 8.00 am and had a short 45 minute ride to Cordoba. We had some breakfast once we got there and walked around the city for a bit. The Roman colony of Corduba was founded in 152 BC and became the capital of the 'Baetica province' that covered most of Andalusia. in 711 Cordoba fell to Muslim invaders and soon became the Islamic capital of the Iberian Peninsula. It was a multicultural city with Jews, Arabs and Christians all living in the same city. It was later captured by Christians in 1236. Because of the 3 distinct cultures and religions, there are many artifacts and places to visit.

Roman Bridge

After walking around a bit we went to check out the "Mezquita". The Cathedral and formal Great Mosque of Cordoba is considered one of the greatest creations of Islamic architecture, with its golden mosaics and rows of red and white striped double arches that seem to continue on forever. Most of the Mezquita is the same as before except for 2 major changes. After the Christians regained Cordoba they decided to keep the mosque as it was except they plopped a large cathedral in the middle of it. They also closed 19 doors which would have filled the Mezquita with much light. This is one of the problems you will notice if you have the chance to visit; it is difficult to take photos because of the low low light. We lucked out and got in 5 minutes before 11 and before 11 you don't have to pay the 8 euro ticket price. 

Cathedral in the center of the Mezquita

The famous red and white striped double arches

After visiting the Mezquita we started the routes to see the patios. We literally walked for 10 hours through the city that day looking at the patios. I had such a great time but by 9 pm all I wanted to do was rest. Below is some of the photos I took from the patios. If anyone ever has the chance to visit Cordoba, I would recommend coming in May during the festival. 

City streets of Cordoba

Horse getting a bath and loving every second of it

Jennifer and I

Red pots are set in same pattern as arches in the Mesquita

booya

Figuring out where to go next

singing to himself as he lit a bunch of candles

trying to find the route again

We got back into Seville around 10 pm at night. I slept like a baby on the train ride back. It was a long day but definitely worth the trip.