The blaaaahg: April 2014

I'm back from the crazy whirlwind UK spring break adventure. The last ten days have felt more like a month, which definitely sounds like a more reasonable span of time to travel through three countries (and to forget an unfortunately large chunk of the French that I knew; it better come back before finals in two weeks!). It's impossible to adequately describe the "everything and nothing" that happened. When constantly traveling, living in different places, losing all routine, sleeping when possible, and perpetually struggling to adapt quickly enough, it's easy to lose track of time and precisely recall what happened that day. Though I can't absolutely recount the stream of events that took place, I will share pictures and snippets throughout this week.

Here are a few pictures. More to come soon.

First off, HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY, SARAH!!! I had a fairy party for you in the woods today. I made you a stop-motion video, but technology is hard so I can't upload it. In any case, hope you are having a wonderful day, with a cake that tastes better than this.

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On to the (irregularly scheduled) blog post:
The papers have been pushed aside for plane tickets and itineraries! Happy spring break! First stop: Venice!

Venice is known for its glass, and it reflects its art form well. The city floats like a mirage, rising up out of the water which shimmers like shards of glass in the sun. The colorful buildings match the stretched, swirled flower patterns that are characteristic of Murano glass.

We had fun times in "grandma's attic," (our room in the hotel was on the very top floor, decorated with a layer of dust, faded floral bedspreads, and a TV from the '90s) on the island of Lido, a short vaporetto (water taxi) ride away from Venice.

It truly did feel like I was a little kid staying at grandma's house. The wifi didn't work and there was a lack of electricity in general, so we played cards, minute mysteries, all the camp games I've stored in my brain.

The island of Murano was one giant floating glass factory. Each shop sold delicate, colorful vases, pendants, dishes, teacups, ornaments, flowers, fountain pens, beads, and chandeliers.

We watched a glass blowing demonstration. The art form is carried on within families from generation to generation. Training takes years. This glassblower transformed a hot orange bubble of glass into a horse in minutes, stretching and pulling the material like taffy before it cooled and hardened into a delicate sculpture.

Glass balloons

Santa on a gondola

I met up with a high school friend who I hadn't seen in a long time. How crazy and wonderful to be meeting up over here!

The next day, we explored the colorful island of Burano. It seemed like everyone chose their favorite color and painted their segment of the house accordingly. I loved it.

The lines of fresh laundry hung outside to dry added to the colorful neighborhood.

Elaborate carnival masks were everywhere, even though the celebration ended over a month ago.

That afternoon, we visited San Marco's Square in Venice.

We took a gondola ride through the narrow, watery canals.

Some of the houses seemed abandoned, but that might be because no one lives on the first floor due to flooding.

This city seemed even older than Paris, untouched by the rapidity of the 21st century. The slow churn of the boats on the water added to the sleepiness of this town. Tiny shops down the narrow streets displayed carefully bound leather notebooks, bottles of ink, and handmade lace. Houses looked untouched, some crumbling to expose bits of red brick. Families and friends would call to each other from boats, seeming to go back generations, everyone passing trades and skills and friends down through the years and no one drifting away from the familiarity of this town that has been their home for ages.