DAY 16

Our bus driver, Rasto, drove us into town this morning where we were able to hop on a small boat that would take us to the city of Venice (because there are no cars, or even bikes, allowed there). Once arriving there, our local walking tour guide greeted us. She told us about the history of the city while taking us down the small, skinny alleys that they call streets. She was very knowledgeable; she told us about all of the historical monuments and the general history of Venice. Afterwards, we grabbed a cup of coffee before meeting up with our Contiki tour guide to see some of the Venetian culture. First, we saw a glass blowing demonstration. The glass master made a vase and a small horse figurine while we watched in awe. The demonstration was pretty amazing, and we were able to take videos of his technique. We were able to walk through the store, but unfortunately a 200 Euro glass figurine or tea set was a bit out of our budgets. However, Matt did find an affordable birthday present for Audrey: a beautiful crystal necklace in the shape of a heart :) . Our next stop was in a Venetian lace museum/store. A cute little old lady told us about why Venetian lace is such a delicacy, and how the women from the city make the lovely fabric. Other forms of Italian lace are made differently than Venetian lace. Her store was the only place you could buy real Venetian lace today, so we were sure to invest in a couple small souvenirs. Next on our agenda was a gondola ride around the canals. We were able to get a couple bottles of sparkling wine, which we enjoyed as our driver whistled tunes behind us as he paddled the boat standing up. On the ride, we floated past Mozart’s old apartment located right on the canal. It was a great way to see the beautiful city! For the rest of the day, we had free time from the group. We did a little window-shopping and coffee drinking before finding a romantic place to have dinner by the Grand Canal. Ironically, a group of girls from Eden Prairie and Minnetonka High Schools were enjoying dinner right behind us. They were studying abroad there for 4 weeks, and we chatted with them for a bit. It was a lovely dinner by the water, and was a great way to spoil Audrey for her birthday. After dinner, we reconvened with the group to hop back on the boat and go back to the hotel. Once there, everyone was excited to help Audrey celebrate her 21^st as midnight approached. We’ll leave it at this: with 34 people in our group buying Audrey drinks, it’s understandable that Matt piggybacked her home