Europe Vacation

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you’ve probably seen a few snippets about a little vacation I recently took to Europe. And if not, here’s your chance to not feel left out. I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the places we went, food we ate and most importantly, share some pictures! So first up in this mini-series…Europe Vacation – Venice.

Before I get too far into this, I thought I should fill you in on the players! I met up with my BFF, Lyssa, who was visiting her daughter Jessie, who was teaching English in Malaga, Spain for a year. Jessie’s friend Brittni also joined us on this adventure. I flew from Washington, DC to Malaga to meet up with them. Then, the next day we flew to Milan to catch a train to our first stop on this Europe Vacation – Venice. Now, if I had thought this through when I first bought my tickets and knew we were going to Venice the very next day I would have flown directly there to meet up with the girls. Needless to say, I’m a poor planner! Oh well, the fun is in the adventure, right?

I have been to a few places in Europe before but this was my first trip to Venice and I fell in love with the place. It’s just so beautiful and I love walking around all the little alleyways, with canals and gondolas everywhere. I love the old buildings, colors and architecture! Can you believe we never even took a gondola ride? Not sure how that happened. In keeping this trip budget friendly for the girls, we stayed off the island in a cute little hotel named Antica Villa Graziella. It had a big bed and two bunks so there was plenty of room for the four of us to sleep. The room itself was a bit cramped but it was clean, had a nice, newer bathroom and the price was right, only $188 for all four of us for two nights! The hotel was located near the train station in Mastre and it was just a quick bus ride into the heart of it all, way cheaper than staying right in Venice and worked out perfectly for us.

Here’s a collage of some of the sites… the famous attractions such as the Rialto Bridge, St. Marks Square, Grand Canal, and all the little canals and alleyways that are so much fun to roam around.

No trip to Italy would be complete without an overabundance of carbs! The food was fantastic and I swear I never ate so much pizza, pasta and gelato as I did while I was there. I promised myself I would not eat the same thing twice, although I think I might have broken that promise with Caprese salad. I can’t believe along with not taking a gondola ride, I forgot to take pics of all the yummy food I ate. But, here’s a few pictures I did take:

I loved all the shops with food displays and the boats that docked to sell fresh fruits and veggies. The wine was great, of course, but I really enjoyed the Prosecco even more. Lyssa and I even taught the bartender one afternoon how to make an espresso martini for a change of pace.

And here’s just a few more pictures of us girls around town. Of course, we had to buy a lock to put on the bridge! We will be back!

I know looking at other peoples vacation photos can be a bit on the painful side so I will stop now before I completely bore you to death. But stay tuned, next stop is Florence!