Putting Moldova on the Map : Italian Escapades

I will start with a quote my mom (Shout out to momma Meggles, you're the real MVP) sent me just after leaving for Moldova which just seems all too fitting:

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

About that first statement...''Travel definitely isn't always pretty.'' I mean this in the sense that after two days being in Venice and washing ourselves with dish soap (because we didn't pack shampoo (or a razor) in our backpacks) left us a tad greasy. So we definitely were not so pretty, but Venice, Burano, Murano, Sant' Erasmo, and Florence were stunning. At first I attempted to capture it all by camera, but the photos just didn't do the scenes justice. You just had to be there. It was more than the beautiful architecture, small alleys, winding canals, and sweeping bridges, but the pure excitement I felt being there to experience them in the flesh. The sights, sounds, smells, feelings.. I wish I could better capture it and share it all with you, but nothing I write or say will do the experience justice. It was just quite simply amazing.

''Travel isn't always comfortable.'' I figured it wouldn't be, and not being so clean was a slight discomfort, but honestly I was fine with it. The places we stayed were actually quite comfortable. (I would highly recommend using airbnb, a site in which you can rent rooms/small houses out for a few nights).

Our first two nights in Venice we actually stayed on a small Island about a quaint 25 minute boat ride from Venice. The bungalow was adorable and situated with four others on a large property next to a restaurant.

Our host, Rodrigo, was extremely helpful in guiding us to how to use the boat-ferry system to get in, out, and around Venice. In Florence, we stayed in a room of a large apartment in the center of the city... just two blocks from the Duomo! Our host, a young woman named Silvia, was so sweet in showing us around the apartment and providing tips as what to see and where to eat.

Then back to Venice just for the night because we had to catch our plane back out early the next morning! Our last stay was in an apartment, but it was more like a hostel. It was so clean and the assistant of our host (an extremely friendly and talkative artist with crazy blue and pink highlighted hair who was currently working his way through Engineering school {i could relate}) helped us organize transportation to the airport the next day.

Overall, the stays were very nice. Honestly, at the end of each day I would simply collapse from being so exhausted. We would wake up pretty early (between 7 and 8) and be out until at least 12 each night, walking, hiking, and trying to cover as much of the cities as possible. It was not hard at all to fall asleep. By the end of the trip, I could have slept anywhere and been happy.

House Number one. Mikayla just can't believe how adorable it is.

Our second stay! We loved this apartment. It's location was great and our host was so amazingly sweet.

''Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart''

I don't know if I quite experienced this. I think the most painful thing for me was not being able to share this amazing experience with my family or friends. Different places along the trip had me longing for the company of my best friend, a sibling, my parents, or boyfriends. I just wanted so badly for them to experience certain parts of it with me. Every time we got on a ferry, I thought of how much my little brothers would have loved the ride; I could just picture them hanging on the rail in awe of the city built on water. In Morano, I though of how much my best friend would have loved all the colorful glass necklaces and would be completely indecisive in choosing one to bring home--- Someday we will have to go back and find matching ones I think. The silliness and craziness of the whole trip had me missing my mom and friends. I think I would love to travel with my mom, most of you know she's a total bad-ass, but I think we would make the best companion across seas. She wouldn't mind waking up bright and early (Mikayla was not exactly an early riser) and she would probably keep me a little more carefree (I was stressing about catching our train to Florence or back to Venice, or making sure we didn't miss the last ferry home to our island). I also think my dad would have been awesome to be with in Italy. Just learning about the engineering behind the structures, how they used thousands of trees to fill in and build Venice, he would have loved it I think.

So yes, in a sense heart breaking, but only because there are so many amazing people who I wish could have been there with me to experience such an adventure.

''The journey changes you; it should change you.''

It definitely has. I feel as though I've grown drastically through this entire experience--both Moldova and Italy. For the first time in my life, I can't just call home when I get stuck, or when I'm upset, or when it just seems too big of a challenge. I have realized at the same time, that I really can handle so much. I am capable of figuring it out. I'm smart enough.

The journey to Italy has further changed my perspective. I always knew I wanted to travel, but now I feel an entirely new sense of urgency to see this enormous world. We met so many people while traveling through Italy, some from far away (we met an awesome Australian couple) and some from no further than 30 minutes from my house (@Meg Stranick, they lived right near you and Ian, Shout out to my Main Line friends)

Anyways it was amazing. I feel completely enlightened and oh so worldly (@Zach... ehemm I am worldly now). I can't even put it into words exactly how i am feeling, maybe just ready to take on the world.

''It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body.''

yes. to all these things yes.

and lastly, ''You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.''

Literally, I took a few small things with me, but I think I took away more experience than anything. After missing our ferry to leave our Island to catch our already booked train to Florence, Mikayla and I ran, from our first ferry (to the Main Island of Venice) to our other connecting ferry (through the Grand Canal to the roadway exiting Venice) to a taxi (we paid him extra to speed), through the train station (almost missing our gate ..there were so many), and just barely catching our train (the doors closed literally seconds after Mikayla stepped on board behind me). The feeling after we pulled that one off was amazing. I will never not check ferry/train/bus/plane times ever again. Lesson learned.

I took much away from Italy, Morano glass, bags, pictures, ect, but I am not entirely sure I left anything behind (other than my outlet converted... I left it in the wall of our last hostel after rushing out at 4:30 am to catch our plane home). I do think that I may have the chance to leave a small mark working here in Moldova though, I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Missing our ferry was devastating.

But it made catching our train without a second to spare amazing.

I'm not sure if anyone is hoping I'll go through all the details of my travels through Italy and Florence. I could go through day to day and tell you exactly what we ate and saw. I could share all the silly mistakes we made and times we were absolutely delirious and sleep deprived, running through the streets of Florence (with Mikayla screaming about how she will absolutely die if she ''Doesn't eat all the potatoes'' or how after getting on the wrong ferry and sprinting through Venice (we covered the width of the island in under 20 minutes) to catch the last Ferry home, or how it was pitch black and we couldn't get the bike lock undone because I was laughing so hard and we were staying on this absurd little island and had to bike home to our bungalow. I could try to describe how we ate all the gelato, pasta, pizza, salad, coffee, wine, pastries, ect and how it was some of the best food I've ever tasted. I could tell you about climbing the hundreds of steps of the Duomo, the bell tower, the hills surrounding Florence. I could try to explain it all, but really I'm probably better off just putting up some pictures and telling you about it in person. I'll apologize if this blog has been disappointing to anyone reading today because I'm not recounting each day of our five day tour, but hopefully you've enjoyed the bit I've shared through my run-on and grammatically incorrect sentences as well as my sometimes blurry and off-centered photos.

This guy was just as hype as we were.

This dog has the life.

YES. DREAM COME TRUE.

I love yellow houses.

Finding our island bungalow.

Still searching.

We found it! And bikes came with the house!

So naturally, we had to ride them.

And explore alllllll of Venice

The first day I think we took a picture of every little bridge and canal. We were just so amazed.

Because there are only two of us, Mikayla and I took a ton of awkward pictures like this...

So see that white building on the left? Yeah we completely missed the signs and not only weren't suppose to go in, but also take pictures. Mikayla and I did both. And then got chased down by a security guard who kindly directed us to the exit.

Borano. I have more pictures of this island that I have to upload, but it was my favorite place we visited.

I think we took a picture of everything we ate

These fountains were super clutch. They were everywhere and everyone drank from them.

So we tried to as well... somewhat failing.

We saw all the sights.

Thats the white building we trespassed in... oops

We saw some amazing art.

NAILED IT.

Italy doesn't mess around when it comes to ceilings.

Like check out those little faces. They were everywhere!

And sometimes we were immature.

And sometimes we thought the statutes were cute.

Hands down the best slice of pizza I've ever had.

We were a fan of the Spritz

But not a fan of missing our ferry.

The Duomo was totally badass.

Like just amazing. Why can't my church look like that!?

Sort of a failed pano... but you get the idea.

The building was just huge. I wish I could have captured its expanse better.

Such a nice skyline

Long story short: That is not my hat.

Seeing the sights after climbing the Duomo.

Seeing the sights at the top of Florence

Just absolutely on top on the world.

We drank all the wine. All of it.

Just kidding we were absolutely the most responsible young adults. Quite well behaved.

Still on top of the Duomo!

The bell tower at night.. we climbed that too! We did a lot a stairs in Florence.

We love all the squares in Florence.

Best wine and cheese and meat i've ever had.

We aren't tourist or anything..

Okay, maybe just a little.

Climbed the bell tower!

And then we were too exhausted to climb back down.

We made a lot of friends.

(But we actually did) Usually they were older English speaking couples (American and Australian), but I really loved talking to them. They were full of tips and even though they all we older, with kids just having moved out, they still seemed so young and full of energy to travel. They were cool. One couple was from Australia and weren't really able to travel up until now. So they took a year off from work (''We will figure something out when we get back'') and are basically hitting the majority of Europe. They were bad ass.

I might have already posted this picture, but here it is again. You're welcome

Okay, so this made me sad. Written all over the walls surrounding the stairs climbing the Duomo, people had written on the walls. I'm all for public art and self expression, but it just seemed sad, not only was it written in a religious place, but also a beautiful historic one.

Food in the air! We went to this panini place where they had you taste test each type of meet and cheese and then choose your favorite. It was this tiny little place we wandered into, but fifteen minutes later there was a huge line of people who all told us it was a top destination on trip adviser. Not surprised thought because the food was amazing.