busy week

So as I may've mentioned, this past weekend was a bit of an adventure and the week didn't exactly get any less crazy. And oh wait...I'm going out of town this coming weekend...good plan, right? Can't complain, though...I'm meeting a fun group in Switzerland tomorrow to see Interlaken and Gimmelwald and hike and see glaciers and other such 100% out-of-character things in an attempt to keep my mind off things.

Anyways, Monday Allie and I began the tackling of the Venice "bucket list" that we jointly comprised when she first got here. We hit Bar da Gino and decided it was a good day to go up in the campanile (bell tower) of St.Marks. It was INCREDIBLE. Hands down the best view of the island itself, the nearby islands, the lagoon, etc. Then we stopped by the post office to mail a few things and headed to Rialto to do shop (souvenirs for Allie, a hat for me) and I got yelled at in United Colors of Benetton for using the kids' dressing room (lame). We had lunch at the house, then while the kids had class, Allie went to Billa to get tons of food to make dinner for over half the house (quite nice of her, if you ask me!). We had a marathon house meeting (also kind of lame), then Kayla and I went to the gym, which is good, because I really want to get use out of my stupid 80 Euro membership AND it's kind of nice to have that level of sore that says "yes I might be eating my body weight in gelato, pizza, and pasta on a daily basis, but by God, you aren't going to be able to tell when I get home." When I got back, I "helped" Allie make red wine pasta with broccoli rabe and chicken for dinner (including a last minute dash to Billa for extra food for the dinner (bread and salad) and wine and pasta sauce for Tom...notable only because it was SO busy that there weren't any baskets so I was holding 2 bags of bread, 2 of salad, 2 jars of sauce, and a bottle of wine in THE longest Billa line ever). After that, she and I went to St. Marks to see it at night, listen to the classical music being played by the various cafe bands, look at some art (Allie wants to buy some to decorate her apartment), and just wander because the house was a little wired for sound (the kids had just finished one midterm and were studying for another). Perfect example of how wired the house was? I get back, head to the kitchen for a snack, and proceed to find myself being bench pressed and curled by Tom in some attempt to prove his strength to everyone. Fortunately there is no documentation of this because I was yelling (in slight fear of being dropped on the dirty kitchen floor) the whole time.

Tuesday Allie and I again started at Bar da Gino, then took a vaporetto to the Giudecca (island across from Venice). We walked down the main calle and poked through a few churches but it was absolutely freezing and gross, so we took the vaporetto back to Venice and had lunch. While the kids were in class, Allie read and I worked on essays, then we walked towards this AMAZINGGGG chocolate shop past Santa Margherita that Allie found. It's so cute and chic and classy and, y'all, I could just LIVE there. I couldn't settle on one of the hundreds of beautiful, fancy pieces of chocolate, so I got this giant, steaming cup of hot chocolate made with milk. Basically, it's barely liquid because it's so thick and the taste is just perfect. I rushed back to switch my laundry because angling for space in the washers and dryer here is like a sport and I knew I needed some socks before heading straight in to the Swiss Alps. We were so full from the hot chocolate and day-long snack fest that we decided to walk more and ended up exploring this area off of Campo San Stefano...we found great views of the Grand Canal at dusk (beautiful) and a really cool apothecary-esque perfume shop (I think both the perfume shop and chocolate shop were so appealing because they look nothing like the 9000 other souvenir shops on the island). Then Allie made me dinner (huzzah) and we hung out until about half the group was ready to go out to Santa Margherita for a while. We decided to sit at Duchamps (for old time's sake) and Eugene bought me an Affligam (a type of beer I'd never heard of before this semester, but that the guys here LOVE) and Allie got wine and we all just hung out and talked before heading back to partake in/watch the house party (legendary not necessarily for its level of fun, but because of the presence of hard alcohol in mass quantities...an "experiment" on the part of Dr. Hagy as it's technically against the rules unless he allows it, which he did in this case). Then Allie and I went BACK out for pizza and ran in to Tom, Brian, Megan, and Megan's visiting friends and walked back to Casa Artom with them. It was an interesting night...some people had a little too good of a time and so dealing with that wasn't so fabulous, but, Allie and I got to do a lot of catching up in between, so I can't complain!

Wednesday we opted to sleep in (we were up until 2ish), then got coffee (popular with us, obviously) and visited the Peggy (which we've both been meaning to do since last time we were here). Modern art really isn't our thing, but, it was really cool to see inside the palazzo and take pictures from the dock and we felt good for finally having gone (for free!). We had lunch with David at Bar da Gino, then hung out while the kids were in class, followed by yet another gym adventure and a trip to the train station to get Switzerland tickets. It was a little stressful and I'm (still) so sleep deprived (can't turn my brain off at night) that it wasn't the most enjoyable experience, but, we have train tickets so that's that. Then I got gelato (yes, again), which ruined my appetite for house dinner (chili), but that's ok because the kids had to eat the dinner while watching a marathon opera. While they watched the opera, Allie and I were both too tired to even MOVE, so she read and I caught up on some American tv (don't judge) before going to bed at a decent hour for once!

Today we slept in again and got coffee before heading to San Giorgio (the small island across from St. Mark's square). It was really small, but the church on it is beautiful and the views of Venice were amazing. Then we took the boat back to Venice and walked down to the Gardens...it was SO HOT! That calle gets a lot of sun, but even still...for late October, it was a little ridiculous (and by ridiculous, I mean amazing...I love warm, non-wintery weather). We came back in time to have lunch here (we're so economical) and watch the kids do improv presentations in their lit class. Oh. My. Word. They were insanely funny and entirely innapropriate. So different from what would EVER happen when Allie and I were here! Then we got MORE coffee and went back to the same chocolate shop as Tuesday (at least this time I got a baby cup of hot chocolate) and wandered to Rialto where I was successful in the "find a hat so my ears don't fall off in Switzerland" department and Allie bought more gifts for back home. We're about to have dinner at Ai Cugnai (can't wait for the little old lady's antics and the brothers' joking around) and then go back to St. Mark's once more so Allie can officially buy some art for her apartment.

I can't believe she has to leave tomorrow : ( It's been so great having her here and the time FLEW by. It was definitely good to see her for a lot of reasons, especially because I feel like sometimes I take Venice for granted and her excitement at being back and seeing everything again made me appreciate it more than I do on a day to day basis, if that makes sense. Anyways, I'm excited about Switzerland AND sending my law school apps off next week (the Halloween deadline WILL be reached) AND getting a lot done before the 2nd break, because Thanksgiving will be here before I know it (and apparently I'm expected to basically run that whole shin dig)!