Venezia

Ciao!

I got home late last night from Venice, Italy! I traveled with my friends Sarah and Haley and we left Geneva early Friday morning and arrived in Venice around 2:30 and left around 4:30 in the afternoon on Sunday. It was a perfect weekend, and it was great to get out of rainy Switzerland!

Even though it was a long 8 hour train ride, it was worth it because the views were spectacular. The snow capped alps are gorgeous, and we saw a few castles and lakes along the way. When we walked out of the train station, all of our jaws dropped, Venice was exactly what I expected, maybe even better!

anyone know the movie Italian Job?? Well, that is what I was expecting from Venice, and it was like that, except without the boat chasing scene, and handsome Rob. haha. The cool thing about Venice is that there are not that many "touristy" things to see, mainly just the Piazza San Marco. Which was amazing by the way. However, just because there are not that many touristy things, does not mean there are no tourists....cuz there are. I heard more English this weekend than I have heard since Detroit. I am not ashamed to say that it was a bit refreshing. We had a great time just walking around in the alleys, getting lost. It is amazing how you can just walk around a corner and right in front of you is a giant beautiful building or statue. It is like the seeing the Trevi Fountain in Rome. So cool.

The church in the Piazza, (don't remember the name right now...) is probably the most amazing church I have even been in, and I have been in alot of churches. I was unfortunately not aloud to take pictures, but it had huge dome ceilings that were covered in Mosaic tiles with lots of Gold. aka very Roman Catholic.

My favorite part about Venice was the water buses...they are exactly like what they sound. It is a great way to see the buildings of the Grand Canal, and it is on a boat, therefore it is super fun! (I'm on a boat....haha, now it is stuck in your head) We took a water bus up to the small island of Moreno, which is known for Venetian glass blowing. We went to the factory and got to see a demonstration, and this guy made a horse out of glass in front of us. I was impressed.

Of course we ate alot. mostly pizza and gelato. sooo good!!!! Plus, they had pastries for 1 euro....that is unheard of in Switzerland. Thus, were were pretty excited. I spent way too much money shopping...but that is nothing new. haha. My favourite purchase is a hand painted water color, it is beautiful.

now onto our hostel......ok, so I was the one who found the hostel, therefore I was a little worried that is was going to be terrible and Sarah and Haley were going to kill me. And considering it was called "Camp Jolly" and it was a camp ground outside of the city and the directions to get there were a bit sketch, I had alot to be worried about. During part of our journey to the camp ground we had to take a public bus....it was here where I realized why deodorant is such a fabulous invention. learn it. use it. love it.

After that festive experience, we had to walk about "10 minutes" according the directions that I was given. yea they were wrong. haha. However, as we got off the bus, we meet a nice lad named Thomas who was going to Camp Jolly too. He was a really nice guy from England, and lead us there safely. It actually ended up being a great place...it turned out to be half the price that we had originally thought, and us three girls had our own half of a double wide trailer. haha. The shower was actually nicer than the one here in Le Cenacle. We signed up for an adventure, and that we got! The first night I got very little sleep due to the .....wait for it....toga party going on a few trailers down. I kid you not. The following night there was a "doctors and patients party". so legit.

Ok...onto the job. I worked really hard last week getting invitation letters ready to go out to members of the IAS. I was also in charge of editing and writing up "special invitation" letters for select people. Among those people were.....Michelle Obama, Bono, and Navi Pillay. I felt special. Overall, it is really busy in the office as we prepare for the conference, tomorrow I have my first meeting of "what to expect at the conference", I have a strange feeling that it will turn into more of a "what we expect from you" type of meeting.....but I guess that is what being an intern is all about! haha. I am excited either way!

This coming weekend I think I am going to try and hit up the beach in Geneva....I am praying for some good weather! It is still raining here!!! The following weekend I am going to Interlochen! Haley and I have decided that we want to go "Canyoning". Sounds extreme doesn't it? That is because it is.....we are so hardcore.

I hope that you all are doing well. If you have a chance, send me a quick e-mail/fb message/ skype...whatever other means of technology there is.....I would love to hear what you are all up to these days!

Claire :)