"We found [gelato] in a hopeless place" -Rihanna

"We found [gelato] in a hopeless place" -Rihanna... By Kendall

Well Avery and I separated ways with the pesto girls today! So sad, but we know they're going to have a great time and get tan in the beautiful Amalfi Coast! In the meantime, Avery and I left the hostel just a few minutes after the girls but as we were leaving, the guy at the front desk stopped us and told us that he put breakfast out early for us (because we had mentioned how we had an early train the night before). It was so nice and really thoughtful! So Avery and I enjoyed our complimentary breakfast of coco crispies and croissants and nutella and still made it to our train on time!

To Venice we went! Our train crossed over lots of water and we ended up in the sinking city! We had our backpacks on and were ready to get lost. Believe it or not, we actually found our hostel pretty quickly after leaving the train station! We wandered through little narrow streets and over canals and on bridges and through plazas...it really is so cool! I'm so glad we came here! It just looks like you're in a movie set every which way you turn! We set our stuff down in our rooms and then we set out on the town to get lost and hopefully stumble upon some cool things...let the wind blow us where it may! And boy did the wind blow straight and true...right into the most delicious pizza place ever! We actually each got 2 pieces there! It was so delicious! Thin crust, fresh cheese, good tomato sauce, and yummy meat and mushrooms on top! We nibbled on those as we crossed over the main bridge of the Grand Canal. It was really neat! Tons of boats and gondolas floating on by.

We continued our wanderings and found ourselves in San Marco's square. It was really awesome! But what wasn't so awesome was the gelato we got there! EW! Who would've thought that bad gelato could even be made in Venice, but we were proven wrong! I got a straight up MILKshake and Avery got caramel gelato that made her want to barf! We made a few guidelines after that of what had to be present in the gelateria for us to buy any: it has to be under the counter with silver tops covering it and can't have flavor indicators that are mass produced by Nestlé!

We wandered some more of course and passed many a churches and piazzas which were all quite lovely! We sat in the shade in front of Ponte dell' Umilta and rested our feet and sat by the canal. We passed Peggy Guggenheim's gallery and found a cool garden hidden behind brick walls! But the gate was locked... :/ we walked though lots of shops and little galleries and even passed one where everything was made out of wood! It was so cool! There were wood shirts and shorts and swimsuits and hats and umbrellas and even tablecloths! It all looked real, but it was actually made out of wood!

As we walked back to the hostel to take a quick nap before dinner, we found a gelato place called GROM in the San Barnaba square...it was heavenly!!! And the gelato was kept under the silver tops that I was talking about! Of course we had to get some! An boy were we glad!!! As we ate our gelato on the way back, we made sure to remember every step we took so we could return to that place!

After taking a nap and addressing some post cards, Avery and I were back on the town, out in our usual quest for good food! We found this place with red and white checkered table cloths and thought that it couldn't get much more Italian than that! So in honor of Nicole and Riley, we got pesto spaghetti, which was good! We took our time eating as the Europeans do and talked and laughed and people watched! It was wonderful! Afterwards, we traced our steps from a few hours earlier and went back to Grom! We were in heaven once again! It is 100% the best gelato we've had so far! Ahhh!! The crema di grom was amazing!! We walked around and wandered in the sunset lighting through the empty streets and bridges of Venice enjoying the gelato and one another's company. It was so much fun. We just had a relaxing journal and sketch session and it was just perfect! The wonderful day was wrapped up by a quick blog session in the lobby where we actually met some really awesome funny people that are staying in our hostel! I just love people. Something that I feel like I have formed an opinion about on this trip is this: everyone has good in them! It's just wether or not they choose to act on that that makes the difference. We have met such kind helpful people on this trip and I am constantly blown away a by how innately kind human beings can be. There have been some grouches and creepers here and there, but I really do feel like there is good in everyone! We are all connected in an effort to help and receive love and give love! I know this sounds cheesy, but I really do think that this effort that I'm talking about links us as humans and makes the world not just a big place after all!