Masks and bridges and gondolas, oh my!

Britt and I have spent the past day and a half in Interlaken, Switzerland, but I wanted to write a quick update on Venice first...

Like I wrote before, we loved Venice as soon as we stepped out of the train station and stared out at the Grand Canal. It was the first time we have arrived somewhere and actually liked what we saw right away. We easily found our hostel and were warmly greeted by the other travellers and hostel workers. We spent 3 nights in Venice and had plenty of time to see the sites, rest and mingle. Some of the things we loved most included going to a Baroque opera, where the singers and musicians dressed up in historical Venetian costumes, getting lost but always finding our way back, seeing St. Mark's Square fill up with water from underground at night, eating Nutella crepes and browsing for souveneirs.

However, I think the 2 things that made Venice so great for us were the hostel we stayed in and the people we met. The hostel manager, Mimo, was the nicest, most accomadating person we have met so far. He let us use his cell phone and skype to call home, he made us dinner every night, and he treated us like we were old friends...something that was much appreciated after going through the "where are you from/what are you doing with your life/where are you traveling" routine day after day. The hostel had this awesome common room with a 2-story ceiling, tons of cozy chairs to sit and read and look out on the quaint Venetian streets, and a long dining room table where we shared breakfast and dinner together.

Venice is...
-new friends from the u.s., australia, and Iran
-gorgeous maze of canals
-color!
-masks and music notes
-glass, glass, glass
-blowtorches and fiery furnaces
-bellini and the office