Amo l'Italia

Our Winter Vacation started on Friday, January 29th when the bell rang at 10:30am. Meg and I were excited to get on the plane to Italy! Venice was beautiful, we took a water bus from the airport to Hotel Vecielllo. The owner decided to give us an upgrade so that we ahd a waterfront view from our two windows.

I loved waking up to the boats docking and being able to see the mountains in the horizon. The first night we ate at Tratoria Storcia with a gift certificate from the hotel. We had a first, second, and third course meal. I had salad, pasta with veggies, and shrimp scampi and fried zucchini. The first few days it was funny when we mixed 'gracie' with 'danke' and 'thank you'haha.

The two days we were in Venice, we did a lot of walking around and exploring the area. I literally felt like I was walking through a maze. The streets were like alleys, some a little wider than others. I loved all of the bridges we would come to.

One of my favorite things we did was the Gondola ride! Alessandra was our Gondolian, he took us on a 20 minute ride through the canal.

We visited two islands, Murano and Burano. Murano is where the glass factory is located. There weren't many tourist at this time of year so it was nice and quiet. We looked at the different glass shops with jewelry, cups, sculptures, etc. Burano was my favorite island--I absolutely loved the different colors of each house with the boats parked out front. It must have been wash day with all of their laundry hanging out the windows. It was such a beautiful day to walk around this little town.

If I lived here, this would be my boat

I did want to share a praise report! The first night in Venice, I slept with my contacts--I know--I woke up with my eyes hurting and they continued to get worse the next day. So I kept praying because I did not want to have to see a doctor while in Italy. However, the continued to get worse so I went to the hospital which was only 2 blocks away! God was so faithful and gave me so much peace, the doctor spoke enough english to help me and said the only way he knew how to describe it was that I had inflammation in both cornea. (I think he meant infection) He prescribed me to some gel drops and cream and within 24 hours I was fine! The doctor visit didn't cost a dime, the Lord was so good to me!

On Tuesday morning, we flew to Roma! We stayed at Hotel Giardino right off of Via Nazionale which was a great central location to the Colloseum, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish steps!

Spanish Steps

Colloseum

The bus routes were a little confusing but we got where we wanted to go. We saw the Museo Di Roma, Museo Di Roma Trastevere, the Pantheon, different Palazza's, ate a lots of great italian places. It was fun to be surrounded by a language where I could understand a few more words than just the basics. The weather was amazing, everyone seemed to be wearing big coats but we were so use to much colder in Beriln so we got to wear a few less layers!

We were in italy a total of nine days, I'm pretty sure we had gelatto nine times...okay ten. But we were in Italy, I mean come on. Friday, Meg and I went to visit her sister Sara Beth and Mary Hester in Arricia where they are studying. The palace that they are staying in that Auburn owns (war eagle) was so cute. We met the other 20 girls they live with and then went to a cute pizza place. Sara Beth showed us around the town, it was good to see some Auburn girls!

Saturday they came to Rome and we showed them our favorite gelato place with over 40 flavors!


My favorite place while in Rome was the Colloseum. We took some pics and tried to be artsy and photographers

I loved this one with the cross because of the sky in the background. What stood out to me is the three colors behind the cross, purple, blue, and white. Here is my interpretation: Starting from the left is white which represents purity and how I am washed clean by Jesus Christ. The purple representing royalty and I am apart of his royal family. He has promised me a crown and a special room in His mansion in heaven for eternity! And blue represents the Holy Spirit and the Anointing and it reminds me of where God is and how large He is! We have so much to look forward to in Heaven one day!!


We arrived back in Berlin to the snow on Sunday afternoon. It was good to come back and know what to expect this time. Irmgart had tea for us and made us a welcome back dinner. It was hard to get up as usual for a Monday after a vacation, but now it is time to buckle down for my solo teaching days coming up! Yay for sixth grade!