Bright and early one Friday morning, a group of Northern Californian and Mount Saint Mary’s students piled onto an extra large bus and headed to romantic Verona, the town that was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juiliet”. Upon arrival, our local tour guides took us into the “Arena”, one of Italy’s best-preserved Roman amphitheaters which is still used as a venue for an annual Opera Festival which sees millions of visitors come to the city every summer. For a touch of romance, the guides then took us to see the balcony where Norma Shearer gave her performance as Juiliet in George Cukor’s 1936 film version of the classic love story. After some time for lunch and to explore the city on our own, we all piled back on the bus to head to the even more romantic city of Venice where we were to spend the rest of the weekend.
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Listening to our guide at the Verona "Arena"
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| Touching Juliet's breasts for good luck in love! |
Our first experience of Venice was a magical trip on a local waterbus or vaporetto down the famous Canale Grande to our hotel. After such a busy day, it was time to have some dinner and then head straight to bed!
The following morning, it was just a short walk from our hotel to get to the imposing Piazza San Marco where we met our local guides for a fascinating, historical walking tour of the city. First the guides took us inside the glistening, golden St Mark’s Basilica before leading us through the winding streets of Venice to the famous Rialto bridge where we stopped for lunch. That afternoon, the students had free time to explore the city on their own. Many took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Palazzo Ducale – a lavishly decorated palace that was once the seat of the Venetian government – while others took the time to enjoy the warm weather by taking a ride on a gondola.
The following day, not letting ourselves be put off by a sudden but thankfully brief rainstorm, a few of us took the vaporetto to the island of Murano where we were able to take in a free glass-blowing display before exploring the island’s vast array of glassware shops. Many of the glass items on display, while out of our price range, were true works of art. However, we were also able to find plenty of smaller but nontheless beautifully crafted items that we could buy as gifts and souvenirs to take back to Florence.
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| Trying some "spaghetti alla seppia" - a traditional Venetian speciality |
Our first experience of Venice was a magical trip on a local waterbus or vaporetto down the famous Canale Grande to our hotel. After such a busy day, it was time to have some dinner and then head straight to bed! 
The following morning, it was just a short walk from our hotel to get to the imposing Piazza San Marco where we met our local guides for a fascinating, historical walking tour of the city. First the guides took us inside the glistening, golden St Mark’s Basilica before leading us through the winding streets of Venice to the famous Rialto bridge where we stopped for lunch. That afternoon, the students had free time to explore the city on their own. Many took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Palazzo Ducale – a lavishly decorated palace that was once the seat of the Venetian government – while others took the time to enjoy the warm weather by taking a ride on a gondola.
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