GROW WITH SARAH GRACE

When I was 13 years old, I sat down and did what I know best – make a list. This list, though, was a big one. I made my bucket list. Of course, it was a very rough draft because the only thing I know at 13 years old is what I see on Pinterest or Instagram. Even though I was young, the list I made that day was my first draft, and every day since then I’ve added things to it but every item I wrote when I was 13 is still on it. 

I’ve completed a few items like zip-lining or swimming with dolphins but the top ten or so items were big ones that would take a lot to complete. Number two on this list was consistent from the age of 13 to now and it reads: “Venice, Italy – gondola ride”. I guess 13-year-old me liked the gondola photos on Pinterest.

Now I’m here to say I finally completed number two on my bucket list. This past weekend, my friends and I headed for southern Italy and spent two nights in Venice, Italy. We left early Friday morning (January 28) and got there after a four-hour train ride.

The entire train ride, I was in denial of what I was doing. There was no way I was about to set foot in Venice. Honestly, I still can’t process that it happened and it’s four days later. As our train began to pull into the island, I looked out the window and saw the island I have been dreaming of for years. Although the train station view wasn’t very glamorous, I was still excited to see the rest of the island in the next two days. 

We departed the train station and headed to our Airbnb with heavy bags on our backs. Let’s just say, we were all a tad grouchy and ready to drop our bags and get some food. After a little confusion, we found our Airbnb and immediately headed for some lunch after settling into our rooms. Our Airbnb was in a quieter area of the island so we walked five minutes to where all the action was and found a cheap-looking restaurant named “Gino’s” to satisfy our needs.

The menu consisted of Italian classics like pizza and pasta. They had a cheap glass of white wine which I loved the sound of. I ordered a cheese plate and bread to split with my friend, Julia, a Marinara pizza for myself and a glass of white wine. It was perfect for my hungry tummy and filled me up for a few hours. 

After our lunch, we went shopping and explored the island a little bit. We wanted to familiarize ourselves with the area so we walked around for a bit without maps and found some cute areas that we wouldn’t have found if we followed directions. As far as shopping goes, we did what you have to do when in Venice: shop for Murano glass. 

There is an island nearby that has a world-famous glass factory and Venice is filled with jewelry, plates, chandeliers and practically anything you can think of made of this glass. It’s quite a colorful art piece and in true tourist fashion, we stocked up on some pieces. 

After some – okay, lots of shopping, we were craving some gelato so we found a place called “GROM”. It was limited in flavors and lacked the basic vanilla but it satisfied our craving all the same. (Or roman gelato still reigned as the best we’ve ever had.) I tried a new flavor – Tiramisu, so I don’t think I can judge too much because I still don’t know if I love the classic dessert.

After the gelato, it was starting to get dark so we wanted to head back to the Airbnb and drop off our things before we headed for dinner. Of course, during our exploring, we somehow managed to get 30 minutes away from our apartment. So we started the trek and stopped only a few times to shop (which is pretty good for a shopaholic group like us).  

Sadly, by the time we got back to the apartment, my head was pounding and I was not in the mood to go back out for dinner. (PRO TIP: you will do lots of walking in Venice so please, don’t forget to carry water around and stay hydrated! On our trip, Julia and I were both out a night due to migraines.) Instead of dinner, I took a hot shower and went to bed early to prepare for another full day of exploring.

The next morning, I slept in a little bit and met the girls for some quick shopping before we headed for the sole reason we came on this trip – a gondola ride! We found some men in striped shirts and they helped us into a black-painted gondola with red leather seats. We went down some small canals and into the Grand Canal during our 30-minute ride.

The ride in total was 20 euros for each girl (80 euros total) and was a dream come true. As I said before, this has been on my bucket list for years so I sat on the boat and looked around, and in that moment, I felt a sense of ease. I was in Venice, Italy with three amazing girls and we were riding in a gondola, in our early 20’s. It’s still something I haven’t fully processed. 

After the ride of our dreams, we ate lunch and I had the most delicious gnocchi. The restaurant (like most places in Italy I’m learning) loved Americans so they gave us a free round of prosecco. Next, we departed for St. Mark’s Square. 

We left the restaurant at 2:00 pm. We got to St. Mark’s Square at 5:00 pm for sunset. Somehow, we turned a 30-minute walk into three hours…

Of course, we had to stop at a few stores. And get gelato at a notable place we found when we were researching the island. It’s called “SuSo” and the small store had a long line out the door and if my Uncle Chris has taught me anything, if it has a line it has to be good. I followed my instinct and it was delicious! They garnished it with a printed wafer – for the photos of course.

Once we finally got there, St. Mark’s Square was beautiful. When it’s all said and done, I’m glad we went at sunset because the sky was gorgeous. We got to see the beautiful church and bell tower and saw the sunset over the water. Once it was dark, we were ready to head home but not ready for another 30-minute walk (that had the potential to turn into hours) so we looked for a water taxi. Of course, the cost to get to our area of the island was absurd so we opted to walk instead and were determined to focus on the walk, not the stores.

40 or so minutes later, we were finally back at the apartment. Only a ten-minute detour at one store is pretty good for us. Two of the girls weren’t feeling dinner so Evie and I went on a little “date-night” dinner. I had a delicious mushroom pasta (I don’t know why but mushrooms have been an obsession of mine since I’ve moved to Italy) and my first ever Spritz. I had seen photos and advertisements all around the island and figured “When in Venice…” The spritz wasn’t that bad actually. I’m not a huge fan of orange so I was scared about that but it wasn’t that strong and was easy to finish. 

The next morning, on our final day we packed our things up and went out for a quick breakfast before meeting our Airbnb host to check out. After we took care of that, we decided to take a short boat ride to Murano, the nearby island that produces all the beautiful glass pieces found in Venice.

The island was full of colorful buildings along a canal and we did a little bit of shopping for some final glass pieces and jewelry. When we were finished splurging on souvenirs and exploring the island, we took a boat back to Venice to grab a quick lunch before our train ride back to Rome in the late afternoon of Sunday (January 30). 

As I sit here and write about all the amazing things I did in Venice, I can’t help but feel sentimental. I crossed off one of the top three items on my bucket list at the age of 21 so this trip is something I will remember for the rest of my life and I’m so grateful I did it with some good company.