Venice 2025

Still in LOVE with Burano!

Are you kidding me? The REAL Vitruvian Man

I offered to hold the students' bags while they filmed a video they wanted to do

We took a boat across the way to see the view of Venice from afar. The student who joined us, Makelle Martin, was moved to tears by the sheer beauty of what we were doing. 

Burano with Addie, Aleah, Paige, and Elaena

Our Murano and Burano tour group: Chad, Ella, me, Addie, Abby, Addie, Shelby, Abby, Julia, Elaena, Lily, Paige, Bruce, and Sarah

The breakfast room in our hotel

Il Papa

The room the opera started in. Mood lighting.

Venitian high heels

A beautiful church that we stumbled upon

Matias, the dog that belongs to the hotel owners. The students love him. Did he remember Bruce?

We took an early flight from Barcelona to Venice. We stayed in the same hotel as last time, Hotel Caprera. It's on Venice proper and the family that owns it are the nicest people. I had the same room as last time. 

In our prep class, we took some time to focus on the history of each city/country, so the visit to the Doge's Palace was more meaningful this time. We took a guided tour to Murano and Burano, where we got to see glass blowing and lace making. The woman who was making the lace by hand is in her 80's and it's a dying art. Natalie and I went to an opera in an old palatial house. We moved from room to room. It was a fun experience. I'd never been to an opera before, and I'm glad we did this one. 

Chad got news that his wife Patsy had a mini stroke. She had help, got a blessing, and was hopeful to be able to join us. It was sad to see Chad broken up about it. They decided to have him stay on study abroad, that there was nothing he could do at home. 

While in Venice, the Catholic church announced the new Pope. Some students heard bells ringing. We walked into our hotel, and the TV was on the the lobby, where the family hangs out. They had announced that the new Pope was an American. It was a unique experience to be in a small family-owned boutique hotel when the Pope was announced. 

We took the kids to the Jewish Ghetto, Murano and Burano, Doge's Palace, on gondola rides, and St. Mark's Basilica. Chad told students to get off of their phones in the Basilica and to enjoy the space. He also reminded them to quit asking about what was next, and to enjoy the moment. Natalie and I went to a museum where they had DaVinci's Vitruvian Man on display. It's hardly ever on display. It's only about 8x10-inches, but it was incredible to see such an iconic piece. I helped some students find blown glass nativity sets on Murano. I like mine best, but they found some cute ones. No stops at Fried Land this time. We weren't in Venice for very long. I was there long enough to find a really cute dress. Chad, Natalie, Makelle, and I were walking to catch the boat to go to a church on another island. I passed a store and saw a dress in the window that I liked. Makelle came in with me and gave me advice on the color and size. I absolutely LOVE it. 

Venice miracle: I had previous experiences where middle aged men talked to me and were annoying, so I wasn't in the mood to listen to an Italian man talking to me. When a police officer told me to stop, I kept on walking. I was with Natalie and a couple of students. I was just oblivious. They had to speak louder to me, and tell me to stop. It appeared that I was intentionally ignoring police officers. When I finally stopped, they asked to see our paperwork. Because of the tourism in Venice, you have to carry paperwork documenting that you are staying on Venice proper, or you have to pay a daily fee to visit the city. I had my paperwork printed and had been carrying it in my bag, BUT I had switched bags and hadn't put it in there. I was, luckily, able to find the email with the proof of hotel, and there was no fine or no problem.