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. 

Barcelona 2025

Me and Natalie Hancock at the Design Museum

Some of us went to the beach. I have to dip my toes in the ocean if it's this close.

Piper Barron, Julia Halliday, Maddie Clark, me, Sarah Fenn, Abby Russell

Mies Van de Rohe Pavillion designed and build for the World's Fair

The Barcelona Chair

A rainy walk back to the hotel, but with churros and chocolate sauce, Courtney Van Der Werken and Ella Massaglia

Casa Batllo goofy picture - Natalie Hancock, Chad Gibbs, me

Some of us went to a Picasso Museum

The fancy D in Casa Batllo

I didn't get to see the gardens and yard of Casa Batllo last summer. We got to see it this time. It was beautiful. 

Climbing Sagrada Familia with Piper, Abby Richardson, and Natalie

The whole group in Sagrada Familia. Abby Richardson cried. She loves churches.

My cozy hostel room

Dropping the group off at Park Guell - Natalie, Abby Richardson, and me

In order to report on our Fashion and Design in Europe study abroad 2025, I'm going to write a blog post about each city. I hope I can remember highlights. There really weren't many lowlights. The students were great. They were grateful and cooperative. They were good to each other. Everyday we heard "this is awesome. This is the best thing we've done so far..." It really was a dream. 

I also realize, now that time has passed, that I've been so blessed to help direct 3 study abroad experiences. The magic that was there the first time is still there, but maybe to a lesser level. It's crazy how one can get used to such spectacular things. Absolutely crazy!

We left for Barcelona on Sunday, May 4, the one-year anniversary of dad's passing. Mom was in California with Kristen, something we planned so she wouldn't be alone in Utah. Kamiko and Bekki and their dog Jerry had moved into my house because they sold their home and are waiting for the perfect house to come along. I was very grateful that they could watch my house while I was gone for 6 weeks. I'm sure they were grateful to have a free place to stay and to have run of the place. 

The flight was uneventful. I'm used to the long flights. I just get situated and decide that I'm going to watch 4 movies. The day we arrived in Barcelona, we got situated in our hostel, which was in a great location. It had a very old elevator. The kind that you can see all of the cables and workings. So cool. We didn't officially start appointments until the next day, so we just focused on staying awake. Natalie and I had tickets to Park Guell. Some students tried to get tickets and found that it was sold out, so we gave our tickets to them. We walked to the park with them. Everyone who wanted to get in got in. Abby Richardson, Natalie, and I walked back to the hostel in the pouring rain. Everyone at the park got soaked. Nobody had an umbrella. They did by the end of the day. LOL. 

While in Barcelona, we took the students to a design museum, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Mies Van de Rohe Pavillion (utterly fantastic!!!!!!). It was fun to learn about famous pieces of architecture from our colleague Chad Gibbs. He's very enthusiastic about all things design and architecture. I bought a cute floral fabric at an outdoor market that I've already made a dress out of. Ashley and Bruce started their McDonald's adventure, stopping at McDonald's a lot and trying all the local foods, especially McFlurry flavors. 

Barcelona miracle: I walked a lot and suffered from sore legs and feet. It was horrible. I cried on day 3 and realized that I am really getting too old for this. I asked my family to pray for me. I also asked the study abroad kids to pray for me. I never had problems again. Definitely an answer to prayers. We started each day with a spiritual thought and a prayer. Recently I had a student who took her turn for thought and prayer in class and asked if anyone needed any special prayers. I was so touched by her example. When I started study abroad on day 1, I asked if anyone needed prayers. The students kept up that tradition. Each day, before prayer, the person leading thought and prayer asked if anyone needed special prayers. We prayed for people's health, job hunts, lost phones, etc. It was a very special experience for me.