Italy Mini Break

Last week my boyfriend and I took a trip over to Italy for a long weekend. We landed in Venice and made our way over to Saint Marks Square to find our hotel. While walking through the tiny streets and over the bridges, I was in awe of the breathtaking scenery. The different colored buildings and little bridges over the canals were inspiring. An entire city without cars left us wondering such things as, how deliveries were made, or how people moved homes.

Venice is such a romantic city filled with Gondolas sailing down the canal and little Italian restaurants that serve delicious al dente pasta! We spent quite a few evenings in one of the many squares that fill with people who are relaxing and enjoying dinner at the numerous outdoor restaurants. If we were not sitting on a patio drinking wine, we were enjoying scoops of gelato, while we were people watching in the center of the square.

The masks and costume shops in Venice were amazing. Venice is known for their masks and there are numerous shops that feature artists creating the masks right in the store. I couldn't resist buying a silver and black mask covered in sparkles!

We took a train for a day trip to Verona to visit Juliet's balcony. Supposedly the location of the famous balcony love scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the tiny courtyard was packed with lovestruck tourists photographing each other on the famous balcony. We also visited the arena, an enormous, spectacular Roman amphitheater from the 1st Century AD, crumbling on the outside but still functioning today!

Another day trip we took was over to Murano. I have always wanted to visit Murano to see the glass blowers and buy beads. I found the most beautiful glass beads to include into my jewelry designs. The island of Murano took us about half an hour to reach by water taxi from Venice. There are glass shops on every corner and glass sculptures scattered around the island. I can't wait to design some new pieces of jewelry with the new beads I got there!