VENICE

Incredible, beautiful, and historic are just some of the words that describe Venice.
I traveled there last weekend and was deeply impacted by the wonderful culture, lifestyle, and architecture that makes up this soon-to-be underwater city… My professors top suggestion of travel as the water is rising. We stepped out of the train station and faced our first of many canals. In a few steps one could easily drop straight into the water. You can see where the water level used to be on the steps down to the canal which are now covered with barnacles and algae. The transportation system was interesting since the streets are all so narrow, there use boats as taxis (literally no room for cars/Vespas). There were beautiful piazzas, bell towers, cathedrals, basilicas, bridges, and even one of the towers ‘destroyed’ by Spider-Man in his newest movie: Far from Home. Specifically the Bridge of Sighs was a sight to see out of all of the bridges as it was an enclosed structure with two windows connected the jailhouse to the building where killers would be sentenced to death. So through the windows, one could see their last glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea… The bridge is covered in masked faces of all emotions, which was kinda creepy. We took a gondola ride underneath this and through the canals, our guide was very funny and knowledgeable of the city. Honestly there was so much more. I felt wanderlust here… I am definitely going back to this incredible city, hopefully before it drowns.

This past week for my “Made in Italy” class we went to the Men’s Fashion Museum in Pitti Palace. Every piece was meticulously placed in a fold of a giant ‘book’. The top designers of Italian fashion were all on display here, it was pretty cool to see some of the oldest trends to the newest ones and how fashion for men has really changed over the years. At the end of December the house will choose a new collection to put on display, and to get a sense of how gigantic this place is, the entire collection only took up maybe 1/16 of the house –there are 8 levels and only took up one wing of the house. Crazy.

Other than the traveling and sightseeing, I have been trying new Italian dishes which are all so yummy, especially tortilini soup! One of the most interesting ‘aperitivos’ is cantaloupe and prosciutto… also my host dad really likes anchovies… YUCK. But it is all part of the culture that I am embracing! Some of my classes are fun, like drawing. We just did a project with charcoal (VERY messy) which turned out to be fun and cool; my professoressa really enjoyed mine and chose to display it in front of my class! And some of my classes are difficult like Modern Consumerism and Italian. Lastly, my internship is going well with Evadifranco! On Tuesday we did a photo-shoot with her new ‘collectivism collection’. We took a bunch of photos with my iPhone camera as her Nixon stopped working in the middle of the session, so now I get to keep them! She has a great eye and is always so creative –she even asks for my opinion! We chat every time I come into the studio, and I really enjoy working with her even though I was scared of her at first. Thanks for reading so far, I am sorry for not updating sooner but I have just been so busy with everything! This week I will be going to a Florentine soccer game and next Saturday is the 10k race! Lots going on, I pray for you all, your health and happiness! Many churches/basilicas that remind me of how important family is! Ciao for now lovelies. ❤ Aysha