new york was great

I was in New York in Tuesday and Wednesday to visit NYU, one of my dream schools for college. The last time I was there, I was seven and deaf and blind to the unusual wonders of New York City. Also, I was with my grandma so... I journeyed to the city with my good friend, Rae, and my Dad and we spent the last two days walking around and sitting under blossoming trees. It was quite an experience; some first-hand encounters with same of NYC's craziest people, amazing street food, and probably the most unusual streetlife I've ever seen in my life; including a random guy walking around with a parrot on his shoulder and a guy with an afro made of tulle.

Burano

Burano: March 5

During our second day in the Venetian Lagoon we were given a few hours on the island of  Burano, which happened to be one of the most beautiful (and the most colorful) place I've ever been. Burano is known for its brightly-painted houses and if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot. It was the only place we were forced to go on a guided tour and were given only free time to roam the colorful canals. The best part of the day was when we had finished our "roaming" and decided to lounge in the grass by the water. I also finally purchased a "tacky souvenir" for the "tacky souvenir contest; a small, colorful, plastic camera that shows photographs of Venice when you look through the lens. It was quite popular with the members of my group who would give me odd looks when they saw it hanging around my neck along with my legitimate camera and would ask why I bought it and then would get excited when they realize what this amazing souvenir could do! My trip to Italy was amazing and I will always remember it fondly.

Venezia

Venice: March 4-6

Please forgive me for how long its been taking me to upload all of these photos from Italy, but while I was trying to put this post together Blogspot wouldn't let me upload all of the pictures...so that obviously wouldn't do!

Our group lucked out and we manged to be in Venice during the Venetian Carnival. The streets were flooded with people and the majority of these people were all wearing masks. Almost everyone in our group was wearing a mask by the end of our first day in Venice; even one of the chaperones decided it would be fun to wear a cat mask around for the night. I wasn't able to settle on just one mask and instead ended up buying two from a street vendor who was more than happy to take my money. Venice was definately the most fun out of all the cities we visited in Italy.