Venezia

Sunday June 7, 2009 - 9:06pm

Dublin - Paris
Tegan, Bryce, Elie, Martina, Meg, and I went to the Irish national gallery Saturday morning.  It was sweet!  I saw the Caravaggio painting of Jesus' betrayal, he painted himself in as a bystander.  The original illustrations for many Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales were on display as well. :)

Rehearsal went well except Dr. A was in 'New York mode' and a senior started bawling.
I spent the afternoon packing and then we had our concert.  I didn't cry until right before Beautiful Savior when Dr. A called us "one of, if not THE best St. Olaf Choir."  I lost it!  The concert went great but it was hard saying goodbye to all the seniors. 

I woke up at 4:10 am Dublin time, ate some breakfast, hopped in a taxi, though I was gonna die, and arrived at the Dublin airport around 5:15 am.
The flight was fine and we arrived in Paris safely.  After running around to try to get a train reservation, and falling down in the airport train (see Author's note for more details), we finally got to see some of the sights.

At the Dublin Airport

Notre Dame

We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, Eiffel Tour, Arc de Triomphe, and we walked down the Champs-Elyseé without an umbrella in a Spring Rain - Like in "Sabrina" feat. Audrey Hepburn.
We almost didn't get on the train to Venice because no one knew where we were to go for tickets from the conductor.  We are currently in a sleeper car with a random guy we refer to as Pepsi.  We have 15 hours ahead of us, minus the few we have already spent on the train.
Tomorrow, I will be in Venice and life will be grand!  Almost Sleep time!!

Meg's beautiful picture skills

Monday June 8, 2009 - 9:07 pm

Our Sleeper Car

Venice
Pepsi got off the train at 4 am so the morning was just the 3 of us. We thought we got great sleep last night but apparently not, because we are all tired.  After we showered and changed at our hotel, we headed out to the island.  We took a tour of the grand canal on the water buses and Bryce read some info from Rick Steeves.   

Then we went to San Marco Basilica and quickly walked through because we realized there is a free guided tour in English tomorrow.
We wandered around for a while and found a museum inside of a church with the history of the violin.  There were all shapes, sizes, and kinds of string instruments and original mass books.  Unfortunately, no "Puer Natus Est" could be found.  Alice and Gerry would have been proud.
It was nice to have a relaxing day with no rushing after 2 weeks of nonstop choir tour.   

The Violin Exhibit

 Also the water bus guys who opened the fates to the boat were generally very good looking.  :)

Waking up at 7 am to hit the train station to get our reservations.  No more close calls!
More tomorrow!
Just remembered...
This morning as we were waiting to get off the bus a woman and her young son went to the W.C. on the way back to their car and the little boy, started to sing/chant the following:  We're having an underpants party! - and various other phrases including the words underpants and party.
It was adorable!

Gondolas

Rialto Bridge

Famous Casino

Author's Note: Falling in train.  It was a public transport train from one terminal to another terminal where we could hop on public transportation.   I was wearing my hiking backpack that was pretty heavy and I decided I was such a pro at riding trains that I didn't need to hold on.  OOPS!  The train suddenly lost electricity and I flew backwards in front of the whole train.  Meg and Bryce laughed while 2 random American strangers helped me up.  One took my hand, and the other grabbed my bag. It was ridiculous.  Bryce and Meg didn't let me live that down for the entire trip, but now it is HILARIOUS!