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A Venetian Getaway

  • Writer: Jess Boehner
    Jess Boehner
  • Feb 6, 2023
  • 5 min read

Venice, Italy (4/4-4/5)


I’ve officially completed my first week of classes in Italy as of Friday, February 3. The class is extremely easy and our teacher is awesome. The main downfall is that it starts at 8:50 am and goes until 11:45 am. I also haven’t learned much because she is hard to understand so I’ve spent most of my time staring into space.


Since we are gradually coming to terms with the fact that Italy is our new home, we decided to spend this past weekend just a train ride away.


On Saturday morning, Taylor, Ally, Alexa, Alivia (Alexa’s friend), and I hopped on the train to Venice Italy. As per usual, I slept almost the entire way there. I forced myself to open my eyes every once in a while to admire the Italian countryside we drove through.


Stepping out of the train station in Venice was surreal. As a movie fanatic and Johnny Depp fan, the film, The Tourist, stuck in my mind. That’s the thing about Venice, it is the epitome of Italy. The floating city fits every expectation and idea of the word “Italy.” With the bright blue water running between colorful buildings, I truly felt like all of the movies were coming to life.



We were on a water Taxi en route to our Airbnb within minutes of stepping out of the station. I embraced the cliche of wind blowing my hair back with a smile on my face as we drove through the canals. I decided that if Angelina Jolie can do it, why can’t I?


After a twenty-minute boat ride, we reached our port and walked five minutes to our Airbnb. Our stay was located in the Cannaregio area. The apartment reminded me a lot of a beach house because of its white walls and wooden beams.


After having experienced Venice, I would not recommend our stay. It was on the opposite side of the city from where we spent most of our time. I don’t mind a walk but considering it was just an overnight trip, the location could have been more convenient. It was also very bare and a little grimy. If you need an alarm though, you can count on one of the birds to squawk on a roof until you wake up.


After freshening up at our apartment, we headed to lunch in San Marco. On our walk, we crossed over typical Venice bridges with gondolas passing underneath. St. Mark’s Basilica was gorgeous. While we didn’t go inside, it was incredible to see the number of people gathered around it in awe.




Luckily, or unluckily, for us, we experienced Venice at a unique time of year. The month of February is when the Venice Carnival takes place. The carnival dates back to the 11th century as a symbol of the city’s victory over a Catholic jurisdiction in northeastern Italy.


The celebration was everywhere we turned. Masquerade masks are worn by those celebrating and they tend to be worn with a matching costume. It was clear that people either love or hate. When we found out that opening weekend was the same weekend we had booked our stay, we were a little skeptical. Personally, I thought it was cool to watch locals celebrate an event important to their culture. We did not attend the parade however, admiring the masks as we walked past others was the perfect amount of carnival for me.








While each of us was either starving, hungover, or both, we quickly found a place to eat lunch. The restaurant near the water hit the spot. I enjoyed the free bread as usual and ordered their tomato soup. The soup was thick and creamy and delicious. I am learning that it is hard to go wrong when ordering soup out here in Europe.


Another thing I forgot about is how good Coca Cola is in Europe. I ordered a coke and it came out in a glass bottle with a cup of ice on the side. It's funny how this little things make such an impact on a meal.


Drinking the coke reminded me of a lunch I had with my family during our Mediterranean cruise over 10 years ago. My dad would always order a coke and that's when I learned that Europeans serve their sodas fancy. Shout out pops!


Lunch was much needed because once finished, we got our second wind. We purchased a bottle of wine and flagged down a water taxi to take us out for an hour. The weather gods were on our side because, after a day of clouds, the sun peaked out as soon as I stepped onto the boat. We drive around for an hour admiring the city, singing classics, and sipping wine. This hour-long boat ride was the highlight of my trip abroad so far. I stood up in the front of the boat alone for a few minutes and took everything in. This was my “Whoa” moment of the week. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and could fathom how fortunate I was to be boating around Venice, Italy with my best friends.




Somehow, some way, the boat just happened to drop us off at the St. Regis hotel. Weird how things work out like that. Here we sat outside under the heaters and talked for hours. The servers continued to bring us out chef samplers of small toasts along with chips and crackers. My espresso martini was so good that I might say it’s even better than the ones at the St. Julian back in Boulder.


Sitting under the twinkling lights with the water just steps away made the night so special. We ended up ordering some dinner plates to share because we were not ready to leave the SR quite yet. The girls decided on a truffle pasta dish and I must admit, that was the only time I have ever enjoyed eating truffle.


As it got late we headed back to our Airbnb for a good night's rest. I’ll never forget about the stupid bird that interrupted that rest at the crack of dawn, though.


While walking the city on Sunday morning we passed dozens of watercolor stations. Artists were working all over the city painting the cobblestone walkways and rainbow houses. The detail of their work was so admirable and it reminded me to buy a paint set soon while I'm in Florence.

Our last stop before heading to the train station was something I had my eye on for a while: The Libreria Acqua Alta. The Libreria Acqua is known as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. I had heard so much about it and was pleased to find out that it was only a five-minute walk from where we are.

The library is located in an alleyway and wraps around to a courtyard. The line was fairly long and the store was crammed. It is not the best place to browse for a captivating read, however, it is a must to check out the books stored in the old gondola boats. The store is filled with vintage novels and magazines with a mix of English and Italian. The narrow walkways inside the store are just like the narrow canals in the city. There’s really only room for one at a time and you have to be careful not to bump into anyone or anything. The employees were welcoming and seemed to love their job. I highly recommend walking through The Libreria Acqua Alta during your trip to Venice.

I purchased a 1973 edition of National Geographic along with some vintage Italian postcards.



After a latte and an apricot jam-filled croissant, our time in Venice came to an end. As we rode home back to Florence, I reminisced on how incredible the boat ride was and how glad I was that we did that. It’s experiences like these that motivated me to study abroad in the first place. I hope to never forget that day or the feeling of bliss I experienced.





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