Once more: Venice, Italy

What a great day! I woke up and hopped on a water taxi with 15 other BYUers. 
We got off by this really pretty church. There are churches everywhere with beautiful stained glass, super high ceilings, and amazing sculptures and paintings. It never gets old. The majority of them/ all of them are Catholic churches. So I went in there and went in this prayer room and I definitely felt the spirit. It was really nice.
We sat outside the church on the steps for a really long time just enjoying the view and the nice weather. It's funny because all of us are all so comfortable with each other. I can have an easy conversation with anyone in the group and we're all about back scratching and massages etc. Any still moment and we've got a line started. So we all sat outside scratching each others backs and talking for a long time. And of course, like everywhere else we go people were filming the weird things us Americans do. It amazes me how fascinating we are. I don't get it. 
Finally we got up and took a water taxi to the bridge of sighs. Supposedly if you kiss underneath it, you'll have a life full of romance. It's stuck right between the prison and a beautiful palace. 
All of the girls got matching gondolier sweatshirts that I'm in love with. I can't wait for it to be coldish :)
We then went on a hunt for food which some of the girls found and we went to sit outside of the basilica. So I mentioned how there are a lot of pigeons. Oh my gosh. My worst nightmare became a reality. Pigeons. Everywhere. To the left: pigeons flying over Morghen, Jessica, and Emily's food creating feather residue. To the right: pigeons covering a small boy's body from head to toe. From behind: pigeons flailing and flapping around trying to get around me. It was terrible. There were a million and they were ON people. Eww eww eww. I couldn't handle it. 
Another thing this girl isn't a big fan of: cheese. Id like to inform you all that I am a changed human. I hate to admit it but I kinda like it now. Mozzarella balls and cut tomatoes is like one of the most delicious things ever. I love mozzarella balls!! Moral of the story: I had mozzarella and tomato pizza for lunch and it was the best pizza in Italy.
After all the excitement Morghen, Maren, and I went on a shopping adventure to Coop. I can't tell you how excited supermarkets make me these days. It's a rare and royal occasion to find one. It's such a special treat :) we bought us some fruit and went back to the hotel. 
I threw on a skirt and went to Catholic mass with Danielle and Todd. Danielle was raised catholic and has only been a member since 17 so he wanted to experience mass in Italy. And what kind of crazy person would miss mass in Italy? I looked forward to it all day! We walked to this church and sat down and the two guys walked in and did their thing. We stood up and knelt and tried to follow along. Everything was in Italian though so it was hard to say and impossible to understand but we got the jist of it. Like the Fathers prayer( I think that's what it's called) was understandable. It was really cool. I seriously really enjoyed it. I'm so glad I got to do it. When I get back to the states I want peanut butter and another go round at mass to understand it this time. It was a little different and only like 25 minutes but I loved it!! So glad I went. 
We walked back to the hotel and went gondola hunting. They're really expensive but it's one of those things you have to do. When in Rome... 
Anyways, we found this place and hands down, bar none, the most attractive man I have seen this far. He was a gondolier. What a beautiful man. So we obviously got on his gondolier and explored the canals. It wasn't anything incredible. But I enjoyed myself for sure. I'd love to do it again with the love of my life. Can't wait for Italy take 2 haha. 
Morghen and I needed a moment so we took a pizza gelato take 2 and went back by the church. We ate our pizza in front if the fire station. Perfect. And then gelatto in front of the church while music played in the background. It was so peaceful and calming. It was a perfect way to end Italy. 
We went back and I hung out in my Aladdin pants and just chilled. No internet so we created our own fun.  It was a great last night. 
My roommate! Fat kid Kelly. Ha! Her name is Kelly Carrasco. Best middle name ever. She's 22 and is majoring in advertising. She's super loud and outgoing but is freaking hilarious. Reminds me of a combo of Katie an Payt. (Who I miss the crap out of :( ) love her. Out hotel key said "Mr and Mrs Carrasco" the first night so we pretended we were honey mooning. It was quite fun/funny. 
I have a wake up call at 4:45 so goodnight friends and family :)