What were you grateful for this week?I got to see Venice before it sinks!

What was the most challenging part of this week?My friends leaving to go home to America.Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. [My host family’s daughter] had a birthday this week!

Tell us about your week!The weather has been so nice this week! It has been so nice to be able to go out on walks in the sun without wearing a coat! I took lots of walks this week in the vineyards and it was so nice. In the past few weeks everything has started blooming and Italy has gotten even more beautiful! I did not think that was even possible, but here we are! Everything is so green and there are flowers everywhere. I love it.

This weekend I went to Venice and met up with T and her family. They are the nicest people! The first day I walked around on my own for a while. I took the water bus to Murano island. It is famous for its hand-blown glass. They make the most beautiful art from it! I even got to watch them make a glass vase and a fish sculpture! It was really cool to see such an old tradition and hear about how it came to be. After that I got some of the best gelato I’ve had since i got here. It came in a real waffle! That night we took the water bus down the entire grand canal. It was so pretty at night with all of the lights reflecting off of the water.

The next day we went to Burano, another Island. We went to the lace museum and walked around the little town. It was SO CUTE. All of the houses were painted in bright colors and it was just the best. I say we start doing this in America.