Day 2: Mantova

Everyday I'm here and every city I'm ibis amazing. I'm in awe of the culture and I enjoy each city more than the last.
So as I write right now I'm on a bus, like every morning, except today we are moving to VENICE! I'm very excited but a little bit anxious due to the fact that we will have to be more aware of how we are getting to and from our hostel than we were in Montagnana.
Anyways, Mantova. Ah Mantova. When we arrived it was raining, which really ia beginning to be a partvof our everyday life here. random rain showers which drop the temperature and give us all chills. We headed to a coffee shop and had some amazing cappachino which tasted nothing like the stuff that is in the US. This was not powder that was turned into a drink, it was actual chocolate and coffee. Yum. The woman in charge of our hostel came with us because she used to live in the city before she got married. So she knew a lot of what was going on and she was actually our tour guide that day. But first we had time to walk around and shop at the farmers market type of market that was going on. When we heard there was a market many of us thought it was going to be a farmers market that we have in the US with food and crafts. and that was not what we found. There was jewelry and clothing and fabric and beads and nearly everything we needed, and at a great price that you could barter for. It was wonderful.... Indeed.
When our hour of browsing came to a close, it was time to venture through the city to the Palazzo Te. This was quite the jaunt but it was totally worth it. When we finally arrived it was time for our bike rode, so we needed to run and get our bikes. We walked down to the bike shop and all the females (13 of 15) got light blue bikes with cute baskets on the front, like in The Wizard of Oz. We started on our bike journey which was full of minor crises left and right made me laugh and continues to bring a smile to my face because I can only imagine what we looked like to the Italians. Imagine it: 15 people with cameras out and old bikes traveling in a straight line. I felt like I was in the Von Trapp family. It really was amazing because the three lakes ofthe city are a bit flooded and we tried to find ways to go around all the lakes but many of the trails were nonexistent due to the water so we made it up as we went along, which included asking more than one native nonEnglish speaker for directions and riding on the incredibly narrow sidewalks that were very skillful and fast italian. Needless to say it was an interesting excursion but it was definitely a bonding experience for all of us.
When we were done with the bike ride we went for a boat ride. The ride was through part of the shallow part of one of the lakes. We were able to see Mantova from the water. It was beautiful. We were all so tired from our bike excursion that the only time we were super excited was when we saw wildlife. We saw ducks and swans and red herrins. It was fun but by the end of the day we were so tired. When we got on the bus, within 10 minutes of leaving the bus stop the entire bus was asleep. Except the driver of course. Tomorrow we are going to Venice and I am very excited to see the boats and rivers and all the amazing buildings and people. Wish me luck!!!!