Welcome to the fourth article in the European Tour series!

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This is more of a rant honestly, but it has a good ending :)

Before this trip became a reality, I looked at the list of places we would be visiting and I got extremely excited. I had heard so many good things about every single place, and all of them met the expectations that I had in place for them...except this one. When I was in middle school, my teacher had told us a story of how he and his wife went to Venice for their Honeymoon, and again for a ten year wedding anniversary. They told us all these beautiful things and everything they had done. So when I saw the list, I thought of all those things and those were now my expectations. That didn't work out whatsoever.

Now don't get me wrong, the views and architecture was amazing, and the food? OH MY GOD. But the people absolutely ruined the atmosphere. I can understand getting annoyed with all the tourists that come through everyday, but still.

We went to this restaurant that seemed to be favored by a lot of the residents. It had a great ambiance and the food's smell alone made us drool. Our lunch group consisted of the band and choir kids alike (because remember, we went on this trip to perform). Like the cliche' Americans that we are, we decided to be funny and get common meals that are in an Italian restaurant. My reasoning was to know how certain dishes are SUPPOSED to taste, rather than what our chefs do to it. And just so you know, our chefs suck.

We all got a mixture of everything because we wanted to taste each other's food and it was AMAZING. I would say it's better than most sex, because my taste buds were experiencing great pleasure ;). (And of course we got alcohol.. I mean, obviously. We were drinking in every country). By the time our lunch almost came to an end, the choir people in our group realized that they had to perform in five minutes so they started to freak out. Us band kids said that we would take care of it and that it was no problem, so just go. This is where the main problem started.

I guess they've had issues with tourists coming to eat and then leave without paying, because they thought we were doing this. The staff basically barricaded our choir people in the restaurant until they paid. Seeing the incident, I got up and tried to explain what we were doing to them (and yes, they spoke English so they understood me). I explained that they had to perform so they had to leave, but the other half of our group would stay behind and finish our food, then pay for the bill. No harm done, right? Noooope. They decided to get rude and a little physical by pushing us back to our table so none of us could leave.

One of the choir guys from my high school ended up getting so pissed off at the situation that he threw money on the table, just enough to cover all of our meals, and shoulder-checked the waiter as he walked out. We followed because we didn't want to spend anymore time in there than he had to.

Now I have this little syndrome called Resting Bitch Face (s/o to all my girls that "suffer from this too. Cheers!). This enables me to look unapproachable even when I'm happy, but also gives me the ability to give people a look that they'll be scared of. In other words, if looks could kill, all the staff members that messed with us would've died right there.

Luckily, the choir people made their performance, just barely. Once they finished, we had some more tours and sight seeing to do. There was a beautiful Catholic Church with gold EVERYWHERE, and the water was a gorgeous shade of blue (even though they don't have plumbing, so the water is filled with shit). But honestly, the coolest thing that we came across, at least to me, was this building where they hand-make blown-glass everything; vases, shot glasses, glasses, necklaces, paper weights, you name it (click the link, and it's a video of a guy making a lion).

It was the coolest, most amazing thing I've ever seen.. until we walked into the store. It was breathtaking. I didn't want to move because I didn't want to break anything. I looked at all the shot glasses, necklaces, everything and I was in awe. I couldn't stop gazing at everything, knowing that it was all hand-made right here. Then I laid my eyes on a necklace.

The necklace was the most beautiful green I had ever seen. The glass beads varied in sizes, the biggest being in the center when you wear it, and the beads got smaller and smaller as it went around the neck. To put it into perspective, the smallest beads were about the size of a crumb. There was so much detail; so precise. I knew I couldn't let this necklace sit on the shelf anymore. I wasn't going to leave Venice without this necklace (I wish I had a picture to show).

Long story short, I bought it. You don't want to know the price I paid for it.. I'm literally cringing just thinking about it. But I didn't care. I was getting the for my mom because I knew that she would appreciate it and cry... I still refuse to tell her the price. That would make her cry more. :)

Fast-forward to when we got home for two seconds:

I was giving everyone their gifts from each country; dad, memee, my boyfriend at the time (so much regret), a gift for his mom, my best friend back home, and I saved my mom for last. I looked at her and said "I saved you for last because this is, by far, the best gift out of all of them and you WILL cry." My mom: "ah shit" (if you know her, you can guess the facial expression she made). I gave her the box with the necklace inside and simply told her to be careful. She opened it and there were instant tears. I told her about the glass-blowing shop, where they sell it, how amazing it all was, and when I saw that, I couldn't walk away from it. I knew she had to have it. *cue more tears* She gave me the tightest hug and smiled, "Jordyn, how much was this?"...."You don't wanna know..." My dad just nodded and accepted that answer (thank God).

To this day, she hasn't worn it, and I understand why. I'm not mad at all. I know my mom can be clumsy because I am too, and I know she wouldn't want to take a chance on breaking it. I know it would break her heart if she did. So instead, it sits on her dresser, looking as beautiful as it did on the shelf. It was by far the best gift I've ever gotten her.

I choose to make that place my one and only favorite memory of Venice. I honestly could've done without everything else. That might make me sound like a spoiled brat, but I really don't care. The people absolutely ruined it for me, and that place was the only thing that made up for it. My mom's reaction made going to Venice worth it and I'll never forget it.

Stay tuned for the next destination in the tour!