Brad Pitt followed me to Venice...kind of.

While most of you fabulous people were walking your hearts out for Purple Stride in honor of my dad, I was rocking the purple with my masquerade mask.

We took a day trip to Venice for Carnivale, and apparently Brad Pitt and Angelina were there too. Who knows, I might have walked passed them since everyone was wearing masks and costumes. This could be them...

We took a charter bus and got there in the afternoon and stayed until the late evening. It was so much fun, Venice was absolutely beautiful and the Carnivale celebrations were incredible. The bus parked outside of the city, so it took us 45 minutes to walk to the main part of the city (and I am still managing to gain weight, hmmm) Once you got to the city we walked through a ton of small little streets that led into the main piazza. I don't know how the people in Venice find their way around.  I don't have any pictures to show you because I was too concerned with keeping up with the group, otherwise I would have never found the piazza. We stopped at a small pizza shop and had the most amazing pizza. See you can't even tell by the picture that I make such an effort to capture pictures for you guys, I couldn't even wait to take a bite. You can't tell but the slice was huge!

We always seem to get lucky with weather with the places we have been visiting. The sun was out and the sky was so blue...I appreciate it because it makes my pictures look way better :)

It was so exciting to see bodies of water for once! It reminded me of home. My favorite part was, of course, the canals. I am not sure if gondalas are considered a tourist trap, but they are pretty pricey. Some people said it is because the guys have to own and maintain the boats. We split the cost among four of us, so it wasn't that bad, and it was one of my favorite parts of Europe so far! Anddd they only sing at the Ventian in Vegas and movies. So I sang instead, haha jk.

After the gondola ride we went to dinner at a little restaurant near Piazza San Marco (where all of the festivities took place). We ate at Al Conte Pascaor, which I later realized was a seafood restaurant. I played it safe and ordered the lasagne, BUT you will be happy to hear that I tried Olivia's Spaghetti alle Vongole (CLAMS) and I loved it! Eeek, can't believe I said it. Mary would not appreciate this haha. Everytime I try something new I think of how you will all be so proud, especially my daddy. I have pictures to prove it!

Yummy Lasagne!

Don't mind my pretty roommate in the background. Yup those are clams going into my mouth.

At the end of the night the city had a huge ceremony in Piazza San Marco...there was an incredible fire show. Such a great way to end the night.

Although extremely tired, it was nice to come home and hear about the Purple Stride event that my family attended. For those of you that don't know, I spent 6 months helping plan this fundraising walk for pancreatic cancer before leaving for Italy. I was sad I couldn't attend the event, but it was nice to know that many of our family and friends joined dad, mom, and Ali! Here are some pictures of the event. It is such an amazing feeling to know that I helped put together an event that raised $87,000. I was able to write a letter to honor my dad and the other survivors that they read before the walk. Thank you all for your participation and support. I know my dad was extremely surprised with the turn out and thanks you all for being there!

Dad, you are such a handsome fellow.

TEAM GENE!

And I am sure my Uncle Mike would like for me to announce that Dad and Mike won the leizure walk!

Love and miss you all! Don't forget to remind your family and friends how much they mean to you :) We live for ourselves, but also for each other!

Hugs and kisses!

xoxo

ciao.