For our second wedding
anniversary, James decided to surprise me with a trip to Venice. He held this
surprise trip up his sleeve for months, and it wasn’t until we cleared customs
that he let the cat out of the bag! I was more than impressed after a difficult
time packing for the unknown!
We arrived in Venice
on the Friday afternoon, after an awesome view of Venice from the air. It is
difficult to comprehend how Venice will look if you have not been there; but it
literally is a place with over 150 islands, all grouped closely together and
with a main road stretching across the water to the centre. There are no cars,
so the daily commute is either on foot, through quaint, narrow streets or by
taxi ferry. It really is something else. We settled into our hotel for an early
night, following a lovely pizza and some gelato, ready to bus into the centre
tomorrow.
Saturday
An early start
following a yummy buffet breakfast (with pastries, cakes and all-at breakfast!)
James and I jumped onto a bus. Within 10 minutes we arrived at the centre and
was amazed to see the strikingly beautiful buildings and candy cane striped
poles in the water-exactly how you see it on the movies! We jumped onto a water
taxi and cruised the canels to find our bearings. It is easy to get yourself
lost on the narrow pathways, which we managed to do quickly, although this was
really a part of what made Venice so special. We stumbled across St Marks
Square, more gelato and after negotiation even took a gondola ride, which was
absolutely fantastic. I would really recommend doing a gondola ride.
Following lunch we
went to the Peggy Gugainhein Art Mueseum, where we saw some Picasso paintings,
as well as some very contempory pieces. To be fair, our art appreciation is
limited, so not a place we would recommend to people!
We then decided to
catch a water taxi out to another island, called Lido. This island has a beach,
which looked nice but on closer inspection, was full of rubbish. However the
gelato stores were endless, so it was not a lost trip!
After freshening up at
the hotel and a fairly average meal of pizza and spaghetti bolognaise, we
headed back into the heart of Venice and wandered the streets, to assess the
night life. Venice is very pretty
at night but it felt like it was only tourist’s out and about. We headed home
after a big day to rest our feet.
Sunday
For our last full day,
we caught a water taxi to Murano Island, which is where all the lovely glass
blowing is made. We watched a demonstration of a vase being made and walked the
hundreds of shops selling the products. Some amazing sculptures (with some
amazing prices!). I managed to purchase some Murano glass earrings. The rest of the day was spent cruising
the canals and walking the quaint streets we had not covered. We finished the
day with a the best meal of the trip; spinach and ricotta pasta in a veal sauce
and a seafood pasta in a cream sauce.
It is fair to say that overall Venice did not deliver on the food aspect
as it was rather pricey for a poor quality of food-sadly a sign that this place
has been over run by tourists. But
what it under delivers on food, it over delivers on beauty. Venice is definitely
recommended to visit.
