Venice, Italy
Let me start by saying this... If you think Paris is the most romantic city in the world, then you need to book yourself a flight to Venice because that is where love is. Venice loved me from the moment the plane started descending to Marco Polo Airport to the moment I stepped out of my hotel room (got lost) and got myself back to mainland Venice.
Although I lived a bit of a track from the city centre (I lived in Mestre, not the best choice but everything was booked up in Venice as the annual festival Vogalonga (annual rowing competition) was on) I couldn't wait to see the magical city. And when it started raining... the magic seemed to increase.
The next day, the sun was shining...the birds were singing and I had big plans ! Explore the enchanting city of Venice and I think I did a pretty neat job of it 😛
If you're looking at my journey on a map, I travelled in a clockwise direction. This wasn't planned, I just happened to walk in that way...so here are some of the gems that I met along my way.
Some unexpected gems that I found included
Jewish community :
Grand Canal
The Famous Gondolas
For €80 you can get a trip on the Venetian Gondola. You'll find these beautiful boats everywhere in the city. It's one way of exploring the city, but I still strongly believe going out there and getting lost is always a better way of exploring the city.
The only word that could come out of my mouth when I got to San Marco was "Wow" !! Click on the panorama below to see it better...
Panorama of Piazza San Marco
Now....do you agree with me...that Venice is beautiful ...and romantic.Piazza San Marco is the city centre and here you'll find restaurants with live music and the best views in town..You'll find Basilica San Marco, Campanile ,the tall bell tower...make sure you go up this, no matter how long the queue. I promise you it's worth it. You'll also find the museum, which is behind where I'm standing and of course, round the other side of Basilica San Marco you'll find the Bridge of Sighs....and believe me, when you see it...you will sigh (though the sigh was really from the bridge looking at the city)
Did you sigh...have you opened another window to buy those tickets yet ? No ?Ok, continue on my walk with me.
After basking in the beauty of this place, I decided to head over to the area called Academia. From this point, you can see the other side of the island. You always want to see all sides to a place especially a place like Venice.
You must be wondering ,"How about a bird's eye view?" You only have to ask 😂...These are 360° views of the city of Venice from Campanile. To go up there, it will cost you about €10 but I highly recommend it.
So, now do you agree that Venice is the most beautiful place in Europe (so far....I'm yet to see more places) But it's by far the most romantic place.
All these shots were taken on 1 day. So you see, there's plenty to see when you're in Venice. You won't be bored.
I did a bit of Island hoping the next day....Stay tuned for that blog.
And always, till next time
X