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Venezia
19-09-2011Back from a break in Italy and to say it was amazing is falling below par in terms of describing how fantastic this holiday was. We went to the beautiful city of Venice for five days and we managed to pack as much as possible into our time spent there.
I have never been to Venice but I am sure many people like myself have seen the city feature in films, stunning pictures and romantic stories, so I had an idea in my head of what to expect. I wasn't even close. The real thing far outshone anything my imagination could conjure up. It was simply magical. Everything from the countless narrow winding streets to the intricate canal system, the old style buildings to the perfectly driven boats it was all amazing. We travelled the city on a gondola on our final night and our gondolier summed it up best by describing the city as a museum in itself. Hours could so easily slip by just walking through the streets and taking in everything.
We did a good bit of the 'tourist' things, we checked out St Marks Square and fed the birds, which was unbelievably surreal, standing in the middle of a huge square in the scorching sun surrounded by birds who are convinced you make a good perch. We got to visit the Basilica and go to the highest point of the city for some views, which was an experience in itself in that for a city that has hundreds of canals, you cannot see any from it's highest point. We stood and took snaps on and under Rialto Bridge, we saw the Bridge of Sighs and the prisons by it.
We did some 'us' things, like find the only place in Italy that makes praline ice cream (himself is a HUGE fan of praline) and we popped along to a unique wine bar in the city that has the most wines from that region to sample some of their offerings (for any other wine lovers out there it's Al Volto and make sure to have a glass of their house prosecco!!), and we sampled as much Italian food as our poor stomachs could handle. Boy to the Italians know how to cook!!
We spent hours walking the streets and checking out all the shops and stalls, we must have tried on a million Venetian masks and even got a lesson in making them from a very nice man on our last night. As I mentioned we also got a gondola ride on our last night before heading for a meal in a restaurant along the canal. I don't consider myself a hugely soppy person but that was one of the most romantic things. Yes, I know it's so clichéd and everyone does it but Venice at night by gondola is something I think everyone should experience sometime in their life. It was breath taking.
I could go on and on but my words would never do the trip justice so before showing some snaps I will offer some brief but wise advice for anyone thinking of paying this beautiful place a visit:
Bring flat and comfortable shoes - the city has no cars (read no taxis) and unless you plan on forking out £100 on a gondola more than once then walking is your best bet for getting around
Water taxis / buses are not gondolas - there is a reason they only cost £6 and most of the time it's actually quicker to walk from one end of the city to the other rather than waiting to get on a boat which stops every 100 yards along the canal
The Bridge of Sighs is sinking - and so the majority of it is under cover while it goes under extensive renovation. You can still see the main part but if you make the trip to see the bridge be prepared, it's going to be pretty wrapped up for another little while
Venice is expensive - there is no way around it. It has a reputation for being one of the most expensive cities in Europe and boy does it live up to that reputation. If you are planning on doing the city on a budget it's possible as long as you stay of the tourist track when it comes to food and drink. Souvenirs are pricy and cheap Venetian masks are usually fake plastic ones. It doesn't have to break the bank but a word of advice if you want to do the big tourist things then go with plenty of spending money. Gondolas are expensive and unlike in the movies they cannot be haggled on price. Most museums and places with admission charge £8 in and almost ALL the restaurants in the main tourist areas include a cover charge and a service charge in their bill
There is better food off the beaten track - we ate in a restaurant along the canal on our final night and it was by far the most expensive meal we had while we were there and it wasn't the best quality. We found that places off the beaten track were more reasonable the both the food and wine were outstanding. It's worth it for a better meal to go for a bit of a walk
Wine is cheaper than soft drinks - himself doesn’t drink and I love wine so this was something we found quite funny
Romance is in the air - it's a city that is famed for romance and given that there are no nightclubs and the majority of bars and restaurants close at around 12.30am it is more suited to a couples holiday rather than say a lads getaway
Never leave without a map - Getting from 'A' to 'B' might seem really simple when you know that 'B' is directly across the city from 'A' but when you have lots of canals running through that route and bridges are only dotted around it takes a little more planning and negotiating that most cities
The best bit of advice I can give though is go. It is a city that is astounding and if you have a chance to see it you should get your ass there and not miss one minute of it! I know that's what I did
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