Venice, Italy, Sun 24 Jan 2010

First thing we did in the morning was a Gondola ride. Ridiculous money but I had always wanted to so wasn't passing up the opportunity. Nick and I picked a beautiful red adorned Gondola and curled up under a blanket together. It was early morning and we were the only ones out in some of the canals. So gorgeous and so romantic. I don't know why people think Paris is the most romantic city, my vote is for Venice!

We spent the rest of the day walking the streets of Venice, we walked a lot that weekend! We visited a lot of mask shops and I ended up buying a small red one (even though I was convinced I wasn't going to).

We saw the Rialto bridge covered in market stalls. A bit too touristy and tacky in that area for me. Much preferred the back streets. Dinner was at our local again. More delicious pasta concoctions, but the real reason we came back twice? Their Lemon vodka sorbet. The best dessert I have ever tasted in my life! It was served in a champagne glass and was smooth enough to drink and wow how delicious it was!!

We had one more day on Monday exploring the streets of Venice and I swear I think we walked the entire island! It was a long long long journey back to London but it was so worth it. Venice was an amazing city, one of my favourites ever. I'm so glad we went during the low season.

Venice, Italy, Sat 23 Jan 2010

Today was all about exploring the city. Actually that's what most of the weekend was about! But today we walked towards San Marco square, walking over accademia bridge, wondering through tiny alleyways and marveling at all the mask shops.

San Marco was surprisingly quiet but sadly there was a lot of work going on so the tower was closed and both the tower and the church was covered in scaffolding. I guess there is a downside to visiting in the off season. But it was still a beautiful place and my favourite part of the square was the pink lights. They were very cool.

We were incredibly lucky and had a stunning day on Saturday. It was still cold but not a cloud in the sky. The Bridge of Sighs was a disappointment as more restoration work was going on and they covered all the scaffolding with what looked like advertising. Oh well these things happen.

The waterfront was wonderful to walk along and we got a bit over-zealous with the stalls and bought a few paintings. Oh well we had lots of fun!

In the afternoon we walked along the waterfront on our hotel side of the island and stopped off for gelato. Haha only me, freezing day, wearing gloves and I'm eating ice cream! Well you can't go to Italy and not have gelato! We came across some guys launching a boat which was fascinating to watch because they were using a crane type thing to do it.

We came to the end of the island and it has a point designed to feel like the bow of a ship and it definitely did. The views back over San Marco and to the church on the other side were fantastic too. There was a huge dome church around the corner which we explored before walking through the arty district (lots of art museums and very expensive galleries) back to our hotel.

That night we found a recommended pizzeria. It took awhile to get a seat but well worth it. Delicious food, more great wine. No english menus so we knew were were in a local place. It was perfect. We had a great time walking around the canals and tiny Venice streets in the moonlight too.

Venice, Italy, Fri 22 Jan 2010

Arriving in Venice is quite indescribable. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been. I was apprehensive about visiting Venice as I had heard such mixed things about it but we had the fortunate luck of going during winter on a weekend where the skies were a piercing blue meaning we got the best of both worlds; nice weather (albeit a little cold) and the quiet winter streets enabling us to see Venice the way it should be, amongst all the locals and with only a scattering of tourists.

We were really lucky, I had managed to get a flight deal, £24 and Nick and I were on our way to Venice. Unfortunately it did mean we had to fly ryan air, my most hated airline and a very very long journey to get where we need to go but hey you get what you pay for right? So after 2.5 hours getting to Stanstead airport and then another 1 hour bus at the other end to Venice we finally made it.

Venice can be a bit daunting the first time you arrive, the little streets, canals and multitude of bridges can confuse even the most seasoned traveler. So we decided to take the Vaporetto water ferry as our accommodation was just round the corner from one of the major stops (Accademia). The water ferry is ridiculously overpriced and it was the really long way around but it was a great introduction to Venice.

The ride along the Grand Canal was stunning. Venice, a city on water, is absolutely fascinating. You can't help but be enchanted by everyone doing their day to day tasks on boats - house movers, traders, policeman, cranes - you name it and it was on a boat! And the buildings right on the Grand Canal waterfront were beautiful. It really was a magical place.

Our hotel reception was down some tiny little side alley but they took us around the corner to a different entrance for our room. Our room was up on the 1st floor and overlooked a canal. It was perfectly romantic! That night we decided to have dinner at the little restaurant right next to our hotel. The food was delicious and the wine even better. By the end of our Venice weekend I became an expert at ordering half a litre carafe of red wine in Italian. We ate and drank our way through Venice! The best way to experience an Italian city.