"IF YOU READ A LOT, NOTHING IS AS GREAT AS YOU'VE IMAGINED. VENICE IS -- VENICE IS BETTER"



Venice is a destination that seems to be on everyone's bucket list... It's just one of those places that you see on TV and convince yourself that there's nothing more that you want to do than relax on a Gondola along the Grand Canal with champagne in one hand and a slice of fresh Italian pizza in the other. Let me tell you that the TV & the glossy magazines don't even show a fraction of its beauty. Venice is incredible... something about the fact that the whole city is built on water makes it so unique and picturesque... it is without a doubt the most gorgeous place I have ever visited. Here is my Venice experience:



I was lucky enough to be whisked away by my boyfriend James to Venice for 3 nights/4 days so I was able to share this amazing experience with him *aw*. Once our plane landed we had to get a coach to the water bus station that took roughly an hour so that we could get a water taxi over to main land Venice. People weren't lying when they said that there were no roads or cars.. literally the only way to get to or around Venice was boat.. or swim I guess!
On arrival to the water bus station, disaster struck.. of course out of 365 days in a year.. the one day we arrive, the water buses were on STRIKE. On top of this the people at the information desk spoke very little English and were no help whatsoever leaving me and James trying to figure out what the hell to do. We were staying at a nearby island called Lido which meant we had to get a water bus through Venice and then switch to travel to the island. But no... what should of taken us 40 minutes to get to our hotel took us almost 4 HOURS. Usually the buses come every 5-20 minutes but today only a few were running and arriving every hour or so. After a few squabbles with James we decided just to hop on the next water bus and hope for the best. The buses were cramped with so many people and combined with the muggy heat and carrying our heavy suitcase around, it's safe to say we were all hot and flustered.


Ok, so now this is where our luck struck.. a Venetian man stood next to us and overheard us talking about not knowing where the hell to go and to our luck HE SPOKE PERFECT ENGLISH!! He managed to tell us where we had to get off and where to change boats etc I have never been so grateful in my entire life. 
We then had to walk through Rialto to San Marco and with all the tourists it was so hard to carry all of our luggage... Whilst walking through Saint Mark's Square I was greeted by an annoying small man who handed me a rose "for you" he said. I shook my head and said "no thank you" and carried on walking.. He insisted on giving me this rose making me think that it was free.. silly me falling into the rose trap as I took the rose "thanks".. He then turned to James and made a hand gesture that said "give me the money". Chucking the rose back at him we beat a hasty retreat, not looking back to avoid any awkward eye contact as he was chasing after us.

TIP 1: STAY AWAY FROM THE ANNOYING SMALL MEN

We finally got onto a water bus that took us to our island Lido, where we then caught a taxi to our hotel... Our taxi pulls over and the driver says "Its just down that street". Off James and I go wandering down this street with no one to be seen in sight.. we kept walking and walking and there was still NO SIGN OF OUR HOTEL. Yes this could only happen to us, I could only imagine us to look like the Chuckle Brothers.. The taxi man had abandoned us in the middle of nowhere .. things like this only in the movies am I right??? After several attempts of asking the odd passer-by where our hotel was the only option we had left was good old Google maps.. Just as we were about to drown ourselves in the canal... the taxi driver drove past and asked us if there was an issue. After apologizing because he dropped us off at the wrong place he said that he would take us to our actual hotel.. only to already have an old Italian couple sat in the back with whom I had to cosy up with whilst James sat in comfort in the front of the taxi.

TIP 2: IF THE TAXI MAN LOOKS DODGY... HE PROBABLY IS



So moving swiftly on from this nightmare, of course I had to share with you my favourite part of the holiday. You simply could not travel all the way to Venice and miss out on a Gondola experience. Although, I must say it was a pretty hefty price of 80 Euros but it was sooooo worth it. Getting into the Gondola was scary as you do feel as if you are going to capsize! Floating through the small canals you were able to get up close and personal with Venice. Our Gondolier also took us down the Grand Canal where we had the best view of the Rialto bridge. The Gondolier talked to us about the history of the buildings and how he fell into the canal twice!



Once you have your water bus pass you can literally hop on and off all the buses (I found it so surreal how you waited on a floating bus stop)... we decided to take a water bus to the island Murano. I must say there was little to do there and *confession* I think we were only there for less than an hour... BUT it was so so pretty & it looked like a painting.






My other favourite moment from my holiday was when we visited Saint Mark's square at night. The square was beautifully lit with such an atmosphere with people eating outside and music playing. Of course more of the annoying small men were lingering trying to sell you light up toys that you can shoot up into the sky and then catch.. our mistake AGAIN as we bought two and from then on every single annoying small man came up to us trying to sell us more... we already have two what could we possibly do with a pack of 10? Our inner child definitely came out as we played with these toys in the middle of the square.

REMINDER: STAY AWAY FROM THE ANNOYING SMALL MEN


The only downside to this beautiful place were the 'sky rats' that seemed to dominate Saint Mark's square. Pigeons.. Pigeons absolutely everywhere. Now I have a massive fear of Pigeons (don't ask) so understandably you can see why I was hesitant to visit there. What I can't quite seem to get my head around was the fact that people were buying food/seeds/shit whatever the hell it was and placed it on their hands waiting for flocks of pigeons to surround them. Not just even surround them.. the pigeons would sit on their heads!!

TIP 3: DON'T BE THE WEIRD PIGEON WHISPERER

 
Venice isn't just for the art lovers or the 'culture-vultures'.. it's also a shopper's heaven.. A shopper with £10000000 in their purse that is.. I must warn you that there are no Topshop's or Zara's tucked away in the side streets of Venice! You'll only see the best of the best.. Versace.. Prada... Even though I wasn't able to buy anything it was still satisfying to lust over the gorgeous, expensive clothes in the windows.. A girl can dream right?

Last but not least.. the food. Nothing beats Italian food... from Italy. My favourite meal had to be when we ate along the Grand Canal in a cute waterside restaurant. Watching the boats sail past, eating pizza and sitting in the most gorgeous weather.. it was perfect. Another thing that is a must is to buy ice cream!! Flavours upon flavours in the cutest little ice cream parlours.. yummy.



I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Venice and would 100000000% love to go back without a doubt.. Next up on the bucket list: PARIS *James if you're reading this... HINT HINT*

With love xo
Katie






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