Beautiful Venice

Over 20 000 steps later, I think it is safe to say we explored Venice.

We started with a walking tour looking at the little bridges with history like the one they used to fight on and the only wooden bridge in Venice (Ponte dell’Accademia) which crosses near the southern end of the Grand Canal. The view from the bridge was beautiful. I love the buildings with the shutters and the cute balconies.

We then entered St Mark’s Square – Piazza San Marco. This honestly took my breath away. The pictures and videos you see do not do it justice. It is massive and so stunning. The atmosphere is so lovely, with live bands playing beautiful music, the little cafes and shops down the side and then at the end the amazing St Mark’s Bell Tower and St Marks Cathedral (Basilica di San Marco). Unfortunately, we didn’t go inside as the queues were too long and we only had today in Venice, but the square itself was amazing.

After spending sometime in St Mark’s Square, we got on to a gondola and went for a ride around the canals. I absolutely loved this. It was so relaxing and so nice to see Venice from the canals. We saw, what some people on the tour think is a bridge over water, or what is better known as Rialto Bridge, which is magnificent. We even passed a gondola with a band playing, which was very special.

It was then time for lunch and being in Italy we had to have freshly made pasta. Sitting in a square near by we enjoyed our lunch before exploring Venice by foot. Popping into all the little Venetian shops, was great fun. There were so many quirky little places to see.

We then made our way to Rialto bridge to view the canal from it. It also has a wonderful view. There are so many lovely shops on Rialto bridge too. We couldn’t come to Venice without also seeing the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri).

After a lot of shopping, walking and sightseeing, a gelato was definitely on the cards. We stopped at a little gelato shop called Suso which apparently makes the best gelato in Venice. I can highly recommend it. We all had a variety of flavours and they all tasted amazing.

After doing some more wondering and shopping we headed off for dinner. It is our last night in Italy so pizza it was. Again we went to a highly recommended pizzeria called Rossopomodoro and enjoyed fantastic pizza!

It was a wonderful day and now for a good nights rest before tomorrows trip to Croatia. Ciao!

Collette

Collette is a foundation phase teacher at a prominent boys’ school in Cape Town, South Africa. After 4 years of University and into her 2nd year of teaching, she has decided it’s time to see the world.