What really sticks out in my brain when I think back to Venice is definitely all the bridges. I researched it later on and it turns out that there are over 400 bridges in Venice and I can honestly say that Luch and I went up and over all of them with our half wheely suitcases in tow.
We had found this lovely accommodation on Airbnb. Another gem that looked a bit old and dodgy from the outside, but inside was made up like a five star hotel. That was starting to be our norm and we didn’t really mind it. What we did mind was having to collect the keys to our accommodation which was only a short walk from the Venezia Santa Lucia train station, but then we had to walk another 30 minutes to arrive at our accommodation.
If we’d known at the time that we would have to carry our suitcases up and over every single bridge in Venice and that they would all be filled to the brim with tourists, we definitely would have found another way to get there. Probably by waterbus since that ended up being the cheapest and easiest way to get around.
At least the accommodation was worth it when we eventually got there and were so exhausted from all the exercise. Luch was sent out to find a grocery store once more, as I couldn’t face getting lost down one more passageway in Venice. Apparently my directional skills only get worse when I’m travelling. 🙂
The next day started out better. I suppose that was mainly because we didn’t have to carry our suitcases with us. Any day where it was just us and a bag of food and water was a blessing!
So, we left our accommodation early, hoping to miss the majority of tourists who we hoped would only be arriving later and started our short walk to St Mark’s Square. What better place to start our Venice journey than in the main square where a whole bunch of sights can be found. We saw St Mark’s Basilica with it’s amazing golden decor. St Mark’s Campanile (Bell Tower), the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s astronomical Clock.
We also gazed at the pigeons that flocked the tourists surrounding us. They were actually less than I remembered and it was only later that I saw big signs up everywhere that read “Don’t feed the pigeons!”. I had always assumed that was just as much a sight as St Mark’s Basilica, but apparently things change. Not that I really minded, as I had been covered in pigeons the first time I visited Venice, but Luch definitely missed out. 🙂
We somehow managed to find time to take selfies with the Bridge of Sighs, buy Cannoli’s and an Oreo Donut just outside the Rialto Bridge and also take a few photos of the canals and the many gondola’s that traversed them. We decided not to go on one as I had also done this before and at the price of 50 Euros or more, we both decided we could go without.
We did carve out some savings for a day trip out to Murano and Burano islands. Luckily we researched it beforehand and found that it would be cheaper for us to just take a waterbus out to both, instead of paying a tour agency to guide us around. Besides, we had gotten very good at doing our own thing. We weren’t at all sure we knew how to follow a group anymore!
Murano and the Original Murano Glass Factory and showroom (OMG for short) was worth it when we eventually got it. All I will say though is, if you have a website where people can book a time slot to visit the factory, stick with the time slot. Don’t have people arrive and be told that the glass blowers are currently on lunch. Only in Italy! And Africa of course!
It was just amazing to see how quickly the glass blowers work and there incredible results afterwards. They train for years to be the best and I believe they are. After the demo, we walked through the showroom and found numerous things that we wanted to take home, but the most beautiful was a black glass sculpture with a jellyfish inside that was lit up from behind. Luch and I fell in love, that was until we saw the price tag of course. Maybe someday when we win the Lotto, 3500 Euros will be more in our budget.
We jumped on another waterbus and headed to Burano and it’s beautiful coloured houses. They definitely stood out in my mind and I came back home wanting to liven up my house with some of the colours and hues we had seen. I loved the way that not one house was even the same shade. They were all so different, but yet they didn’t clash. We took photos everywhere and watched as people tried to take the perfect Instagram photos from the tiniest bridge just over the water. It didn’t matter that there were about 50 people on the bridge, girls would still sit down and flick their hair back and forth until they got the desired look and then finally took their multi shot picture. We had to laugh, because sometimes it is just nice to put your phone away and enjoy what is right in front of your eyes.
Our last day, we were up early and had a task and a half to complete. We had to take our rubbish to the rubbish barge up the road and we had no idea where it was. I sent Luch on his own with the instructions we’d been given from our host and I got us packed up and ready to go. He took longer than planned, but came back raving about how cool it was. Yes it might have been a boat full of rubbish, but we’d never seen one before and we thought it was pretty interesting.
We left Venice in a much better mood than when we arrived. In large part due to the pastries we found along our way and also the few quiet moments that we managed to find down random passageways on our journey home every evening.
