Isn’t it the most blissful experience getting to tick something off your travel bucket list? Several months after ticking New York off that very list we got to do the same with our family day trip to Venice.
We grabbed a bus from the centre of Jesolo which took us to Punta Sabbioni where we got the boat across to Venice. No, we made a boo boo and got off a stop early much to the amusement of my Italian friend who was travelling with us, she had sat at the top of the boat where we waited down the bottom. We should have realised we weren’t quite there as we lacked the famous Vence landmarks in front of us as we were getting off, but it turned out to be one of those good mistakes. We found ourselves getting to see the quieter part of Venice where there were fewer tourists to be seen.
After walking for a bit, we decided that it would be unfair to the kids to subject them to more walking than was needed, so we hopped on another boat which took us straight to where we needed to go. Upon seeing the gondolas, I did the same excited squeal that I did upon seeing the Hollywood sign for the first time., it’s that moment you realise you’re precisely where you want to be.
We made no plans with regards to what we wanted to see or do in Venice; it was merely a case of letting our feet do the walking, and our eyes do the marvelling.
Our friends were found just off the square enjoying wine and basking in the sun, would have been rude of us not to join them right? This is where we discovered precisely how pricey it is to sit at a table and drink wine and if my memory serves me right we paid around 8 euros for a glass of wine each. Apparently the further as you go towards the back streets away from the tourist trap, the cheaper it becomes.
The timing of our visit (late September) could not be any more perfect, the heavier tourist areas during the summer were fairly quiet with the bonus of that summer weather still lurking around.
Obviously, our eldest understood more about Venice than what his younger sibling did; they just found it so exciting that with every twist and turn they took down an alley, water surrounded them. It turned into a game for them which we shall call ‘get as lost as you can in Venice’, not a bad game to play on a sunny day in such a beautiful place.
We made the most of the food on offer to us in Venice that day, we had lunch, we had dinner, we had various stops for refreshments (cough.. prosecco), and we had lots of cake. Our inner foodies were pleased with how well we did that day with regards to authentic Italian cuisine.
Everywhere we turned there was something to see, learn about, smell, watch and so much more which pleased the senses. It’s left me with the desire to come back but this time stay and take longer to take it all in.
The Rialto Bridge below is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal, and we got the treat of seeing it from both the water and as we crossed over it.
I guess we could have done our homework into what we wanted to see in Venice but in true Me, The Man & The Kids style, we like to just go with the flow when it comes to our travelling adventures.
Pinterest was looked at though, and pins were added to my Venice board in true hoarder fashion, and one pin I remember was of these hands on this building. I almost skidded on the remains of the fish market as I rushed to take my photo, the kids thought it ridiculously cool, and I promised them we would find out more about them when we got back that evening, and we did. Titled Support, the piece from Artist Lorenzo Quinn shows a pair of large hands rising from the water to support the sides of the Ca’ Sagredo Hotel, a visual statement of the impact of climate change and rising sea levels on the historic city.
The whole Gondola ride was something I wasn’t fussed about, I’ve always admired the romantic aspect to them and I was looking forward to watching them in action but going on one just didn’t interest me. That was until I was stood right there in Venice and with the children looking at them in amazement, so we flagged one down and hopped on, and it was the water version of a magic carpet ride. Just look at those smiles, it was worth every Euro to take in this beautiful place from a different perspective.
Venice was everything we had dreamt it to be; it was mesmerising, it was art brought to life with the most stunning backdrop and has left me in agreement that it is indeed one of the beautiful cities in the world.
