Venice

Well what can I say.......This city had exceeded all my expectations of it and then some. All the pics I have seen in the past just dont do it justice, nothing like seeing a place in the flesh. After our flight we headed to Piazzale Roma where the bus from the airport dropped us off, there we were met by Roberto and Lucia, the couple who owned the apartment (called Ca Lucia) we rented for the four days. www.hostelworld.com 
They were brilliant! When we got to the apartment, they showed us all hte little bits to show and then showed us around the local Campo 'square' and gave us directions on how to get where, whats good food and good vino 'wine', they really gave our trip a great start!!!!!

As it was such an exhausting 4 days, things seemed to run into eachother from day to night to day, not knowing what we really did the day before. Most days we were up at 5am, going for walks and just taking in Venice whilst most people slept and we got some great early morning misty shots. We did all hte usual sighseeing places, although most we didnt get to go in. Even though we were there in 'off season' the ques were mad and people everywhere and there was so much to see of the city, we felt it pointless spending hours in ques!!!! Suprisingly Venice had a real Cosmopolitan feel to it, for such an old and rustic city there was loads of contemporary arts, everywhere!!!! So all those budding artists, Venice is a must! The food was lovely, although we didnt go and sit in a cafe or restaurant (in fear of the surcharges), we did find great food all day and the pizza is to die for, fresh and big! Most days we got a Panani or Bagette from a cafe, all the food we ate was fresh, healthy and yummy. We went to Rialto Markets and got 1kg of prawns, 1/2 kg of calamari and salad stuff, that night we cooked up a feast and it was such a great experience going to the market as the locals would, trying to converse in italian and actually getting what you want!!!! :) Not only was the food great but also the locals. We got lost one day and it seemed we were in the 'bronx' of Venice, if there could be such a place. there we were with our map out looking around (looking completely lost to the locals) this old man came up to us, looking at our map, pointing and chatting away in Italian, we had no idea what he was saying to us, but with abit of international language (body language)and a few 'si si' and 'grazie' we managed to get where we wanted to go from his directions, was a blast!!!!!!

All in all we had a blast and our feet were exhausted but we covered most of every district and those early nights were all worth it!!!!! The people are lovely, the food is great and city is to die for. 10/10

Tips:
* Look out for dog poo, although they are street sweepers every morning, the Venetians love their dogs!!!
* To see most Museums, you will need the Museum Card, thats the only way to see those sights
* The Bell Tower (across from Basilica) is a definate, the views are amazing!!!!!
* Just walk where ever your heart desires, get lost and indulge in Venice!!!
* We found walking at night fine, although aware of where we were and who was around, there seemed to be little crime in Venice.
* We came across 2 nuisances, 1. beggers shaking their money tins at us and 2. Scammers selling bags etc, just walk past ignoring them, they didnt seem to hassel people too much!
* Food is cheap, drinking is expensive!!