Bounjourno my loves. It's been a while – I've been hibernating a little over the last couple of months, due to a number of personal factors (more on that in a future post) combined with the pressure and number of hangovers that come with the festive period. But I'm finally emerging from my end-of-year slump, feeling more like myself and of course – the first thing I wanted to do was write. This blog is my baby, writing is my therapy and whilst the end of 2018 brought with it some hefty challenges – it was still a year full of adventures, stories and lessons that now feel excited to share on here.
So today, I'm here some words on my beautiful little trip to Venice, Italy back in November. I think I can fairly say that Italy is probably my favourite place in Europe. Don't get me wrong – I adore nearly every spot I travel to – but there's something about this country that (though often touristy) feels untouched and charmingly grand. The food is amazing, the locals even more so. And the beauty of it? Well, it's pretty damn spectacular and after this trip I vowed to spend plenty more time here next year.
The last time I visited Italy was to catch the last of 2017's summer along the Amalfi coast and this trip, well it was quite the opposite. But no less magic. Charlotte and I managed to book our three days in Venice during 'Aqua Alta' (high water in Italian), i.e the 3 days of the year that Venice flooded the most it had in over a decade. It was definitely an experience, and to be honest it was pretty cool to be there to see it.
I arrived a few hours before Charlotte and was pretty surprised to see the canals spilling over the pavements as I pulled up on the ferry. Everyone seemed to be wearing these plastic overshoe wellies too – I knew it was raining, but surely this was a bit of drastic measure? 5 minutes into my walk to the hotel I saw just now necessary they were, as I had to cary my case over a foot of water down one ally. Fortunately, I saw the hilarious side to this and waded my way to the hotel.
We spent three nights at Hotel Canaletto, a gorgeous boutique hotel situated in the heart of the city and an absolute bargain. We paid £66 a night with breakfast for a standard room – super clean with the most charming interiors and plush details, with a view out onto a charming traditional Venetian street. Everyone told me how expensive Venice would be, and for the price we paid I was expecting a box room – but it was spacious and beautiful and much larger than budget rooms in Paris, for example. The staff here were also such a delight, the wonderful lady on the front desk even lent me her own personal wellies so I could go out and pick up a disposable pair of my own!
By the time Charlotte arrived, the tide had gone back down and I was already a couple of Aperol Spritz deep, and after dropping off her luggage we promptly headed out for a romantic dinner next to the iconic Rialto bridge. Again, I was expecting to pay an arm and a leg for dinner – especially next to such a touristy spot – but two margaritas and a glass of red each only set us back €30.
And that's when I realised what a beautiful fusion of super-luxe and old charm Venice was. Sure, you can pay €30 for a single bellini at Harry's bar but you can also get a delicious home made slice of pizza from a tiny local window for €2 right around the corner. It was right outside Louis Vuitton I purchased my pair of disposable wellies from a street seller. But aside from all this, the thing that really bound the city together was the sheer beauty of it.
It is a pretty marvellous thing to behold, a city built entirely on water literally centuries ago. It's history shows in the grand architecture, the odd crack here or there and the quaint, cobbled streets leading to tiny archways, each island surrounded by dusty turquoise water and all connected by ornate bridge after bridge. The canals often echo with the sound of Gondoliers singing, so if you didn't already feel like you're in a movie set – that'll do the trick. Though you can get private water taxi's or the public ferry, my biggest piece of advice when visiting Venice is to explore as much as you can of it on foot, there's something you'll want to see on every corner.
We managed to see everything we wanted in the short time we were there, and managed to avoid huge influx's of tourists for the most part. Our first visit to St Marks Square was pretty comical, the piazza was totally submerged and people were even swimming in it! It was pretty cool to see, but it was a tad to cold and er, dirty, for me to think about submerging myself into entirely. We settled for water up to knee-hight which I'm sure you can imagine was ridiculous when it came to getting our travel shots. But hey, we avoided creating every other cliche blogger shot in Venice, disposable wellies and all.
What also charmed me during this time, was the business as usual attitude held by most of the locals. Most seemed prepared with door blockades, and those not just happily waded about their shop in wellies. Restaurants carried on serving food, as did the local shops Although, I did have a chuckle at one frantic shop assistant panic-stacking Givenchy bags up on to the highest shelf. We even had dinner that night in a restaurant semi-submerged in water. But with unwavering warm Italain service, I happily enjoyed my spaghetti vongole and carafe of white wine in my new wellies, canal water up to my ankles.
And as if by magic, the sun came out for our last day and the tide shrank back to its usual level. Walking through the dry square in warm, brilliant sunshine you'd never a clue it was under several feet of water only 24 hours previously. We made a flying visit over to Burano on this day too. We only had enough time for a quick stroll and a photo or two, but it was still so lovely to visit this colourful little island. In the summer I imagine I'd stay for a gelato and have a proper browse through the few local shops.
And for sure, I'll be back very soon. Especially now I know how much more accessible and affordable this gorgeous little Italian city is (my flight from Bristol was £35 with Ryan Air, and I've seen cheaper!). Though I enjoyed every minute of my sometimes very damp few days here, I think it would be a beautiful place to visit in the spring time too. I hope you've enjoyed my musings over Venezia and hopefully you're inspired to visit this year too. Shop my looks via the links below.
Majorelle polka dot dress via Revolve, Topshop baker boy, New Look trainers, Nicole green dress by Revolve, Gucci Dionysus, Liam tie crop top by Revolve, Nastygal leopard maxi, Topshop polka skirt, Miss Selfridge girls tee (now £8), Daniel Footwear boots,
Bounjourno my loves. It's been a while – I've been hibernating a little over the last couple of months, due to a number of personal factors (more on that in a future post) combined with the pressure and number of hangovers that come with the festive period. But I'm finally emerging from my end-of-year slump, feeling more like myself and of course – the first thing I wanted to do was write. This blog is my baby, writing is my therapy and whilst the end of 2018 brought with it some hefty challenges – it was still a year full of adventures, stories and lessons that now feel excited to share on here.
So today, I'm here some words on my beautiful little trip to Venice, Italy back in November. I think I can fairly say that Italy is probably my favourite place in Europe. Don't get me wrong – I adore nearly every spot I travel to – but there's something about this country that (though often touristy) feels untouched and charmingly grand. The food is amazing, the locals even more so. And the beauty of it? Well, it's pretty damn spectacular and after this trip I vowed to spend plenty more time here next year.
The last time I visited Italy was to catch the last of 2017's summer along the Amalfi coast and this trip, well it was quite the opposite. But no less magic. Charlotte and I managed to book our three days in Venice during 'Aqua Alta' (high water in Italian), i.e the 3 days of the year that Venice flooded the most it had in over a decade. It was definitely an experience, and to be honest it was pretty cool to be there to see it.
I arrived a few hours before Charlotte and was pretty surprised to see the canals spilling over the pavements as I pulled up on the ferry. Everyone seemed to be wearing these plastic overshoe wellies too – I knew it was raining, but surely this was a bit of drastic measure? 5 minutes into my walk to the hotel I saw just now necessary they were, as I had to cary my case over a foot of water down one ally. Fortunately, I saw the hilarious side to this and waded my way to the hotel.
We spent three nights at Hotel Canaletto, a gorgeous boutique hotel situated in the heart of the city and an absolute bargain. We paid £66 a night with breakfast for a standard room – super clean with the most charming interiors and plush details, with a view out onto a charming traditional Venetian street. Everyone told me how expensive Venice would be, and for the price we paid I was expecting a box room – but it was spacious and beautiful and much larger than budget rooms in Paris, for example. The staff here were also such a delight, the wonderful lady on the front desk even lent me her own personal wellies so I could go out and pick up a disposable pair of my own!
By the time Charlotte arrived, the tide had gone back down and I was already a couple of Aperol Spritz deep, and after dropping off her luggage we promptly headed out for a romantic dinner next to the iconic Rialto bridge. Again, I was expecting to pay an arm and a leg for dinner – especially next to such a touristy spot – but two margaritas and a glass of red each only set us back €30.
And that's when I realised what a beautiful fusion of super-luxe and old charm Venice was. Sure, you can pay €30 for a single bellini at Harry's bar but you can also get a delicious home made slice of pizza from a tiny local window for €2 right around the corner. It was right outside Louis Vuitton I purchased my pair of disposable wellies from a street seller. But aside from all this, the thing that really bound the city together was the sheer beauty of it.
It is a pretty marvellous thing to behold, a city built entirely on water literally centuries ago. It's history shows in the grand architecture, the odd crack here or there and the quaint, cobbled streets leading to tiny archways, each island surrounded by dusty turquoise water and all connected by ornate bridge after bridge. The canals often echo with the sound of Gondoliers singing, so if you didn't already feel like you're in a movie set – that'll do the trick. Though you can get private water taxi's or the public ferry, my biggest piece of advice when visiting Venice is to explore as much as you can of it on foot, there's something you'll want to see on every corner.
We managed to see everything we wanted in the short time we were there, and managed to avoid huge influx's of tourists for the most part. Our first visit to St Marks Square was pretty comical, the piazza was totally submerged and people were even swimming in it! It was pretty cool to see, but it was a tad to cold and er, dirty, for me to think about submerging myself into entirely. We settled for water up to knee-hight which I'm sure you can imagine was ridiculous when it came to getting our travel shots. But hey, we avoided creating every other cliche blogger shot in Venice, disposable wellies and all.
What also charmed me during this time, was the business as usual attitude held by most of the locals. Most seemed prepared with door blockades, and those not just happily waded about their shop in wellies. Restaurants carried on serving food, as did the local shops Although, I did have a chuckle at one frantic shop assistant panic-stacking Givenchy bags up on to the highest shelf. We even had dinner that night in a restaurant semi-submerged in water. But with unwavering warm Italain service, I happily enjoyed my spaghetti vongole and carafe of white wine in my new wellies, canal water up to my ankles.
And as if by magic, the sun came out for our last day and the tide shrank back to its usual level. Walking through the dry square in warm, brilliant sunshine you'd never a clue it was under several feet of water only 24 hours previously. We made a flying visit over to Burano on this day too. We only had enough time for a quick stroll and a photo or two, but it was still so lovely to visit this colourful little island. In the summer I imagine I'd stay for a gelato and have a proper browse through the few local shops.
And for sure, I'll be back very soon. Especially now I know how much more accessible and affordable this gorgeous little Italian city is (my flight from Bristol was £35 with Ryan Air, and I've seen cheaper!). Though I enjoyed every minute of my sometimes very damp few days here, I think it would be a beautiful place to visit in the spring time too. I hope you've enjoyed my musings over Venezia and hopefully you're inspired to visit this year too. Shop my looks via the links below.
Majorelle polka dot dress via Revolve, Topshop baker boy, New Look trainers, Nicole green dress by Revolve, Gucci Dionysus, Liam tie crop top by Revolve, Nastygal leopard maxi, Topshop polka skirt, Miss Selfridge girls tee (now £8), Daniel Footwear boots,
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