Ah, Venice……  The romance, the food, the water!  Our anticipation and excitement was palpable.

Our first stop in Europe – Hotel Ca’ D’Oro.  A perfect little boutique hotel for our first night in this beautiful city on the water.  We chose this Hotel because it was away from the tourist area, but still central.

The Foyer still with a well from years past.

A quaint and comfortable boutique hotel, but best of all, our room overlooked the beautiful canal of Rio di Ca’ Dolce.  We loved to watch the daily life of deliveries, water taxis and locals going about their day.  People watching at its best.

 

Taxi!

There’s lots of walking in Venice – it’s the only mode of transport apart from boats.  Comfortable walking shoes are a must.  For us, this isn’t an issue as we love to explore on foot.  Our hotel was quite close to the Grand Canal, only a couple of minutes’ walk through the tiny cobbled corridors that make up this city.

The Grand Canal – such a busy thoroughfare.  Here’s us, looking a little tired after our 36 hour journey from Australia.

We absolutely loved Venice.  Finding our way around the streets and tiny walkways was fun.  Getting lost was fun.  Well, you can’t actually get lost – you’re on an island.  You’ll eventually find your way out of the maze of alleys.

My radar is always out for fresh food markets.

I had never seen such large pieces of dried fruits.  Australian dried fruits come either already cut up or in small packets.  I love Italy!

Navigating your way around Venice is difficult.  You simply can’t see landmarks.  Luckily Jeff has such a good sense of direction.  Many a time I was convinced we were heading in one direction, and then proved wrong.

The Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square)

Venice is a popular destination for cruise ships and St Mark’s Square is high on the list of tourist attractions.  We don’t like crowds, so we made our way there early in the morning just as everything was being set up.

St Mark’s Campanille (the Bell Tower)

Climbing the tower for the view over Venice is a must.  It gives you a bird’s eye perception of just how crowded and intricately woven this city is.

The best way to get to the train station for the next leg of our adventure was the water taxi.  What better way to farewell this city.

Jeff and Catherine xx