Quick romantic getaway

During the Easter break, we decided to take a romantic weekend break to the city of Venice. From the airport you catch a vapeoretto (water bus) to get to town, dropping you off at Piazza San Marco.

The weather was sunny, but chilly though out our time in Venice. Our plan for the next couple of days was to wonder and get lost in the city.... enjoy the cuisine and enjoy spending time with each.

The famous gondola ride is a must-do experience when you are Venice. We picked a gondolier, a short walk from the Piazza San Marco and left the busy streets gently gliding on the canal under the bridges. What I thought would be a quiet, romantic cruise with the woman I love, ended up being a very crowed, noisy affair. What they don't tell you about this experience is that every other couple visiting Venice is on a gondola as well.

The canal most of the time was crammed with other gondolas. From time to time our gondolier would shout to another gondolier and have conversation. When it was quiet, it was nice to see the Venice scenery from the canal point of view. Some of the canals were surprisingly narrow. Overall, the ride was worth the time and money.

A baroque style arched bridge, spanning the Rio di Plazzo (Palace River). The Legend has it, if two lovers kiss under the bride they will enjoy eternal life.

The largest square in Venice, it was busy with tourists as you can imagine. There are many architectural gems here, the center piece of the square being St Mark's Basicilla. You also have the prominent the bell tower, Capanile and Doge's Palace.

This Venetian Gothic palace has some wonderfully decorated facades. It used to be the residence of the leader of the republic of Venice. It is now a Museum.

Venetian masks are a centuries old tradition of Venice. Once part of daily life, it was restricted by the 18th century. They are now typically worn during the Carnival of Venice.

The most photographed bridge in Venice—the Rialto Bridge, was for nearly three hundred years, the only way you could cross the Grand Canal. Starting off as a wooden bridge, it has been rebuilt serval times to the present day stone bridge completed in 1591. It has some great photography points to take pictures of the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal runs through the city of Venice in a shape of an S. It can also get quite packed with traffic with gonodolas, vaporetti or other boats.

Venice is a nice city to explore by foot. Walking around the small narrow streets you get the feeling that when you turn round a corner you will find something new. There were a lot of nice churches that we visited which I have written a separate article about. We were however, disappointed with the over–priced and mediocre restaurants.

Having heard many other people complain about the average standards of restaurants, I suggested you plan ahead where to eat. I would not recommend any restaurant we went too (which is why I did not mention any in this article). Overall, it was a nice, life–changing holiday for us :)