Venice, Italy

Venice, 16-17th September

On my first night in Venice, a neighbouring hotel held a street party outside of my hotel. It included a sit down three course meal, alcohol and a band in the street. My hotel was situated down a random street in Venice (and took a long time to find!). One of the best parts of Venice is getting lost - the majority of the streets look the same and there is no distinct pattern to them. There were many times that I walked down a street only to find it was a dead end! However, no matter how hard I tried, all the paths seem to lead to St Marks Square.

The Venice palace is in St Marks Square and runs directly next to the large river in Venice. The palace bedrooms look out onto this river. The square is one of the main tourist areas in Venice that floods when the tide rises. Watching the waiters serving coffee in their wellington boots is a sight I never thought I would see. During these periods of flooding a wooden path is temporally constructed 1.5m above the ground so tourists can get around without getting wet!

Next to St Marks Basilica is St Marks Clock tower - that you can get a lift to the top of. The view from the clock tower is spectacular - especially when the huge cruise liners appear!

The Rialto bridge in Venice is one of the most iconic crossing in Venice and also one of the busiest. The Gondola picture was taken from this bridge. The gondolas used to be used as funeral carts and this is the reason they are black. Venice features the original Guggenheim museum - featuring some of Peggy's favourite works.

Venice has a truly unique feel to it - no cars and many steps to cross canals! It is truly like no other city I have visited - living up to the hype in all respects!