It was summer in Venice. We arrived at Santa Lucia railway station from Florence on a real hot day of August 2015. It was our 3d stop in Italy. It was hot in Rome and Florence as well. But I didn’t expect Venice to be so hot, as my perception was canals everywhere and there would be cool breeze in Venice.

We took a vaporetto (another name for a water taxi) from Santa Lucia to the main island. Even though it was so hot, we didn’t mind the heat. Me and My best friend were so excited to reach the main island. The water taxi ride was about 30mins I believe. We got off at Cà d’Oro and walked to the hotel through a busy street. It was less than 5 mins walk, and the hotel was an old historic charm.

Once we checked in at the hotel and went to our room, I remember what I first said to my friend, ‘Can you believe we are in Venice?’, the place I saw in pictures and wowed when I was a kid. I also remember what she said ‘Yes machang, we are in Venice, thanks to you darling for planning and organising it perfectly’. She was excited as much as I was. To be honest, when I was in high school (coming from Srilankan middle class background), I never thought I would be able to explore europe. Venice was like a dream to me those days.

Once we settled in the room, had shower and changed, we got down coffee and something to eat from the hotel restaurant. But I want to mention here, every thing in Venice was so expensive. Hotels, food, shopping, getting around and everything… I can understand as it’s a major tourist place in Europe, they try to tax you. We did not order a proper lunch though, as we had a habit of having a big breakfast and then light lunch and a good dinner with wine.

The hotel we stayed was a beautiful 4 star hotel (Hotel Giorgine). The decor in the rooms were antique type and reminded me old english decors. It was different to other modern decor hotels we stayed in. I loved the contrast to others. We stayed there for 3 days and for me 3 days were just enough to see the places and to have Venice experience. If you want to relax and enjoy, you may need a week or so. We were traveling to other countries as well. So we just wanted to experience what each places in Europe got to offer

We visited all the places on my wish list in Venice. Murano/ Burano Island is a must see place. Glass blowing at Murano Island is definitely a must see place. It’s so amazing to watch how they blow the glass and make beautiful sculptures. Mind you there are places charges you to watch how they make it. But there are some places where you don’t have to pay. Also they will somehow try to sell you the ornaments. Be smart! As I don’t fancy collecting little sculptures, I did not buy any. But my friend bought some for gifts. I did buy some beautiful jewelleries and souvenirs to gift to my friends and family.

Gondola ride is another beautiful experience. They charge about 80 Euro for a 20-30 mins ride. When we first asked a couple how the experience was, they said it’s really good and that we should go. My friend was so adamant not to pay 80 euro, and said that we wait and share it with someone. (Max about 6-8 people can travel). Finally we met a beautiful young family with a yr old baby and they too didn’t want to pay 80 euro and were happy to share the ride with us. It was beautiful. The experience of the gondola sailing in small canals was awesome. It took less than 30 mins, but it was worth it. I found myself lost in the beauty of Venice.

The food was really good too. Well, who doesn’t like  Italian cuisine. But Venice was our last stopover in Italy and I was kind of overwhelmed with Italian food. I remember asking for sandwich at one of the restaurant and the waiter said that I came all the way to Italy and planning to eat sandwich, when Italy has so many beautiful dishes to offer. Anyway, finally I ended up having a dish made out of polenta which was not totally Italian, and I my friend had her favourite spaghetti.

I remember spending a full day at Murano Island. We also met a lady on street drawing portraits and she had some a beautiful portraits of some celebrities. We were chatting with her and found her to be a very nice soul. She wished to draw a portrait of us, and we couldn’t say no to her as she was so lovely. The below picture is the lady drawing our portraits and on lookers were admiring her work.

We left Venice after having a wonderful 3 days there and flew to our next exciting location Paris, well for me Paris is always an exiting place to visit.