Venice

Being in London on a Bank holiday weekend means that you will inevitably end up in the office for the entire weekend so we decided that we would get the hell out of London, with our friends Tersh (from NZ and works with Anna) and Luke. None of us had ever been to Venice (bar Anna around 10 years ago so the memories were vague...) so it was an exciting trip for all of us. Landing at the Venice airport, we came across a water taxi sign advising us to go straight, turn left and keep an eye out for Paulo. So, laughing, we wandered along the pier calling for Paulo, who did in fact exist and swiftly organised us a speedboat to get over to Venice. The first sights of Venice from the boat were incredible - buildings from the 12th century sitting above the canals and hundreds of boats navigating their way through the waterways. We meandered through a number of canals towards our hotel which was located in the heart of the old town, only a stones throw from St Marks Square. The first taste of Italian culture was a long lunch at a quaint little Venician cafe perched on the side of the canals. After a few bottles of prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) and some genuine spaghetti and lasagne it was home for a siesta before venturing out that night. That evening we walked the narrow alley ways in search of a traditional Italian restaurant and came across an outdoor cafe on the main harbour. After more pizza, pasta and prosecco we ventured into St Marks Square (the main tourist area) where we came across three 5 piece bands singing opera. The following day we explored more narrow alleyways trying not to get lost in the labyrinth of Venice and indulged in more Italian delicacies and once again more prosseco. That evening we hired two gondola's and experienced a romantic hour cruise through the old canals of Venice. Somehow how driver managed to navigate his way through narrow dark canals with one oar and a lantern at the bow of the gondola. After a leisurely start to our final day we did some more exploring and found a restaurant in a square where locals congregated with their families to play soccer on the cobblestones. The boys got comfortable with locally brewed beers and basked in the sun while the girls set off to pay Gucci and Prada a visit. Before we knew it we were racing back to our hotel to be picked up at our back doorstep by a classic wooden riverboat for the trip back to the airport. A couple of hours later we were back in London and felt like we had been away for a week. The city is by far our favourite European city to date and we're looking forward to exploring the rest of Italy.