I’m baaack ! And there I am, looking every bit the tourist.
Four days in glorious Venice have left me feeling rejuvenated and totally inspired - what an amazing place. The women looked so stylish, the Italian men…well, need I say anymore?
I felt such a dag walking around in my sensible walking shoes (you do need them though as you can only walk around Venice – no cars) and ‘practical clothes for the weather’ – but we were there to so some serious sightseeing and I never knew that ‘people watching’ would be such a main part of it.
They really go in for appearances there; no daggy shoes on the women but stylish boots and some of the most gorgeous jackets and accessories I have ever seen. The only correct thing to do would have been to disappear into one of the many boutiques and emerge with several bags of fashionable items to wear – but the price tags stopped me in my tracks from joining the Venetian style elite. It was nice to look though 
All the little shops selling cakes and pastries; the cafes and the waiters wearing dazzling white jackets; the string quartets playing al fresco on Piazza San Marco; the pizza’s (I’ve eaten enough pizza to last me a lifetime…), and the wonderful coffee.
St Marks at night
The Gondolas and their gondoliers were straight out of the books; at 100 euros for a ride they were a bit out of our range budget-wise but I have promised myself a gondola experience if we ever go back.
I attended Mass in St Marks Basilica and was breathless at the fact that every single one of those countless tiny mosaic tiles had been put in place by human hands over the centuries – is it possible to count how many others had stood on the same spot and marvelled at the same thing…?
Music at a cafe in Piazza San Marco
Standing amidst so much rich culture and history was awe-inspiring. This city began centuries ago when local people escaped the barbarian invasions by fleeing to the 120 little islands in the lagoon – they began to build little dwellings on the islands eventually connecting them with bridges and thus it developed into a place which inspired Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Vivaldi and just about every poet and artist of note throughout history.
And for four days I walked in their footsteps.
Venice might be home to the Bridge of Sighs - but I would go one step further call Venice itself The City of Sighs.
The famous Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal
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And what people had to say…