My roommate Kristen and I decided to go to Italy during our spring break, escaping the London winter that was stubbornly hanging on as we approached April and heading to a country with weather that was increasingly warm and sunny with each city we went to. We spent the whole break - 10 days - in Italy so we had plenty of time to explore and enjoy our time there. The first part of our trip was three days in Venice, a place I had been dying to visit for years. After a 3:30 am cab ride to the train station and a 6 am flight from Stansted, we took the bus from the airport to our Airbnb, and then, finally, got on a bus to cross the water. When we got off the bus, we stood beside a canal with Venice's narrow and twisting streets ahead of us, water taxis and gondolas cruising down the canals, and crowds of people crossing the bridges and pushing down the sidewalks.
Like all tourists in Venice, we started by finding our way down to Piazza San Marco, which was unsurprisingly packed with people (and birds).
Wandering along the Grand Canal and past the Bridge of Sighs
Trying to find our way but mostly just getting lost in the maze of small streets and canals that make up Venice
A bookstore, Libreria Acqua Alta, that we stumbled upon while looking for somewhere to eat.
The sun finally came out for a while and the sun set on the Grand Canal while we walked to dinner. The sun made the buildings look even more lovely and bright.
More canals and markets that smelled amazing and musicians drawing crowds
On our last day in Venice, we took a boat to Burano, one of the islands near Venice. Burano is known for the lace made there and for the bright, colorfully painted houses that line the small canals.
We then stopped at Murano, another one of the islands, which is known for glass. Practically every store on the small island sells glass, with glass bowls and animals and pendants and so on, often colorful and crowded together on shelves in little shops.
We took the boat back to Venice, and then finally took a water taxi down the Grand Canal, our feet already tired from three days of walking everywhere in the city, miles and miles every day.
We left for Florence on Monday morning, dragging out suitcases behind us across one of the big bridges and over to the train station. We both loved Venice so much, and it was a great start to our trip of good food - pizza, pasta, and gelato every day - and warm weather and beautiful architecture.