Walking the floating city of Venice

Okay, I am just going to get this out there right now: Venice was pretty darn expensive. Not that that was surprising, almost everyone we know, who has traveled to Venice warned us. However, even with a student budget, my husband and I still managed to make the best of our two day trip to the beautiful city of Venezia.

If you are planning a trip to the floating city sometime in the near future, I would strongly advise you to reserve an accommodation way in advance. I believe the lowest price for an Airbnb on the island was around 80 euros per night for two people. Thankfully, we were able to book one for a reasonable 66 euros but here is the catch, it was outside of the island. But this was not an issue as there were many buses available, commuting from to and from the island.

What to do in Venice: 

So, I am sure when you imagine Venice, you imagine canals, narrow alleyways, and lovers in gondolas. Well yes, that is exactly what it was! We wanted to explore every bit of this romantic island so we were determined to walk the whole thing. I will be honest, we could not walk the entire island but I would say we covered a good 80% of it. It was quite an experience because we ended up being lost so many times but that's something we learned, getting lost in Venice is kinda like a rite of passage to the city. The alleys were like mazes and sometimes, it just felt like we were going in circles but thank goodness for Google Maps, am I right!? I was also able to capture some nice colorful shots of the beautiful homes of the island.

Something cool we got to witness was how Venetians lived their everyday lives. Majority of you may not know this, but vehicles of any sort are not allowed on the historical island. So that means Venetians and tourists can only get around the city on boats, and via the optimal way: walking. In the morning, we saw children boarding a boat to go to school. We also saw a couple of families unloading their groceries from their private boats. Venice was just another world! 

The food culture in Venice: 

Ugh, the food was just amazing! I mean it is Italian food so, of course, it was mouthwatering good! I was practically drooling at the sight of the Pizzerias and gelatos in every corner. Here are a few places I would recommend checking out (google for addresses): 

1. Dal Moro's Fresh Pasta To Go: pasta is served in a box, affordable, very tasty, super popular, good online reviews, 
2. Trattoria ai bari: their four cheese pasta was just out of this world and for only 12 euros
3. As for pizza and gelato, there are so many of them and I feel like they all tasted good. I grabbed a pizza from a couple of different random places and they were delicious. 

Top things to do in Venice: 

• Take a water bus (Vaporetto) and explore Venice on water
• Walk the island to get an idea of how the locals live (in comfortable shoes)
• Take loads of pictures (tbh you don't even need to be a professional, you can direct the camera in any direction and you're guaranteed a great shot! Venice is very photogenic) 
• Wake up early and beat the crowds for the best pictures

Ciao Venezia!