Venice: Away from the Tourists

There is no escaping that Venice is one of the wonders of the world. Made up of 117 Islands the Main Island divided by 6 regions and connected by canals and over 400 canals is one of my favourite places to visit.

Having lived in Treviso in my later 20's I became a regular visitor in Venice, jumping on a train and 35 minutes later across the lagooN. The opening out of the station was always as magical 50th time or 1st. The city built on wooden stilts sank into the silt of the lagoon, everything ran on water. The Amazon delivery, plumbers, ambulance, police, it is always hard to grasp there are no cars. 

Busy is the first thing you feel if you arrive in peak season, the overwhelming desire to follow the crowds or jump onto a water bus (vaparetto) living there we got a discount card but the price for tourists is quite steep, so walking is always the best way. Unless one of our Venetian friends decided to pick us up by boat, always feeling super cool when they do this.

Any time my friends visit I send them my Top 10 of Venice, so thought I would share it here to. I love watching the programs on the BBC, Stanley Tucci was brilliant. But I often feel disappointed by the Venetian section as they sometimes miss the point. Venice on the surface is so beautiful fill of unique corners every angle you look. But the real beauty is when the doors open by the locals, when you get to eat in a family house, or visit one of the open spaces that you don't realise exist. I always feel so lucky that we had so many opportunities to see so much.

Lido is a great escape from the hustle and bustle.

But in a snap shot these are my top 10

1.Take the boat to San Giorgio  and go up the tower for a great view of the island and San Marco and not busy 

2. Have a Bellini in Harry's bar just of San Marco

3. Cross the canal on the gondola it costs €2 rather than €80 it's called a traghetto there are several points along the grand canale, we often go to the one by the Peggy Guggenheim

4. Explore the back streets and get lost its a must drinking spritz and eating tramezini, and cicchetti.

5. The ghetto area canareggio region is great to eat authentic lunch my favourite is due gondoletti, I love Spaghetti Vongole (Clams)

6. Peggy Guggenheim museum is good if you like art 

7 murano is a good half a day or burano 

Murano famous for glass

Burano famous for lace! (Colourful buildings are pretty)

8 I like the academia region and giardini too just for wondering 

9 eat pesce mista fritta, crudo di Parma, spaghetti vongole, cappuccino, and prosecco!

10 lido is great for the beach and a huge island to explore

Enjoy the Magic 

Goditi 

Anna