Postcards From Venice – A Weekend In Photos

Winter in Venice

Venice has always been on my travel bucket list, but until now, I never had the chance to visit. My husband surprised me last Christmas with this trip (as he knows I much rather like to receive an experience as a present rather than an actual, physical item). So off we set in mid March and left the children with the grandparents for three days. We had a hotel called Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria – which my hubby found hilarious, me being a Hungarian and he often making jokes about the monarchy times of my country. It’s on the Lido, which is a long sandbar in the Venetian Lagoon, a popular beach place since the 20’s. But the Lido will be another post, so let’s get back to Venice. It was quite cold and rainy over our long weekend, unluckily, but I think we managed to see most of Venice.

My favourite sights in Venice 

Taking a little ferry with is naturally the main public transportation in Venice, we have discovered a lot – but not all of it. We didn’t get into the Doges Palace as there was a probably good two hours queue waiting outside and we didn’t get to Murano island in the end. But we walked a lot in the downtown, tried Venetian food, did the gondola ride and visited lots of small churches. For me, walking around in Venice was a real unique experience, there is nowhere like this in the world. (Well, apart from the Venetian in Las Vegas.) Every little corner, every crumbling facade, every small canal is different. I was surprised to see how huge is Venice and how many people live there. I always had a perception of Venice consisting only a few little canals and the Piazza De San Marco. Wow, couldn’t be further from the truth.

Canals and Peggy Guggenheim

Anyone who loves modern art should pay a visit to Peggy Guggenheim’s house which is now turned into a museum. Absolutely fantastic original pieces from the 20th century, some of them made for Peggy. The house has a large Garden (in Venetian terms) and is overlooking the Grande Canal. It’s hard to imagine, that someone really lived there once for all the rooms are turned into exhibition space, but there are some old photos on display with the original layout. Absolutely fantastic.

Wandering around in Venice

Finding your way around in Venice is very easy, even though it sometimes felt like we’re in a maze of canals. There are plenty of signs – practically on every corner pointing to the directions of the most important tourist sights: Rialto, Piazza San Marco and Canal Grande. Whilst wandering  around I found it amazing how the whole city still consist of centuries old buildings. But you can’t really see maintenance works going on. Some of the buildings are really own the Venetian faded beauty.

Taking photos with my phone

Once again I took my photos with my good old iPhone. We travelled light! We will be definitely back. Maybe in summertime though.

Foodie trip

Venice is amazing for foodies. It has its own Venetian specialities. The most popular dish is polenta and once was the universal staple food of the poorer classes. I did try polenta with shrimps and whilst it wasn’t amazing the dish was a perfect representation what a real Venetian meal is. Seafood naturally also very important, in any form, it is very traditional, especially the fish soup. And of course pizza and pasta dishes. So basically, if you like Italian food, this is a place for you! Or try Italian cheeses!

Want to see more travel photos of mine? Check out this post: Postcards from California