Birthday in Venezia

So I turned 21 again this month, and Jon took me to Venice for the occasion. I was so excited, I've always wanted to go. You'd think that something or someplace I'd anticipated for so long would inevitably be something of a letdown, but it was all I'd hoped it would be. We stayed at a nice little hotel right by the Rialto Bridge, a real find (thanks for the recommendation Sophie!) and spent 4 days taking the place in. It was apparently a good time of year to go, not nearly as crowded as it would be during peak season, not nearly as smelly as it is in the summer, and we managed to get lucky with the weather, it was actually really pleasant for November. Jon's flatmates, Steven and Justin, happened to be there the same weekend celebrating Steven's birthday which is the week before mine, so we spent a couple of days with them. It was fun to have the company for half the time and it was also a good send off for the guys before they all go their separate ways from the flat.

We spent a lot of time exploring and taking hundreds of pictures. Venice really is beautiful and full of character and the Grand Canal is indeed very grand. The place is beautiful at night too. And as I'd mentioned, the place wasn't that crowded so we managed to get some decent photos. I might even find time to sort through them sometime and post them somewhere where people can see them! It's such a fun place to go exploring because of all its little nooks and crannies, you'll be happily skipping down a path and then suddenly it ends without warning and you hit water. We spent some time just trying to get lost for fun! It was fun but a little too "Don't Look Now" at night!

We spent a day with Steven and Justin taking boats to Burano and Murano. Murano is known for it's blown glass but the lesser known Burano is a nice little island with lots of cute little colourful houses. I was surprised at how spread out the islands are, I had imagined Venice and its islands to be a much smaller place.



We had a few good meals too of course, gotta love that Italian food. We also went to the splendiferous Danieli Hotel for wine and cheese, Harry's Bar for bellinis and even did the obligatory gondola ride. Another good birthday!