So… Venice was never anywhere that was on my list to visit. The ex always wanted to go and always wanted me to go but it was never high on my list. I’m not sure what it was that turned me off Venice but something had. I still, to this day, can’t really 100% figure out what it is.
I did have an epiphany towards the end of the super long (ha, 1 full day) trip. I’ve been wondering if it’s because I was much heavier back when the ex wanted to go. I don’t think I would have walked as much as I did back then and I think that would have been worse for the pair of us.
I was in Venice back in August as part of a layover for my trip to Armenia – you can read about that here. I decided to look at the map and that’s when I decided Venice looked like a good place to visit.
The flight was an early morning one and I was able to do it by getting the coach to the airport and not having to stay overnight. I am still so glad that National Express reinstated the coaches to the airport from Peterborough.
I got to the airport with a couple of hours to just relax before the flight and it was welcome as I was still super tired.
I was hoping the flight was going to be uneventful but the pilot got on at the start and said we were going to have some turbulence on the way to Venice. I was not impressed with this, I don’t like turbulence at all. I knew it was going to be not fun when, partway through, the pilot got on and asked the cabin crew to sit down. Yuck.
Once we landed, I was able to find the bus to the hostel and just relax for the 30 minutes it took to get to Mestre station.
It was starting to rain on the walk to the hostel and I rushed (turns out I didn’t need to go far) to the hostel to check-in. They wouldn’t let me check in early so I asked to leave my luggage there so I could head to the train to the island.
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I went to the station to head to the island. The train takes 10 minutes and only costs €1.45 one way. It was cheap enough to do a couple of trips back and forth each day.
The trains are really frequent too. There are about 20-30 an hour from Venezia Mestre to Venezia Santa Lucia. I’m glad I did it this way as hostels on the island were super expensive.
I got there and just decided I would walk around and just started walking wherever my feet took me.
I did walk to the old Jewish Ghetto area. I didn’t realise that there was a ghetto here. It was really nice to see how well-kept it is – especially with everything that’s happening with the war at the moment. It was nice to see a school group there and the teachers guiding them around. It was nice to see them take in the area and learn about what the area is and what happened there.
There isn’t really a whole lot to say for the days I was here. It consisted of a lot of walking, bridge crossing and bridge picture taking. I did really enjoy it. It was good to walk around and I definitely couldn’t have done it when the ex wanted to go.
As usual, I did get blisters and I did my best to walk around in spite of them. I think I did a good job.
I walked as much as I could before the rain started and I didn’t want to be soaked through so I headed back to the station to get the train back to Mestre and then to go back to the hostel.
As I was there, a group of young people came in and I don’t think I’ve wanted to scream more than I did when they arrived. Grrrr.
I stayed for a couple of hours and by that time the rain had stopped and I decided to head back out (for the sake of my sanity). I decided that I wanted to go to The Grand Canal and see The Rialto Bridge. It was a nice walk. It took about 30 minutes from Santa Lucia station. I decided that I would walk across the bridge at the station and then walk down the left-hand side of the island and then cross to the area of the bridge.
I walked around in search of the perfect pic and I think I managed it. After I was done, I headed back to the station so I could go back to the hostel and get some much-needed rest and sleep.
Today was a really good day and I can definitely recommend visiting Venice.
Total steps: 26,758
Total miles: 13.16
Below are some pics from today
I checked out and went to find some food but it was tough as today was a public holiday so not a lot was open. I found the biggest Spar I have ever seen and got some food from there and then went and sat at the tram stop to eat and take some pills and then got the bus to the airport.
I had about 3.5 hours before the flight and I finished my drink and then headed through security and then went through passport control and waited for the flight. I got word that it was delayed and I was worried I wasn’t going to get back to Stansted in time to make the train. I knew by the time I landed that there would be a lot of flights landing and the border would be busy. I wasn’t wrong
One annoying thing on landing was that we went to a remote stand and had to get a bus to the terminal. I tried to rush through as quick as possible. Thankfully I made the train on time and I got back to Peterborough at a reasonable time.
Venice was amazing. I definitely recommend you go if you get the chance.
YOU WILL LOVE IT.
Total steps: 61,326
Total miles: 29.83
View all of my Venice pics here