Venice – Third Time is a Charm

I first visited Venice as a 23-year-old while I was backpacking through Europe. I recently found my old travel journal, where I had written that it was “an unbelievable feeling” walking out of the station and seeing the busy canals. We found a pension for our stay and spent our days walking around Venice. I do remember not wanting to take a gondola ride as I thought it was only for couples.

Late one night, we got lost and ended up in the main square where a ballet company was rehearsing. On our way back, one of the American guys we had met that evening was playing a harmonica as we walked through the streets. Someone opened a window above us and yelled something in Italian which clearly meant, “Shut up!”

My second trip was with my daughters, while travelling in Italy. Venice instantly became my eldest daughter’s favourite city. Like me, she loved the water. The girls and I strolled through the twisty streets, and had fun shopping. We went on a night-time gondola ride which was anything but romantic. The gondolier was on his phone as he wove his way through the canals.

The third time I visited Venice I was travelling solo, and I decided to stay at the Rialto Hotel, where I had previously stayed with my daughters.

Returning to Venice

Leaving the train station, I was immediately overwhelmed by the large number of tourists everywhere. Venice is crowded in August. Choosing to walk the ten minutes, instead of catching a ferry, I once again found myself dragging my suitcase over cobbled streets to the hotel.  I really enjoyed travelling solo in this very busy city. It was easier to slip through the congestion of people and keep walking while others were stopping to look at maps.

Checking into my room, I immediately flung open the window and excitedly looked out over the hustle and bustle of the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge.

Soon after, I headed off to Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square). It’s always a challenge to see if I can get there without getting lost a few times, even though it’s only a six-minute walk away. There was a saying when I was backpacking that if you got lost in Venice, you would eventually end up back at St Mark’s Square. It seems the saying is still true today. Arriving at the Piazza, I chose one of the many restaurants with outside tables, and a band. I needed to sit and enjoy the reality that I was once again in Venice, but this time travelling solo.

I decided to walk along the very wide promenade running directly beside the Venetian lagoon. It was 7.30pm and still daylight and people were everywhere, in restaurants hopping on gondolas and just casually roaming like me. I headed back to the hotel, where I ordered a glass of wine from the restaurant beside the Rialto and watched the world go by.

Breakfast was included with my accommodation and I could either sit inside or in the outside vine-covered seating area. I chose outside and watched boats being unpacked, ferries going by and people walking past. Ah, the magic of Venice!

Roaming through Venice

Today I was going shopping. Everything I had brought with me had been living in a suitcase for almost two months and was badly crushed and the hotel didn’t have an iron. I needed to buy some iron-free summer dresses. It was fun wandering the streets of Venice and discovering little Italian boutiques nestled amongst well-known brand shops.

I also found a great pizza shop where you could order by the slice, so I bought some pizza to take away and, from the local supermarket, Aperol Spritz. Then I headed back to the hotel’s rooftop terrace, where tables and chairs offered a view of the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge.

As I enjoyed my very Italian dinner, I looked out over the Grand Canal and thought, how lucky am I to be here in Venice.  Could life get any better!

The Grand Canal is always lively and beautiful at night. After my fancy dinner on the rooftop terrace, I decided to catch a ferry, destination unknown, along the Grand Canal.  I stayed on until it reached its final stop, then caught the ferry back to where I had started. It was a different way of discovering Venice at night. Seeing the buildings lit up from the canals made it quite magical.

With the Wind in My Hair

My favourite thing about staying at the Rialto is the free water taxi available to Murano Island, specifically the Murano glass factory. I had taken the water taxi there with my daughters on my previous visit, and I couldn’t wait to do it again. We slowly made our way along the canal, passing people’s homes and tradesmen in boats. The water taxi is a speedboat, and once we are under the final bridge, we’re off. It’s a beautiful hot day. The water is sparkling and bumpy from the other speedboats and ferries. The wind is in my hair, and I feel happy.

Eventually, the taxi pulls up at the Murano glass factory pier and I enter the showrooms with collections of Murano glass. There was everything from chandeliers, like those adorning the ceilings of the Rialto Hotel rooms, to vases and glasses. From the showroom, you can tour the factory where the glassblowers perform their magic. A beautiful coloured vase is the end product from one of the craftsmen on my tour. Unfortunately, my suitcase wouldn’t allow me to buy a chandelier, so I settled for three pairs of coloured earrings for myself and my girls.

The lovely lady that sold me the earrings asked me where I was staying and if I was going back to Venice. I said I would like to go to some of the other islands.  I was pleasantly surprised when she said the water taxi would be going to Burano Island shortly if I didn’t mind waiting. Hell no! Another chance to be in a speed boat with the wind in my hair, on the Venetian lagoon, take all the time you need. Thank you very much.

I was dropped off at Burano at about the same time a large tour boat pulled up, with crowds of people disembarking and heading in the same direction as me. I decided to wait a little and stopped at a small kiosk beside the Venetian lagoon and ordered a beer. It was now the middle of the day and hot so a nice cold Peroni was called for.

Burano was much quieter, with its colourful houses and little shops selling lace. Several shop windows had displays of Murano glass, and at one shop I recognised some items that my Aunty gifted my mother that I have now inherited. So I have Murano glass at home! I wandered around Burano for a while before heading back to Venice on the ferry.

It was still very hot in Venice, but I found a lovely restaurant beside the Grand Canal where I spent the evening drinking Italian wine and eating gelato!

Ciao Venice

The next morning, I checked out of the hotel and caught the ferry to the train station, only minutes away. I remember thinking the young woman standing beside me was rather close. Soon after arriving at the station, I realised the printed driving route from Pisa to Scansano was missing from the side pocket of my overnight bag. I wondered if she had taken it. How disappointed she must have been.

From Venice, I was travelling to Pisa to pick up my Fiat and begin the next part of my Italian adventure. Sitting on the train, I thought about how I had just visited Venice for the third time, but this time I was on my own.

And it was fabulous.

Thank you for reading. Follow along @roamingwithleila for more travel stories and adventures.

Travelling through Italy with me? My travels continued in Cinque Terre.

Planning a Trip to Venice

Getting around Venice: Venice’s public water buses are an easy way to explore the city and surrounding islands. You can check routes and current timetables on the official ACTV website.

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