Venice

I can see why Venice can be quite a put off for some people. The confusing maze of streets, the stench of the water, the blistering heat, the overpriced...well, everything, the thousands of people cramming all the alleyways - except, for me, I'm here at just the right time when tourist season is no where near in full force and the weather is absolutely beautiful.

I arrived by train to St Lucia station and was stunned at how pretty Venice is. I love the cute little canals and bridges over them. I love the architecture of the dozens of churches and monuments. The water is especially beautiful in the sun and it is so pleasant to walk around. After checking into my hostel, I walked down to Zattere on the south side and caught the magnificent sunset.

The next day, I visited all the major sights around the city: Rialto Market, St Mark's Square, St Mark's Basilica and the accompanying bell tower (pro tip: try not to be in the tower at noon because it gets very loud), Doge's Palace and St Mary's Basilica. Venice is quite small so it's easy to walk around, but I would have probably died without Google Maps to point me in the right direction. I went back to the hostel for a nap then decided to head out again. I took a water bus to the gardens at the far end of town and walked back towards Compo Santa Margherita for dinner.

Dinner was fantastic. I was served a free glass of prosecco to start with and a free shot of limoncello to finish, and honestly that made me so happy.

Today I'm just killing time before my train to Bologna. I walked around Piazzale Roma for a bit but there wasn't too much there, and I explored the train station too. As I was walking around, I heard the unmistakable sound of a live piano and I got so excited when I saw it was open to the public for playing. Of course I played Let it Go, like a boss, and then To Zanarkand, which got me a little clap from someone passing by, but I was mostly just glad that I still had that in me after not playing for two months.