The last couple of days have been really good. Venice is such a beautiful city. I just live wandering the narrow alleyways without a car in sight and suddenly happening upon a canal with the sun beating down on it and a gondola just slowly drifting down it. It truly is magical.

Yesterday we spent our first full day wandering all around the old town getting lost, as recommended by all of my Travel Belles tip-givers. We strolled, dipping into cafés for a quick cappuccino or a spritz aperol, depending on the time of day. We had a gorgeous pasta lunch until the street heaters along the Grand Canal facing the Rialto. It was fabulous. Then we spent our afternoon wandering back and along the other side of the island. We explored the more residential areas and as it was Easter Monday, there were many families also out for a stroll, which was lovely to see. The seafront is a fun, more touristy place to be with street vendors and artists looking for a quick sale, but it was really enjoyable to sit in the sun and have a drink. Such a world away from the drizzle in the UK.

Dinner was more difficult, we couldn’t decide where to eat and ended up in a distinctly average and over priced place in the central area. Not recommended so I won’t say much further on the subject. Luckily it didn’t ruin our holiday and Tuesday’s meals were marvellous.

Today we headed over to the famous Venetian Lido on the vaporetto. Mum was excited to see the setting of A Death in Venice. The sun was warm but the breeze was cool so we were hardly tanning in our bikinis but it was certainly lovely to sit and look out over sea and sand with our morning coffee. We headed inland for lunch at Roxy’s for some fabulous pizza in the sunshine before catching a boat back to the mainland and spending the afternoon window shopping and sitting in various cafés and bars enjoying the sunshine and a great deal of people-watching.

Dinner was in a great little place around the corner from our hotel called Ristorante Beppino. The place was buzzing, we can see their upstairs room from our hotel window and it has been busy every night. It fully lived up to the hype this evening as we sat for 3 hrs eating and sipping and chatting without any hassle from the helpful staff. People around us came and went as we soaked up the atmosphere and the Valpolicello. A perfect last evening before crashing into bed ready for more tomorrow morning.

Good night!