Travel Bucket List #2 // Venice

A close second to Paris, Venice has to be one of the most romantic places in Europe. Filled with beautiful buildings and built upon a maze of busy canals, it is completely unique. Nothing can compare to it's distinctive classic beauty and culture, which is precisely why it's on my travel bucket list! However, with many rumours going around that it is slowly sinking into the sea, I'm determined to experience this special city for myself as soon as possible before it disappears completely!

Here are a few things on my Venice to do list:

1. Ride in a gondola

When I think of Venice, the first thing I think of is sitting in a gondola floating through a channel of canals while a moustached man in a stripey top slowly pushes us along while serenading in Italian. Ok, maybe just a bit of a cliché, but you still can't visit Venice without having a ride in a gondola! What better way to see the ancient buildings and bridges than from the water?

2. Wander around St. Mark's Square

Venice is full of beautiful architecture and some of the most iconic is in St. Mark's Square. Surrounded by majestic buildings and rows of classic columns, it's no wonder it's referred to as 'the drawing room of Europe'. I'd love to sit and watch the hustle and bustle of the square both during the day and at night, as well as overlook it all from the top of the Campanile.

3. Visit St. Mark's Basilica

Located in St. Mark's Square, the Basilica is hard to miss. Surrounded by statues and arches outside, and filled with colourful mosaics inside, it's an amazing example of Venice's breath-taking Gothic architecture.

4. Join in at Carnevale

The symbol of Venice has to be the traditional Venetian mask, and one of the best ways to see them in their full glory has to be at the annual Venetian Carnevale. With many party goers dressed in impressive traditional baroque costumes, complete with their masks, this is a unique way to get a glimpse into celebratory classical Venice. 

5. Look over the city from Skyline Bar

Cocktails with a view? Yes please!

6. Find some ghosts at Poveglia Island

The history behind the abandoned Poveglia Island is the stuff of horror films. After severe outbreaks of the plague in Venice, wiping out around a third of the population, infected patients were shipped off to the small island where they were quarantined and eventually burned, transforming it into a mass burial ground. As if that isn't grim enough, the island was later turned into a mental asylum in 1922, where legend has it a crazy doctor conducted a series of gruesome experiments on his patients before flinging himself off the bell tower. Since the asylum's closure in 1968, the island has been completely deserted. No wonder the locals call in 'the most haunted place on Earth'. Ever since I found out about Poveglia a few months ago, I have been fascinated by the mystery surrounding it and curious to see the abandoned island with my own eyes. Unfortunately, it is apparently prohibited by the government for locals or tourists to visit the island without going through some serious paperwork, and just as difficult, as well as expensive, to privately hire a boat to take you there, especially as most locals refuse to step foot on or even go near the island. Poveglia was also recently sold for more than £400,000 to be restored and open to the public, so any chance of my visiting there in it's deserted state seems pretty slim, but the history behind the island will always be one that fascinates me.

 

  

"Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go"

- Truman Capote -

Arrivederci!

Love, Beth xxx 

(Disclaimer: images taken from either my Pinterest account or Google, I claim no ownership)