GET IN TOUCH
When we first moved to London, we had high hopes of little weekend trips to Europe. Our friends were all doing it so why couldn’t we? We quickly learnt that when travelling with children, it wasn’t all that easy nor cheap to skip across the Channel. Nevertheless, my husband and I drew up a list of places to go to – Marrakesh, Istanbul, Rome, San Sebastian and…. Venice (our list is very long, so that only brushes the top 5).
Unfortunately we haven’t made our way to many on our list (we LOVED San Sebastian though) but late 2018 we had the opportunity to visit Venice, child-free, for 2 nights! Eeeek! This was our first proper getaway alone since our youngest was born over 3 years ago.
When the day finally arrived, we said goodbye to our three cheeky children and made our way to the airport. When we landed, we walked across and caught a typical speedboat to our stunning hotel, CA Maria Adele. My goodness, it was so luxurious and just what we needed.
That afternoon we took a little walk to familiarise ourselves with the area and had a delicious meal at a local restaurant before having one of the longest and deepest sleeps we have had in years!
We’re the type of couple who likes a little adventure and prefers things a little off the general touristy track. That said, we didn’t want to miss out on anything that Venice is known for so after we finally woke, we took a kayak to the canals. It was seriously the best way to see the historical canals, away from the thousands of tourists.
Later in the evening we went on a night tour of St Mark’s Basilica. It was a small group of about 10 and we had the Basilica to ourselves. We had gone past earlier that day and the lines were crazy so we were so glad we did it this way.
On our last day we crammed a few things in before heading home. First up it was Doge’s Palace. Again, we took a small tour which explored the dungeons. Worth doing if you have the time as the general tickets don’t permit access to this area. The last place we visited was the Island of Murano and their glass factories. Consequently, a beautiful vase is on its way to Australia!
I cannot recommend Venice enough. Hopefully we’ll be back again one day so we can share this incredible part of the world with our children.
