WITH LOVE FROM VENICE | FIRST VACATION AFTER LOCKDOWN.

I am not a morning person, however when I know I am about to go on vacation I am hundred percent up at the crack of dawn tea in  one hand passport in the other and out the door I go.
This morning we had to get up super early to make our way to Heathrow, for those who do not know Heathrow it is the largest airport in England and also known to be the world’s busiest international airport with a plane landing around every 45 seconds. It is also home to my airline which I fly with and therefore when I get to be the passenger I love the fact that I can snoop around in the shops at the terminal and take a leisurely walk to the gate.
So, this morning we had to leave around 05.30, which was super early. From where we live, we can either get a hammersmith tube and then the Piccadilly or the hammersmith and then the Heathrow express.  In this case we opted for the car and then an uber as we were able to park the car near Jays work, However normally I would always suggest the express if you do not like taking your time and always want to be early to the airport it would be the Heathrow express for me. There are many reasons to love the Heathrow express but the fact it only takes 15 Minutes to get to Heathrow from Paddington in my eyes is the number one reason.
We aimed to get to Heathrow for around 7. Our flight was due to leave at 08:50 and although the airport is quiet now, I wanted to still be able to feel the holiday vibes rather than workplace vibes.  I always wonder about the security process especially since covid but I have to say it was pretty quick and easy. A new one at security was that all shoes had to be taken off even converses (Which I was totally regretting wearing.) Once we had made it through, we headed to the lounge to grab a drink and some breakfast. As we were flying out in the club cabin, we was able to use the lounge and normally fast pass security (However this was closed due to COVID).

Our flight duration was a total of 1 hours and 55 minutes, on board we received one of the best services EVER!  When we arrived into Marco Polo (Venice). We was able to connect to the free airport wi-fi and our phones had gone onto the service TIM. However due to the fact I fly around everywhere I have a package with EE where I can use my phone as normal. Once out of the terminal   It was a short walk down to the water bus which had multiple stops however we got of at the Fourth stop which was f.te Nove. The water bus is the cheapest and fastest transportation. (Alilaguna) They operate three boat lines from the airport to various parts of Venice ticket prices varie (8 euros to 15 euros). Once we had got off it was a short walk towards our AIR BNB.
Helpful tip “ Un Biglietto per favore?” means a ticket to, .. Please.
 
 Once we had settled down it was time to go out and get all are bearings before our first ever AIR BNB food tour experience with Natale and Emily. I didn’t take any photos on the tour just because it was their tour so I didn’t want to take any of the experience away however if you are ever in Venice I totally would recommend checking them out and doing the tour we paid around £90 for the two of us.
After eating our way through the small beautiful Osteria’s and drinking more Vino then expected it was time to grab a Gelato and call it a night.

I am not sure if it was the Vino or the fact that he had worked so hard before coming here that we did not get up until noon. Annoying because we had a list of things, we had planned to see at the crack of dawn so that we was not swamped with many holiday makers. Once we had finally made it out, we headed towards a small deli which had been recommended to us on the food tour it was called Ponte delle paste in Dei Tedeschi. If you hadn’t guessed, we came here for a pastry and coffee to wake us up before heading out to explore some more of the lanes in Venice we ended up in an area called Castello which was a gorgeous little neighbourhood , The one thing I have to say about Venice is that it is full of character everywhere we went the building were full of rich colours and locals out in the street having afternoon vino and a small bite to eat. Talking about bite to eat our Lunch was insane we ended up at Campo De Pozzo in an Osteria called ai do Pozzi.
Our evenings were of course the same full of food and wine

Day three was early rises, we woke up at 6 and left the house at 7 to make our way over to St Marks Square. The place was deserted which was unheard of before covid, normally over 30 million tourists would flood to Venice every year and this year they were not even expecting 300,000. Crazy Right! We managed to get all the snaps in even the book shop called Liberia Acqua Alta, which we had gone to the day before but this time had actually managed to go in and have a look around and even take a photo on the famous stairs of books, before leaving and heading back to our place to get ready for the day ahead which would be spent in Burano.
Burano was a bus boat over which took around 45 Minutes. The island was breath-taking, The houses were all different colours and the town itself was small but cosy, you could tell it was well looked after and the community was strong locals all talking to one another lace shops as far as you could see where dotted around the streets along with seafood restaurants and gelato stores. I have mentioned lace stores, so you are all probably like what has that got to do with anything but the legend that “an ancient betrothed fisherman, while he was fishing outside the lagoon, in the east sea, hold up to a siren who tried to entice him by her canto. So he received a gift from sirens’ queen, enchanted by his faithfulness: the siren thumped the side of the boat by her tall, creating a foam from which a wedding veil developed” And the reason why houses are so colourful at Burano was so that the fishermen could see there homes from offshore.

Dinner and sunset on Rialto bridge •

I feel like I am bullet pointing everything in this blog, but the truth is we did so much in the time that we was here that I need to point it or I will ramble on for centuries to come about how amazing and beautiful Venice really is.
Our last day was full of photographs at all the landmarks and having a walk around a neighbourhood we had yet to see before going to catch our night flight back to Heathrow.
In the morning we woke up early (again) but I do recommend you doing this if you want to see all the spots. First stop was Ponte de Maria Callas. I had seen this place on so many Pinterest researches I had done about Venice, so it was rude to not check it out myself, Perfect photo opportunity. Next was only a 4-minute walk away and then we was at Palazzo Contarini Del Bolvolo.
Walking towards the neighbourhood, we had to go over Rialto Bridge. We had already been on this bridge a few times in the last four days one to see the sunset and sunrise. The last walk we had after we had dropped of our luggage at the luggage drop of spot was at San Polo. This is where the station is and where for the first time in four days, we had seen any cars and busses as just over a bridge this is the last place they can stop.
Venice was honestly so beautiful, and right now it is a once in a lifetime chance to go where it is so quiet the water is so clear, and the locals really appreciate seeing a friendly face. I honestly wished we stayed longer but on to our next adventure which is Sicily (Fingers crossed) we do not go into another lockdown. If you have made it to the end of this blog post, then I love you and thank you so much for reading about the adventures of Venice.

Good bye from our Air BNB

Until next time
Lots of Love
Em.