Venice Beyond the Gondola

In August, I visited Venice for the first time and discovered that there is far more to do than I ever expected. The city itself is beautiful and the winding canal pathways are a joy to simply wander and get lost in. One morning we even laced up for a sunrise run around the island and the city felt wonderfully still. The weather definitely kept us on our toes, one minute the sun was shining, the next a storm was rolling in over the lagoon, and within minutes the whole island was swallowed by thunder and lightning. An art exhibition was running across the city, and we wandered through many of its venues when the rain sent us scurrying for cover.

Walking through Venice felt like stepping back in time, a city steeped in history with narrow alleys untouched by the centuries. Each alley full of stalls of focaccias filled to the brim and cicchetti piled high with toppings. Venice is known for its seafood and we made the most of it by trying the most delicious spider crab linguine and enormous langoustines. One of my favourite things we did was take a pasta making class. We rolled tortellini and tagliatelle by hand and made tiramisu from scratch. The tiramisu cream was a rich yellow as the Venetian way only uses egg yolks, no whipped egg whites, and I will be changing my own recipe as a result.

I would definitely recommend hopping on a boat and exploring the nearby islands of Murano and Burano. On Murano, the home of Venetian glassmaking, we watched a master glassblower at work. He made it look effortless, bending the glass to his will, crafting a single piece of molten glass into a beautiful horse figurine. The island of Burano was stunning, a former fishing village with every house a different shade of bright colour, like a Venetian Balamory.

Beyond the culture, food, and the islands, our days were packed with the most memorable activities. One evening we took in a Vivaldi Baroque Ensemble at the Vivaldi church, the music was breathtaking, with the strings filling the church making the whole room feel centuries away from the modern world. On our last night we sailed around the lagoon on a catamaran at sunset, and we finished the trip with a gondola ride beneath the Bridge of Sighs. All in all it was a wonderful trip, and although it did a number on my bank account, I would do it again in a heartbeat.