Bella Venezia

Bella Venezia! Enchanting, romatic - my destination! Not a grand dame like Paris or Vienna, more like a Nonna, old and a bit run down, but she’s seen it all, and her stories are captivating.

From the moment you step through the station doors, Venice assaults your senses. So much colour, movement, noise, smells. You draw breath because the scene before you is so like the travel brochures, it seems unreal. The Grand Canal is right there, centuries old buildings on each side keeping watch. Water taxis and vaporetti jockeying for position, the masses of people moving about – some waiting for their vaporetto, others wandering about, mesmerised by the sights and sounds.

It’s best not to try and make too much sense of Venice. Forget the inconveniences, the crowds, the long queues, the street signs in dialect that don’t match the names on your map, or the street numbers that aren’t in any logical order. She’s old, these quirks are her privilege. Instead, let the child within you take over, rejoice in the novel and wonder at the unexpected.

Be different, try an apartment in the back streets and mingle with the locals. Shop at the local Bila supermarket, the size of most Australian lounge rooms, or get up early and buy fresh fish at the Rialto market. Find your local café or bar, every piazza has one, and take part in the Italian breakfast ritual. Forget your cornflakes, just stand at the bar with your brioche and macchiato and you’ll soon feel a sort of camaraderie develop with the locals, who come together each morning to share a few moments before heading off to their daily routines.

Instead of following the tourist treadmill, try wandering the fondamente and calles to nowhere in particular . Every turn will reward you with hidden alleyways and mysterious porticos to explore; beautiful buildings, each with their own character; the sight of someone’s laundry hanging out to dry over a canal; or an old well in a little out-of-the-way piazza. Pause for a...