Venice, Italy

We went to Venice by train from Milan. We had booked a hostel 2 minutes by walk from the bus station, so was very easy and quick arrive at the hostel Friday night. The name of the hostel is AO Hostel Venezia Mestre.

So, Venezia Mestre is the modern part of the city, and if you go by train is the first station, it's so much cheaper than Venezia Santa Lucia, the tourist part where the "City of Canals" is located. We really recommend staying in this hostel because it's super clean, modern and cheap, and the most important, it's 15 min by train to Venezia Santa Lucia (1.50 EURO).

The first day, we took the train and arrived in Venezia Santa Lucia, the station is big and there're many places to eat and buy souvenirs. But we decided to start walking and cross the Ponte degli Scalz (the big and first one that you see in front of the train station). We found in a little and cute street, a coffee bar, where we had the typical Italian breakfast: brioche al cioccolato and cappuccino. It was delicious and the price was pretty normal.

We continued walking, we got lost in the small streets and from time to time we had to look at the map since sometimes you can't find a bridge to cross the small canals. Then, we arrived at the Ponte di Rialto, it is the oldest of the four bridges in Venice that cross the Grand Canal and probably the most famous in the city. The view from the bridge is beautiful, in the streets below there is a lot of gastronomic and souvenirs offer.

We arrived at the area called San Marcos. Where we met the impressive Basilica of San Marcos, the Ducale Palace and the San Marcos Bell Tower, which are in the same place, in San Marcos Square. So much beauty, so much art, so much history, surprised by the details of the architecture of the place. We had a coffee in a bar in the square, which perhaps we would not do again since it was the most expensive coffee of our lives. :) Haha. We sat on a bench to look at the Grand Canal, the boats that passed by, the people, and to enjoy the sun that caressed us directly on our faces.

After walking along the banks of the Grand Canal, we sat in a restaurant. We sat in a restaurant overlooking a small island where the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore is located. We ate spaghetti with a glass of wine. Delicious dishes. But we couldn't resist the ice cream for dessert, chocolate and pistachios were the specialty of the place.

We walked until we reached the Bridge of Sighs, according to the most widespread legend, the habitant of Venice listened to the sighs of the prisoners who crossed the bridge to go from court to jail after hearing their sentence. Along the way we saw many churches, some we were able to enter, others we couldn't because they were closed or there was a long line. We looked for the Academy Bridge to see the sunset, and the truth is that it was worth it. The sun looked like an orange, reflecting its last rays of light onto the canal, it was kind of magical. Returning to the train station, we stopped at a restaurant next to the Ponte degli Scalzi, we ate squid rings with fries and obviously a delicious plate of pasta accompanied by a glass of wine. We did 25 km in one day, but... it was worth it! :) we took the train and went to the hostel. Luckily the train leaves every 20 minutes, it is very frequent. We took a shower and went to sleep, our feet hurt from walking so much but it is the only way to go through each of those little streets.

The next day we got up (not very early this time) and went to have breakfast at another beautiful coffee bar. This time we only had a few hours, so we decided to walk through all those places that we had not done the day before. We bought souvenirs, magnets and some decoration things. Fact to keep in mind: it is much better to buy souvenirs in the small streets, where the locals are almost hidden, since the price is much cheaper.

We went back to San Marcos square to appreciate it for a few more minutes, we didn't go in anywhere because the lines were very long. But what better than not having done it, so we have an excuse to go back? Also take a boat ride and go to the Murano and Burano islands. There are always more things to do, you always meet people who recommend different places or ways of getting to know. And that's the beauty of traveling :)