Travel: Venice, Italy

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Venice has always had a special place in my heart. The beauty, character, romance, food, music, canals, views, locals, tourists, just everything. 

My whole family was fortunate enough to visit Venice, Italy. I was much younger then, 14 years old (yes, 21 years ago!). Our parents took our family to tour Europe, 10 countries to be exact. No doubt, Venice topped my list (second was Lucerne, Switzerland and third was Amsterdam, Netherlands). Coming from the Philippines and seeing this kind of beauty just ultimately shocked my system. I remember going on the gondola rides, chasing birds at Piazza San Marco, sipping that luscious and silky hot chocolate, and just staring at the beauty of life in this place. We spent a good part of one day just listening to musicians serenade us. And after that, we went back to get another cup of hot chocolate. When we finally had to leave Venice to go to our next destination, it was bittersweet to end such a short love affair. As much as I considered myself lucky, I obviously didn't want it to end. But off to the next item in our itinerary!


I was very lucky to have the chance to go back in April 2019. To celebrate my mother-in-law's 60th birthday, we planned to tour Italy and Venice was our first stop. My immediate thought was "OH. MY. GOD. We'll get to sip that hot chocolate again!" and it made me all giddy inside. And I remember saying a "thank you" prayer immediately - not just for the hot chocolate, but thankful we're able to experience this trip all together, in the company of family, and the chance to make wonderful memories. We'd fly out from Canada and they from Philippines and we'd all meet in Venice.

Since this was our first stop of our tour, naturally, my luggage got left behind in Germany (our stopover) 🙄. I tried my best not to let it bother me and to just absorb the beauty around me. I WAS IN VENICE. And good thing my mom- and sister-in-law brought us some clothes (pasalubongs) from Manila. Phew 😅. We spent the day exploring our surrounding area and having dinner al fresco. The wine we had was exquisite and I must say this was the best red wine I had in our whole Italy trip. And we had A LOT of wine. Needless to say, I kept looking for that wine's taste the whole trip. 

The next day, we headed out for Piazza San Marco and my system went in shock again. The beauty was just overwhelming and I was beyond excited. Even just the boat ride to get here was magical!
 
 

Of course, we went to Florian, the epic hot chocolate place. They've been getting it right since 1720, people! 
And I relished (and scraped) every drop of that bliss in a cup.
     

After having all that chocolate, we had to walk off the sugar. We walked around exploring Rialto Bridge and discovering every street we could find. We visited some street kiosks, mask making shops, calligraphy shops and bookshops, and endless gelaterias. We were posing for every picture perfect opportunity to capture these memories. 

Here are some more pictures to take you to Venice. 

 
   

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
#donyaluzee #travel #italy #venice #piazzasanmarco #hotchocolate #gelato #rialtobridge

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