After 9 long years of being unable to travel at will from the UK, Danni finally received her full citizenship and British passport in April.  This meant we could finally leave the country without having to apply for visas in advance, prove bank balances and generally jump through bureaucratic hoops which weren’t even a guaranteed thing.

In addition to that, my birthday was looming so we knew we had to do something fairly big.

To be completely honest, we didn’t even have to think that hard before coming up with the ideal long weekend get-away destination. Venice.  (which you may have deduced already from the title of this blog post, clever you!)

We’ve both separately been to various parts of Italy in the past, but neither of us had made it to this magical city before.  It’s difficult to describe as there really isn’t anything else like it. The narrow passageways, the ancient architecture, the canals, the tourists.  Oh man, the tourists.  For my London friends, imagine all the people on Oxford street trying to move down 2 narrow hallways. With no signs or visible land marks to facilitate even a modicum of direction sense.  Chaos.

Fortunately, Venice is deceptively small (this is my excuse for getting us lost several times even with map in hand) and we managed to stay far away from the crowds for the majority of our 4 day excursion.  The side streets are jaw-dropping; filled with little shops selling opulent carnival masks, delicate glassware and all manner of cafes and restaurants vying for customer attention.

To say Venice is photogenic would be one of my greater understatements.  I regret not having the willpower to be up at dawn to capture the serenity of an empty city lit by sunrise and a few street lamps not yet switched off.  Or being able to stay in the city itself a few more hours to catch the sunset  and warm hours of dusk.  My lovely wife is infinitely patient with me when it comes to my photography, but we both did so much walking each day that by 5:00 our legs and feet were numb with pain.  The thought of waiting around for three or four more hours was just too much to bear.

That being said, we both managed to take some lovely images which will help us remember the trip for a very long time.  I have to say that the photographer in me loved the island of Burano more than anywhere else we visited on our trip.  The colourful houses and local people just going about their daily business under the bright blue skies were almost more than I could ask for.

I do have to mention that we both ate our yearly quote of delicious pizza while here.  My favourite from the trip was a lovely pumpkin, tomato & buffalo mozzarella number pictured below.  It’s making my mouth water just thinking about it…

There are many, many more photos from our great Venetian trip in the gallery.  Now stop planning your trip and just go already!