The journey from Germany down to Italy was really quick and comfortable (even though we had to go around the Alps,) with our last leg on the Trenitalia cruising at over 400km per hour in a quiet, air-conditioned leather seat - ahhh, the joys of first-world public transport. We pulled into Venice station in the afternoon on Saturday 8 December and were greeted with sunshine and blue skies - a pleasant change from snowy Germany :-) It really is quite unlike any place you've seen before and we were actually glad that we missed the connecting ferry as it gave us some time to just chill on the steps and take it all in. We were staying on an island called Lido which is about a 30 minute ferry ride from the main island. We eventually found the right water-taxi and sat back & enjoyed the amazing views as we travelled down the Grand Canal. We dumped our stuff in our room and almost immediately headed back to the main island for dinner. It was a bit tricky to find, but we eventually got to this awesome little authentic Italian pasta shop in a tiny back alley (actually, most shops in Venice are down some tiny, obscure back alley...) which was well worth it. After wandering around the main square area for a bit, we headed back to our hotel - but not before the almost-mandatory stop for some real Gelato ice-cream!

Sunday morning we were all quite tired from the previous day's walking and late night so we slept in a bit. Late morning we emerged and grabbed a takaway pizza from this cool little spot as we headed out for a day of sightseeing. We spent some time looking around Lido and had a bit of a walk along it's long beach. Even though it was pretty cold the sun was out so there were quite a few families milling about. Afterwards we caught a water taxi back to Venice and had a really cool time walking around some of the quieter areas of the island. Later we made a trip out to the island cluster of Murano, renowned worldwide for it's glasswork. There were these beautiful, huge, ornate glass sculptures in some of the old squares and dotted amongst the old buildings. After we had had a good look around, we caught another taxi to the island of Burano which is known for its lacework and brightly coloured homes - its like the bo-kaap on steroids! This was our last stop for the day so we just took a leisurly stroll along the canals, enjoying all the colourful houses. We reached the waters edge just in time to witness the most gorgeous sunset - a fitting end to an amazing day of sightseeing. And just to remind us that it was in fact winter, we did catch a glimpse of some snow on one of the roofs as we made our way back to ferry! Back in Lido we opted for another pizza dinner with some cheap but good Italian wine, and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our room.

Monday we were up early to explore some more of the main island. We caught a water taxi down the Grand Canal and then spent the next few hours wandering along the cramped, cobbled streets and browsing around some of the shops and markets. Even though it was winter, there were still loads of toursts - I would hate to see what it's like in summer! Once we had visited the famous Rialto Bridge which is still holding strong despite being well over 400 years old (the most modern bridge over the canal, completed in 2008, has already shifted more) we grabbed some lunch in a nearby park and then met up with a walking tour group. The Australian art student who showed us around knew a lot about the history of the city and revealed some fascinating facts while we strolled along the back streets. Afterwards we stopped for some gelato at a shop she recommended before heading back to the hotel.

Tuesday we were up early again to pack and check-out. We caught our final water taxi up the Grand Canal to the train station It turned out we had again missed our connecting train by a few minutes so we found a sunny patch on the on the stairs outside the station overlooking the canal and made ourselves comfortable :-) The time passed too quickly and soon we were on another high-speed train down to Roma!