Venezia, o sole mio!

Hallo  Ihr Lieben,

Venice is one of my favorite cities in Europe! I love the atmosphere in the city, there are no cars, everybody is relaxed and businessmen have their first "Spritz" (Aperol + prosecco) at 10 am. Spritz was invented in Venice by the way. You get  it everywhere for 2 Euros, even at a Pizza take away. 
My best friend Julia lived in Venice for a while (she studies art history) so I only had to catch a plane for 25 Euros (Thank you, Ryanair) and was able to spend some fantastic sunny days in the lagoon city.

If you will ever be in Italy or Europe I highly recommend a visit of the beautiful city at the Adria. People are very friendly, you will find delicious food and beautiful architecture. 

That's why I want to share some of my impressions with you.

The historic centre of Venice. Only 270000 people live in Venezia, I guess that's nothing for American standards. The city has more than 100 islands. You travel mostly by boat so I had to overcome my fear of deep water. I tried to trust the gondoliers but most of them did not look very trustworthy. But hey, I am still alive. 

Pizza! Sure, you have to eat pizza and pasta in Italy! I had a pizza with walnuts and arugula. It was delicious. 

That's me at the Canale Grande. A view from my friend's balcony. Not bad. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie lived on the other side of the Canale during the shooting of "The tourist". My friend Julia saw them. She also met Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Lucy Liu. And lots more famous people I don't remember at the moment. You can see many VIP's during the Biennale which is the Venice film festival.

Water taxi stand. You just wait there for the next boat to come. Pretty cool. There are hundreds of them.

View from the boat.I love this city. It has so many amazing cafes and restaurants. I highly recommend to search for a place to eat far away from the touristy spots like Piazza San Marco etc. The food is much cheaper and better there. 

Isn't this the most beautiful terrace ever? I would like to own this. I want to! Really! I love this. And I am speechless. Still.

Me and my friends at the Pizzeria. This was one of the two times I had a tan (the other time was last year in Colorado). It was over 30 degrees Celsius the whole time so I don't know why one of my friends wears long sleeves in the pictures. It did not cool down at night. 

There are hundreds of little streets like this in town. I would have been completely lost without my friends. 

Julia, Nora and me. Julia had a really bad sunburn. We spent the day at the beach and we are all not used to lots of sun. 

Julia's balcony and the house she lived in. So beautiful. The pictures don't do it any justice. It is so much prettier in reality but okay. Open fire is not allowed in Venezia by the way. I guess that makes lot of sense. Fire department and ambulance come with a boat. I was happy that nothing happened to us. They also have funeral boats  there. That was very interesting. They bring the casket on a boat to the church and later they ship it to the cemetery island San Michele.

One of the hundreds of canals. As you can imagine you have to walk over many bridges in Venezia. I don't know how old people manage to live there. It is definitely not the greatest city to be in a wheelchair.

Another fantastic view from Julia's balcony. This view is really priceless. And the weather! Hach! I really hope that I will be able to visit Venezia again. As soon as possible. 

A gondola manufacturer. "Squero di San Trovaso". There are only a handful of them in Venezia and this is the most famous one. You can go and visit it. 

Bar hopping in Venezia. I have to admit that we started drinking in the morning (a Spritz for breakfast) and stopped late at night but I have never been really drunk. Really.

Julia at the beach. Yes, Venezia has a beach. It's pretty awesome. It is called "Lido".

View from San Michele. The cemetery of Venice is one that island and I love the fact that they have their own island for their cemetery. It is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen. If you are in Venice you should hop on a boat and go over there, it is worth it. You can find the graves of famous people like Igor Stravinsky and Ezra Pound there! My "favorite" grave is the one of Joseph Brodsky because it has a mailbox on it. And writers leave their pens there for inspiration. Pretty cool.

One of the older parts of the cemetery. Isn't it beautiful? 

Me drinking a Spritz. It was already afternoon. 

One last view at the Canal Grande. I hope you liked my little journey through bella Venezia!
Have a wonderful Monday!