Venice is a city which is well known all around the world and is definitely a tourist hotspot and after living here for two months now I can 100 per cent confirm that it is a island brimming full of all sorts of nationalities. But it's no surprise as it is such a unique place to visit as it's full of culture as well as people! For non residents there are four main points of interest which form their own Venetian triangle! San Marco's Square, Accademia, Rialto and the Grand Canal which runs between them all.
I have a separate post on San Marco's square so I will start with Accademia or Ponte dell' Accademia for the Italians! It is one of the four bridges which cross the Grand Canal and connects to Dorsoduro which is where the majority of Ca' Forscari University buildings are. Now I assume that the University buildings were deliberately put there as the bridge is named after the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia which is a academy of Art. Therefore they are on the 'accademic' side of the island right? Haha well if not then this is a massive coincidence. The bridge is wooden and is where I would say the majority of iconic pictures of Venice are taken. The picture above is me doing the classic bridge pose off the front facing side.
These are just a few of the many I have taken on my commute to University, but the left is the same side which is heading towards the lagoon and then the right is towards the Grand Canal. Around Accademia (Dorsoduro) it does seem to be slightly more residential the further you get into it. We are always around there, mainly because it has a square where all the students drink. But we do tend to get the Vaporetto a lot as it is a half an hour walk from where we live (San Marco square area). But on the way if you do walk you will come across all the designer label stores as well as the usual bars, restaurants and souvenir shops.
The left is taken on a bridge in between the Prada and Gucci just before Accademia bridge. Then the left is within Dorsoduro. On the way to the bridge there is this amazing shop which sells fresh bread and cakes and every kind of Italian biscuit there ever was, it's called il Fuori Menu and it sells the most amazing tiramisus to take away for two euro! The whole of Venice is marked out with signs to landmark places so if you follow that route from San Marco and ever come across it try it out.
Rialto also holds one of the other four bridges which crosses the Grand Canal but sadly I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of yet, it is currently under construction as well so it's hard to take one off it too. But Rialto is mainly booming with shops, market stalls, restaurants and bars and is the prime spot for tourism I would say, just because it has everything there. On my second night here we wondered around for hours getting lost in Rialto with everything staying open quite late (including shops!), I remember just being in awe of the hundreds of tiny alley ways and wondering how on earth I would ever find my way around. Well I like to think I have got the hang of it now but I definitely still get lost. But to be honest it's been pretty funny pretending I know my way whenever I have had a visitor because it's so easy to sneakily look up at the thousand and one bright yellow signs which give directions everywhere.
But no matter where you get lost in Rialto you can always find your way out to the Grand Canal to get your bearings. The Canal Grande really does earn it's title of being grand because it is huge! With some of the prettiest and biggest buildings overlooking the canal, it is so picturesque and best seen from a boat! We use the Vaporetto service but the Canal is always flooded with all kinds of boats whether it's taxi boats, Venetian's personal boats or Gondolas. Which I have not done yet! But only because they are between 80 and 120 euros, which is a scary price to a student with a boat pass. I've got to do it before I leave though, I can't say I lived in Venice and never got on a Gondola (and no the time I was drunk and climbed in one does not count...)
Within our first few days here it was the Venezia boat race and I wish we knew it was happening as we sort of stumbled across it last minute. But it was such a buzzing atmosphere and it was nice to be apart of even if it was for a short time. Just as we were about to leave a boat with a jazz band just casually came past playing the pink panther theme tune so I had to film it.
I remember standing there like oh only in Venice I guess, haha! But it is sooooo cool to just be able to walk past these places on a daily basis. It is hard to summarise what they are like because I will not do them justice! It really is something you have got to see for yourself which is why there are so many tourists here.
Anyway I hope this gives a little bit of insight into Venice!
*All photos are my own.
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