IBS Blog 3: A Day in Venice
“If you could travel to any place in the world where would you go?” This is a rather common question many of us have been asked at some point in our lives. There are so many amazing dream destinations and vacations it could be hard to choose just one. For me, I always dreamt of visiting Venice. I was overjoyed when I saw “Free day trip to explore Venice,” in my IBS itinerary.
I woke up bright and early that morning to make the most of my day trip. It was sunny and beautiful outside, a perfect day to walk around the city of Venice. My group and I ate breakfast at the hotel and walked to the train station departing from Verona. The train ride was a little over an hour but it went by fast since we were altogether.
We arrived in Venice and were greeted by the beautiful Grande Canal. We crossed the large bridge and there were a bunch of cute shops selling all sorts of things like, colorful masks, hats, clothes, and Italian souvenirs. There was also little cafes, restaurants, and exotic pastry shops all around. And if you love ice cream you are never more than 10 minutes away from a wonderfully delicious gelato shop.
Venice was bigger than I imagined so it was nice that they had several modes of transportation available to get around. My group and I all chipped in and took the Water Taxi to St. Mark’s Square. It was so neat to see the city from an outside perspective and take some cool photos of the view.
St Mark’s Basilica was my favorite building in Venice. It stood out to me because of all its beautiful, detailed artistry on the outside of the cathedral. I didn’t even have to go inside to admire its amazing artwork.
Not too far off was the Gucci and Louis Vuitton store where we went to look at the all the famous designer products.
After that we made our way back to the docks and rode the gondola through the heart of the city. The water was calm and the ride was smooth. The canals winded between the buildings where we could see the life of the city all around us. There were people walking around, taking pictures, eating at restaurants along the canal, and some even waved to us. The gondola ride gave us the ultimate tour of Venice and I loved every minute of it!
Finally, we stopped at a little restaurant along the water for dinner. I ordered a bowl of fresh tomato and basil spaghetti. I do genuinely love pasta, and to my surprise, this specific bowl of spaghetti was the best spaghetti I have ever had in my life. Words cannot describe how fresh and light the ingredients were. Every bite tasted like a little piece of heaven.
We took the train back to Verona and went back to the hotel to rest from our long day of walking. Looking back on my trip, this was definitely a very special and eye opening experience to me. Venice was so beautiful, full of life, and everything I hoped it would be. I would love to come back here with my family someday.
