Italy, part XXVII - Venice (i)

This view though

I don't want to waste my breath on pretentious words here so I'll just be very blunt. Venice was gorgeous. If there is paradise, then Venice is as close as it gets, I think. I have been to many places at this point, and seen quite a few scenes and locations that are considered beautiful, but never have I been to a place whose the sheer beauty was so staggeringly overwhelming that it brought tears to my eyes. This trip was filled with almost unreal beauty, and there were about three instances where I would pause in my tracks involuntarily, and look up into the skies and the distance, my heart singing with joy for the beauty that I was surrounded by, and I would thank everything for leaving everything to come here, and think to myself, this really was the best decision I ever made in the entire year. Venice was one of those instances. I was so amazed by its loveliness that I thought my heart would burst.

My journey there was somewhat less romantic. I'd managed to buy the wrong ticket, which took me to Mestre, still on the mainland, but I explained my predicament to the extremely obliging bus driver, who let me get off at Tronchetto, the one that was situated on the island itself. Tronchetto was about 40 minutes' walk from the old city that everyone knows, so walk there I had to. Flixbus was the cheaper option from Bologna, but next time if I'm strapped for time, I think I'll just take the train. The train station, Santa Lucia, is located right inside the inner city, so none of this unnecessary and time-wasting walking and poring over GPS.

On the bus

Outside Venice Mestre

Well, I got there - I finally got there - and everything was worth it. The weather was perfect, the skies were the colour of speedwells, and the clouds were the sort that looks good on photos - like smears of white against a still periwinkle backdrop.