Everyone is in love with Venice! It is the one city whose name is always spoken with an accompanying sigh, "Oh to be in Venice!"
I visited the timeless city on water for the first time almost two years ago, and though I was desperate to see the magic for myself, I wondered if it could possibly live up to everything I had heard about it. As we stepped out of the airport transport into the wet evening to await our boat from the Hotel Metropole, the rosy light dancing and shimmering on the water, I knew instantly that the myth of Venice was real.
Meandering up the Grand Canal under the elegant bridges and lined with magnificent old buildings, majestic cathedrals, elaborate palaces and quaint hotels, I was absolutely enchanted by the ancient city. It felt like we had stumbled upon an entirely private world, away from everything I had ever known.
Over the next few days I saw that amongst the incredible beauty, the mystery, the twisting canals and countless charming bridges, the angels and the colours that change each hour of the day, Venice was slowly crumbling, sinking and decaying, yet it was clear that it's essence was still intact and it's spirit indomitable.
Perhaps the artist, Turner captured it best when he said: "Elusive, floating, enigmatic, Venice rides in a misty middle distance of muted colours and sounds, a dreamlike place that defies definition and beggars description."
It is a city that has totally captured my heart and I know I will return again and again. "Porta un mio abbraccio a la bella Venezia" ~ Carry an embrace from me to beautiful Venice!
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