By Richelle
Saturday 7th of July 2018
A world away from the Nepalese Himalayas, we decided to spend the trekking season exploring something a little closer to home (albeit triple the price) - The Italian Dolomites.
Venice always delights, and it didn’t take us long to ease into holiday mode and prep for the shower-less 10 day trek ahead of us. As we arrived from the mainland, church bells signalled lunch hour and the kitchens started to open up. The courtyards stirred back to life as we found an out of the way cafe to watch all the local dogs head home for the midday meal.
Being prime tourist season, the crowds were swarming, and the population of the world seemed all too present. We found ourselves constantly looking for quiet little alleyways, streets lost on the crowds in favour of their bustling neighbours. We found one gem right off the Strada Nuova that almost seemed to good to be true. We bought Spontini pizza (hello 2012 Milan) and dashed away before we were seen. The dark alley led us out to a private jetty right on the grand canal. We had the place to ourselves for the best part of half an hour before we were spotted and curious cameras peeped through the walkway.
We admired Saint Marks and the Doges palace from the square before walking to the Galleria Academia and exploring ancient work from the medieval era through to the Venice golden age. We headed back to a little local place in Cannaregio for aperol and yet another pizza.