top 5 things to do in venice

The charm of Venice is in the mystery. It seems to be an impossible place, a foggy dreamland coalesced from a Renaissance prince's wild imagination. It's enchanting and strange, masked and mazed and magical.

I have been to Venice twice, once as a child and again as an adult. There are a few things to know and prepare for before you go, and I'm hoping this post enlightens you before your journey to the painted isles of Venezia.

1. Buy A Mask

Is it a tourist move? Of course it is!

But there's truly no better way to get into the spirit of Venice than to stroll through the many, many masquerade mask shops and carts to find the one that speaks to you the most. Rialto Bridge is by far the most known shopping point around Venice, and it's always swarming with tourists and shop owners. It's a fun treat to walk around and see everything there is to see before deciding to buy anything. Colored glass, trinkets, clothing, art, leather, and especially the masks.
Sometimes while you're walking around the less crowded parts of town you'll stumble upon an artist's shop of masks, handmade and hand-painted and devoid of anything cheap or trappy. They'll take your breath away. They're beautiful, many of them so stunningly detailed and elaborate that you find yourself getting a bit lost in your admiration of them. And there's nothing better than getting lost in Venice.

2. Eat Whenever and Wherever You Want To

Prepare to splurge. Venice is not a place for the careful and frugal. If you are naturally one or both of these things, allow yourself to be someone new for a day or two. Place that masquerade mask over your eyes and breathe in the color of freedom. Start from scratch. You won't find the best food or gelato in Italy here, but you can't beat a bistro on the canal with cozy gondolas swimming by. There is a lot of seafood. Everything is expensive, so prepare thineself.

People often complain in Venice (and even Italy in general) that service is terrible or that waiters or rude, but always keep in mind that Italians eat very long, leisurely meals. It's fairly normal to have to request the check to signal the end of a meal. Otherwise they will generally leave you to the enjoyment of your food. Don't be shy if you want more food or coffee/dessert. You ain't in Kansas anymore, Toto.

If you're truly stumped and have to have a food plan, try a place like Pizzeria Vesuvio. Order pizza and you won't be disappointed. It's not terribly expensive and was close to our apartment, which was a plus on our first night there. There are guidebooks and blogs about the food in Venice, so you can always search around for specific restaurants to schedule in, but I prefer Venice on the fly.
You can also opt to stop in at the numerous cafes around town for breakfast. Most of them are standing only (it costs more to order and sit), but they have a nice selection of delicacies to try. It's a quick and cheap(er) option for tasty pastries and cappuccinos in the morning.

3. Libreria Acqua Alta

There is a lot of charm in Venice, and some of it is lurking in corners that you may never find on your own. I happened to read about this shop before we went to Venice, and luckily we were able to find it. (I wrote about it in a previous Wanderlust Wednesday post). It's the weirdest, most adorable bookshop that I have ever seen. The owner is boisterous and lovely, and he loves cats, so they are hiding in all corners. The merchandise is stacked in haphazard piles in tubs and gondolas to keep them safe from the flooding every year. It is a wonderful place to explore! Especially if you want some cat-themed posters and souvenirs, which of course I did.

4. San Marco Square

This is a given. Everyone who is anyone goes straight to San Marco Square to see the sights there, but there are a few things to do here that may not be known to you. First of all, you have to go inside St. Mark's Basilica. That's the obvious one. The golden-tiled mosaics are absolutely glorious. You must go at the right time of day, though, so that the sun is shimmering through the windows and setting those tiles on fire.

If you're like me and desire a tourist shot of you covered in nasty pigeons in the center of the square, I applaud you!

I would also recommend going to the top of the Campanile, which is an agreeable 6 euros per person and allows you unparalleled views of the canal town below. The lines are usually reasonable, too.

You can also arrange a tour of Doge's Palace, which is a great way to explore the passageways and artwork of Venice leaders. You actually walk inside of the infamous Bridge of Sighs, the only covered bridge in all of Venice. If you're interested in that part of Venitian history, I would recommend fitting that into your itinerary. 

Lastly, you can leisurely amble through the square at night. Take your time. The crowds are gone, it's eery and beautiful. There are a few (insanely expensive) cafes that remain open, and even occasionally some patio tables surrounding nighttime musicians! You can stand and listen for free, but if you sit you have to order something. I believe it was close to $20 for one cup of coffee, but if you have your mask on and are drinking in the Venician life, just go for it!

5. Take the Scenic Route

Although it sounds like the cheesiest thing in the world, follow your heart. 
One of the greatest things about Venice is that it doesn't demand hardcore sightseeing like other Italian cities (namely Rome). You don't have days and days worth of world-renown monuments or ruins to see. The most exquisite sightseeing is found just by being there, walking along the canals and seeing the paint-chipped buildings of this majestic water city.Venice is known for its architecture and art, so you can be confident that wherever you go you'll be stunned. There are plenty of museums, churches, and ornate buildings to see.

Follow your instincts and allow the city to whisper to you. Be more spontaneous than you've ever been in your life. If something looks good, try it. If there's a painter creating a masterpiece, sit there and watch it unfold in each brushstroke. Buying local art is one of my favorite things to do in any city we go to, and Venice is no exception. Art is a wonderful souvenir from a city like this.

Don't be in a hurry, and don't plan too much. The best part of Venice is getting lost and finding that secret garden, or that quiet courtyard with all the lovely colors. There is a lot to be said for those quiet moments in a city cloaked in age-old mystery.

Other good ideas:

• Ride in a Gondola before dark. It's cheaper, and you can always hop in just before sunset to have the best of both worlds. Begin with the sunset and end with twinkling lights!

• Use the water taxis to travel to some of the neighboring islands. Water travel isn't cheap, so use at your own discretion. (I will say that there aren't often people checking or paying attention to whether or not you pay at the kiosks - you just hop on. But do so at your own risk because the fines for not paying are very high. I will neither confirm nor deny whether we did this). The island of Murano is the most popular, known for its glassmaking. It's very expensive but the further in you go, the less touristy it gets. It's worth a visit if you're really aching for a special glass souvenir. You can also visit Burano for lace and colorful houses or Torcello for quiet nature walks. There are a lot of options. 

• Check out airbnb.com for places to stay! We have used it for every trip, and highly recommend it. Use your best judgment in selecting an apartment, as it's very true that you get what you pay for. But I couldn't imagine a better way to experience "living" in a new city for a few days. 

• Read The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I read this book after we got back from our trip, and it gave me an entirely new perspective on Venice! It made me want to go back and see everything with a brand new set of eyes. 

wanderlust wednesday

Snapshots from Dublin, Ireland. St. Patrick's Day, 2011. 

My husband and I had a cozy honeymoon in the mountains our first week of marriage. We were married during Christmas break (on 1-1-11), so we had one semester of college left. We saved our money and decided to take a much bigger honeymoon trip during spring break. We had originally thought of taking an Alaskan cruise, but Dustin came across the same trip to Ireland that my family had taken together a year earlier - the trip that Dustin proposed to me on!

Of course we decided to repeat the trip together as a married couple, and it was magical. Since it was March instead of December, the weather was a bit warmer (although still quite cold), the grass was much greener, and we were able to visit many incredible little towns we hadn't been to before.
 We hiked up to the Witches Hat, we saw the Cliffs of Moher, we visited Waterford and Galway, and we even celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the great city of Dublin. We were in the beating green heart of Irish enthusiasm. Our hotel surprised us that morning with little corsages of fresh clovers, which we enthusiastically pinned to our coats before heading out for our day of Dublining. We stood for hours to enjoy the rather grand spectacle that is the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin - it was both beautiful and strange and sometimes dark, and we found ourselves baffled and fascinated by their displays of color and music and characters.

It was so cold in the shade that we were overwhelmed with gratitude when we found a coffee shop that was open a few doors down towards the end of the parade, and eventually we wandered into a warm pub that was crowded with green-clad people. I ended up getting horribly sick towards the end of the trip, probably due to the hours in the cold, but it was worth it. (Although in hindsight I should have been wearing much warmer clothes. I was way too persistent about wearing my shamrock-green tights).

One of my favorite pictures above is of the three clearly drunk Irishwomen who demanded, rather excitedly, that we take their picture. I was also flashed by a redheaded Irishman later on, which I'm quite sure he doesn't remember.

It was an incredible day - one that I hope never fades as time goes by. It is a memory that is still as full of color and hollering as the day I stood there with my new husband, rosy-cheeked and freezing.

postcards from rome

the trevi fountain // throwing a coin // the pantheon // our favorite eatery 
evening at piazza navona // piazza della rotonda // trajan's column
borghese gardens // overlooking vatican city // dome of st. peter's, the roman forum
the colosseum // roman center // sunset at trajan's column

Rome completely surprised us.

I was hoping something like that would happen. That my expectations would be shaken, that I would fall in love where I least expected it.
Traveling is such a personal and wondrous thing, so you're bound to get varied opinions and input when other people find out you're going somewhere they've been. We had a lot of responses to our Italy trip, and we heard a lot of the same. Florence is the best, Rome is the worst, eat as much gelato as you possibly can. We definitely gelato'd all day, every day, but we found that once all was said and done, it was Rome that had truly romanced us.

It's a beautiful city. It's bright and so full of life, the history is astounding, the food is life-changing. It's a city full of gems and secrets. It's a place for people-watching and wish-making and some of it is so familiar, you'd swear you had been there before -- and some of it is so impressive and surprising it'll take your breath away. Trajan's Column, The Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, The Sistine Chapel. Those were the things that truly took me by surprise.

I can definitely understand the general overwhelming feeling of Rome, the way it's tailored to tourists and can be too busy and hot and crowded, but we just found ourselves accepting it for what it was and demanding more. There were so many times when Dusty and I were quite literally giddy.
Like when we went into a little streetside pizza shop, and they sold pizza by the slice. They cut out a huge chunk of the pizza (mine was potato and rosemary), folded it up toppings-side-in, like a big pizza burrito, and wrapped it in paper. We walked outta that shop with our to-go pizza-folds, biting and chewing and smiling in-between, walking around Vatican City like we lived there.
Or when we were walking down little Roman alleyways, following our map, and suddenly we burst into this open plaza with bam, The Trevi Fountain, towering and sputtering and musical. We first came upon it at night, and the glow of the street lights and the sound of the water and the bundles of people hanging out there was truly exceptional. We hopped around the corner to grab gelato and came back to join the cool kids.
Or like that time we stumbled upon a bright yellow building with a little side alley of tables and chairs, and had the best pasta of our lives. Cacio e pepe, you stupid delight, you buttery, peppery goodness. They gave us fresh tomato bruschetta and little complimentary glasses of limoncello.
We went back on our last day, of course, just in case Da Francesco had been a dream.

I think I could write a love letter to every place I've traveled thus far, but Rome is just so packed full, it's heavy with sights and eats and meaning.
I suppose it's all in the details, and Rome had so many wonderful details.

color me in critters

Dress (remixed)(shop!): Ruche, Sweater (remixed)(shop!): JCPenney

Day 20: I realized when I was compiling this week's posts that my Sunday and Monday outfits consisted of a very similar color pattern!
I guess I was feeling cheerful after a brilliant Saturday night at the fair, and a Sunday spent at Chapel Hill with our friends. They showed us around their old college stomping grounds.
It was especially chilly, so we cozied up and went to a cute little breakfast place for coffee and waffles. Then we walked around the beautiful campus and enjoyed listening to their stories and memories.
Something about college days just resonates with me - maybe it's just that way for every graduate. But I loved hearing the details they remembered, like being able to make it to class at a sprint in 3 minutes flat, or where they spent their first date.
There's an odd sense of pride in being alumni, in having belonged to a specific community...one that continues to have a legacy that you're able to be a part of. There's a kind of nostalgia there that I can definitely relate to.

Day 21: I finally succumbed to Dusty's cold, and we have thus spent the week wanting nothing more than to be home, eating soup, in our pajamas.
But since that's not always an option, I stuck to my guns and still wore a dress. Layering with tights, a loose sweater-wannabe top and a scarf helped calm my pajama cravings, and we opted for going on a little double date night at Olive Garden for soup instead!
I pretty much always/only get soup at Olive Garden, so it totally hit the spot.

Dress (remixed): Ruche, Top: LOFT, scarf/earrings: gifted

I'm finding a renewed passion in scarves this fall. I don't think I've ever truly explored the many ways to use them, and I get lost on Pinterest looking at all the different ideas.
It's kind of like the time I realized you could knot and twist belts around your waist, rather than just buckling them. It brings a whole new dynamic to such a simple accessory.

Scarves are often one of those things I forget to use, style wise. I might wear them out of necessity, like in Paris or somewhere truly cold, but every time I see an outfit I really love with a great pop of color from a plaid or floral scarf I remember: oh right! I have a bunch of those. I should wear them.
And this one's extra great because it's a pop of color and a bit of sparkle.