Final Days in Venice

To start off our final day in Venice, we caught a vaporetto down to Rialto Bridge and walked out into one of the city's shopping hubs. We were surrounded by designer shops and high street brands, but for now, we were interested in a building with more than just window displays. The Acqua Alta bookshop is the most famous in Venice, and if their slogan is anything to go by, the most beautiful bookshop in the world.  We arrived early enough that the shop floor, which is usually crawling with tourists, was very quiet. This place was literally overflowing with books: vintage and second-hand volumes spilled from shelves and postcards were stacked haphazardly. Posters and cards flowed out into the courtyard, where beautiful old prints vied for the attention of passersby. Inside the shop, old gondolas had been repurposed as storage boxes and were chock-a-block with even more dog-eared volumes. Walking around the shop was like perusing a museum, with English and Italian classics alike pooled in every corner. There was hardly any room to squeeze through the corridors between the stacks of books, so we were glad that we were some of the only tourists in there. 

 

As the clouds cleared from the sky we headed deeper into the city and enjoyed the stunning surroundings. White stone spiraling into the sky clashed with adjacent red brick walls, statues waved from the rooftops, and the arches of countless bridges gave the streets their own character. Venice really does have a unique romanticism, but the reduced volumes of visitors during COVID has definitely made moments like this even better, since we could venture through the depths of the city and find ourselves completely alone. 

Empty Streets

We ended up rejoining the crowds as we headed towards the Bridge of Sighs. This famous bridge connects the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace, and the view from this bridge was the last that convicts would see before their imprisonment. You wouldn't know by looking at it, since the pretty white limestone seems to emanate joy instead of despair. 

The Bridge of Sighs

After this, we followed the crowds back through St Mark's Square. This piazza still leaves us awestruck every time and there always seems to be a new beautiful detail to discover. The incredible clock tower, for instance, features decorations like star signs and the first digital clock, which still works.

The Clock Tower

However, we couldn't spend very long admiring the views, because we soon had to make our way back towards Rialto Bridge for our COVID swab tests. We had taken two NHS tests the night before and knew we were negative, but I still had butterflies in my stomach. We arrived early and headed up to the reception, where we were given forms to fill out and had our details uploaded to a computer system. There were a few local patients at the clinic, but there were also a fair few tourists taking their tests for travel, as this is one of the few clinics in Venice with a resident COVID-test nurse. We worked out how to fill in the form with the help of google translate and waited for our swabs. In the meantime, a pair of travelers arrived in a fluster, pleading the receptionist to book them in for an appointment: their destination was the Netherlands, which just brought in new rules requiring a COVID test to be completed 24 hours before arrival. There were no slots available for them, and I felt very glad to have booked our place a few weeks in advance; but with all of the research I had done into fit-to-fly tests, I was able to tell them about the COVID tests available at Marco Polo airport which they could take just before their flight. They were very relieved and the good karma carried through, as Max and I received our negative test certificates in just a few hours. 

After the tests, we rewarded ourselves with a local delicacy that we hadn't yet tried: cannoncini. These are pastry horns filled with cream and topped with icing sugar, and we tried pistachio, vanilla, and chocolate flavours, after which our blood sugars were fully restored. 

Cannoncini by the Canal

Our next stop was Venice's famous shopping center, T Fondaco dei Tedeschi. This is the Venetian equivalent of Harrods, with floor upon floor of designer shops. The best part about the shopping center, however, isn't the clothes or the shoes, but the very top of the building. Here, there is a terrace overlooking the whole city. Entry is free and timeslots book up quickly, but we managed to get tickets and (after a bit of confusion with the ticket checkers) enter the roof of the Fondaco. This terrace gave incredible views over the city: we could see across most of the island, with the distinct spires and towers of Venice's many churches being labeled by handy maps. With such beautiful weather, the city looked truly spectacular, and it was great to view Venice from such a different perspective. 

Views from the Terrace

That evening, we caught our final Vaporetto and headed to the far side of Venice. The boat ride was beautiful: the sun was beginning to lower in the sky, and a yellow glow was settling over the horizon. We were on a very quiet vaporetto so we got the best seats in the house and we sat outside with open views over the water. It was a forty-minute journey and the whole ride was amazing, but the highlight came as we passed by St Mark's square and had views over the most famous rooftops of the city.

Views from the Vaporetto

We had booked a restaurant via the Fork and arrived to find it very busy, so sitting outside wasn't an option. To make matters worse, the 30% discount we had been promised came with a hitch - we had to spend over £30 per person, a total of £60, to qualify for the discount, and this hadn't been mentioned when we booked. I was very frustrated by this, but the restaurant had such good reviews that we decided to forgo the discount and eat there anyway. We chose seafood spaghetti and Venetian clams with polenta, and both were genuinely great. The waitress was also incredibly friendly, making jokes and laughing with every table, making it hard to stay frustrated. To top it off, we were brought two shots of free limoncello after we paid the bill to make up for the misunderstanding - this did the job of completely taking the extra cost off my mind and left me glowing! 

A Beautiful Evening

Our walk back from the restaurant to the station was particularly lovely. The sun was setting over the city, adding a little bit of magic to the streets. When we rounded the corner to St Mark's Square we found a truly spectacular sight: the square had begun to flood, with puddles rising from the floor, and the lights of the square were perfectly reflected by the water. It was stunning and unexpected, and it made for some of the best photos of the whole trip. When paired with the live jazz music floating from the expensive restaurants, this was a really magical moment. 

St Mark's Square

For our final day in Venice, we made our last trip into the city in the morning. It was lovely to wander the streets, which were very quiet on a Saturday morning, and we enjoyed recognising many of the piazzas and shops that we passed - although I still find Venice very confusing and can’t even begin to navigate it. 

We walked right to the tip of the island and had great views across the Grand Canal to St Mark’s square. We wandered fairly aimlessly, drifting from street to street and ending up near the Rialto Bridge. Here, we bought our last gelato in Italy, and it was one of the best yet: we ordered a small cone but were handed an enormous serving of snickers and salted caramel scoops. I’m really going to miss Italian food, especially their amazing ice cream! 

Pretty Bridges

We left Venice just before lunch to get back to the apartment and pack for our early flight the next morning. The afternoon was spent filling out passenger locator forms, double-checking we had packed our passports, and figuring out the timetable for the airport transfer the next morning.

When the morning finally arrived, we had a very early start, waking up at 5am and heading over to the station to catch a bus to the airport. We had planned on taking the 6:30 or 7am bus but ended up on the 6:15, so when we arrived at the airport, our bag drop hadn't opened yet. When it did, we were the first in the queue and, within a few minutes, we had sent our bags off down the conveyer belt and been given a sticker to say that our COVID tests had been checked. 

The flight was hassle-free and we landed at Stansted at 11:15. We were the only flight at border control so it took no time until we were back in the UK. My parents picked us up at arrivals, and before I knew it, I was back home in Chapmanslade. Our whirlwind tour of Italy was over, and it felt strange to see rainclouds and green fields again, but it was good to be back. We couldn't be more grateful for the time we spent in Italy: the culture, the people, the cities, the language, the food, and the lifestyle have been incredible, and we feel that we have truly had the trip of a lifetime, especially since COVID regulations allowed us to explore these beautiful places without the crowds or usual tourist chaos. Every day brought a new adventure, and we will cherish those memories forever: as Max says, we will one day look back at the summer of 2021 as the "good old days" of our lives. 

Ciao Italia!