- June 27, 2022
Walk with Lucy – Postcards from Venice
Time for another “Walk with Lucy Workout”
This time we are flying off to Venice in Italy, often described as “The Floating City”, which is like stepping back in time.
Try my walking workout from Venice <CLICK HERE>
This was our first-time of flying since Covid hit in 2020, we did mask up which seemed appropriate for Venice so off Hatti and I went.
The flight was just under 2 hours and we were in and out of the airport in no time at all.
The only way to travel in Venice is on a boat so we stepped on board a water taxi.
The first part of the journey is in the lagoon this is a fast and bumpy boat ride.
Then as you come in to Venice itself, everything changes, it seems as if not only the boat slows down, but so does your mind and the world seems a far more tranquil place.
The sense of calm was such a unique experience, one that I truly think is part of the magic of this city.
Venice is simply breath-taking, going through all the canals and seeing all the stunning architecture, some of the buildings are well over 800 years old.
After 30 minutes of traveling through the city we arrived at our Hotel which was in a fabulous location just by St Mark’s Square.
We checked in, dropped off our bags in our rooms, then off we went to explore the city on foot.
The temperature was perfect at 25 degrees with a light gentle breeze, we started to plan different routes that we could film for the walking workout videos.
So, the first day is very much location scouting.
The magic seeps through the “car free” streets, the amazing canal network, the elegance of the boutique shops and the fabulous food aroma from the many restaurants make Venice feel so unique.
On our first night in Venice, we found a very quiet traditional family run restaurant for dinner.
Hatti had a classic margarita pizza and I went for the salmon with Mediterranean oven-roasted vegetables.
Next to us were a couple that looked totally in love. I asked them if they were from Venice, to which they replied “No we are from England and visiting here to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary” – they are big fans of this stunning city.
They gave Hatti and I lots of tips of places to visit.
The funny thing is during the conversation we realised we had all been on the same flight and they had been in the row behind us!
The morale of that story is – always talk to people as you never know what you have in common.
We finished the night off with a double scoop coffee gelato (ice cream) walking around St Mark’s square it was full of laughter and energy.
Then we had the best gift of all sent from nature!!
Everyone was pointing to the far distance and taking photos, we rushed to see what all the excitement was. And there resting on the horizon, was the most beautiful moon I had ever seen – it was a “strawberry moon” – truly stunning.
This is rare and normally occurs twice a year, so I guess we were in the right place at the right time.
The perfect ending to our first day in the “The Floating City”.
The following morning, alarms were set super early for Day 2 of the trip – we started off in St Mark’s square walking and filming.
We had the place to ourselves, it was so quiet and we covered a great distance, including the famous Rialto Bridge, as well as crossing over to the other side known as San Marco where they have a famous fish and vegetable market.
By 11 am the streets were getting busy so Hatti and I headed back to our Hotel.
I then got to work on downloading all the content onto my computer to start editing the first “Walk with Lucy in Venice “video.
We had the afternoon free to be tourists and headed to the Museum Correr which has one of the most fascinating collections of Venetian paintings.
The beauty of staying in a hotel right next to the square meant we could go back freshen up and then head out to our second tourist attraction.
This time we visited Doge’s Palace, which is a masterpiece of gothic architecture.
This place is full of tapestries, art, statues and history.
We also got to see the chilling “Bridge of Sighs” which leads to the prison – history truly is fascinating.
I highly recommend visiting both.
For dinner that night we visited another family run restaurant, and of course when in Italy you have to try the pasta. Mine was beyond delicious, followed by more of the best Italian ice cream in St Marks square.
The city is full of romance and the most wonderful place to ‘people watch’ while listening to all the live classical music being played around the city.
What I loved the most was seeing every generation dancing and smiling. This city is all about love!
Day 3, another super early start. We booked a water boat taxi to take us to the island known as Burano which is in the north lagoon of Venice and takes a good 45 minutes to reach.
We arrived on the island by 7:45am and it was already very warm and we had a beautiful blue sky to compliment the bright houses.
We had the island to ourselves and could not believe how breathtakingly beautiful this unique place is, the row of houses looked as colourful as a rainbow.
We managed to film plenty of content for another Walking to Toning Video.
By 10:30 am we had completed all we needed.
We waited for the ferry to come in to take us back to the mainland.
The ferry that came in had easily over 200 passengers, so we managed to film all this before the tourists cluttered the streets!
The ferry was a long journey back as it stops off at other islands, and for my niece it was super slow! as she was about to find out her grades from University so this was a such big day for her and all she wanted was to get back to her hotel room, to go online and see her results.
Eventually we got off the ferry and raced through the streets back to the hotel.
Hatti ran up to her room and I waited to hear from her, and sure enough within 5 minutes I had a text saying “come to my room”
YAY! she got a 1st Class Honour’s degree (but we all knew she would as she is brilliant) what a great place to be to find out her results.
And how do you celebrate such good news? Well with pizza of course! We went and had lunch and that afternoon we had booked in advance, a private tour of the beautiful Opera House.
This is a must and one of the most stunning buildings I have ever seen.
You really feel like you have been transported back in time and my favourite was definitely being in the royal box because we are never too old to feel like a princess.
Click here to see my Instagram post on the Opera House
We got lost in the magic of the opera house all afternoon.
Then slowly walked back through the now busy streets of Venice.
For our last night in Venice and to celebrate Hatti’s results we decided to head to Hotel Cipriani and have a celebratory cocktail.
To get there you pick up a private water boat taxi and travel about 5 minutes across the lagoon to reach the hotel.
This place is glamour beyond glamour!
This is where everyone from Hollywood stays for the Venice film festival. So if it is good enough for Hollywood it is good enough for the two of us!!
What a great end to a productive working break and both Hatti and I were sad to leave on the Friday, but then it is also always nice to go home.
I do hope you enjoy both of these walking in Venice videos….and watch this space to see where you and I will walk next….. Lucy
