ITALY // Venice, Florence, & Rome // 2014

This year, my family decided to go to Italy for a sightseeing holiday as none of us have been before. I was really looking forward to the people, sights, weather and obviously the food! I had always imagined what Italy would be like, but it was an amazing experience to see it for myself with my Mum, Dad and sister, Abi.

First we arrived in Venice, and it was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We stayed in the "Splendid Hotel" in one of the smaller canals. I loved the lack of cars and traffic, and the only method of transport was by boat or a gondola, making the city peaceful and nothing like I have ever seen before.
Immediately the people were so friendly towards us, and our first lunch in Italy was relaxing and almost glamourous..the food definitely lived up to expectation!

The city had a colourful vibrancy that was created by the people. There was a constant buzzing energy and music that radiated through the canals and streets. Quite often we could hear an opera singer, accordion player, or guitarist coming down through the canal on a gondola.

We also had a trip on the gondolas in the sun, and it was definitely a new experience for me, but one I hope I'll be able to enjoy again!    

Throughout Venice there were a lot of people selling masks, beads, artwork, and also my favourites; fresh fruit, pizza, and ice-cream.
There was a popular and busy market, with people calling out in the Italian language and going about their normal day to day lives, which only made the city more intriguing and alive.




While walking round Venice, we went to the "Peggy Guggenheim" art gallery, and saw some of "Andy Warhol" "Paul Klee" "Picasso" "Kandinsky" "Magritte" and many other artist's work. The art was so beautiful, Mum particularly loved it, and gained lots of inspiration for work!


We also went to St Marks Square, and wandered around the little shops and stunning buildings. Everything there was very expensive (even just to have a coffee) so we just explored, window shopped and took lots of photos instead! There was live music playing in some of the restaurants so that added to the experience.
It was a beautiful place to go to at night, as it was still busy, but with people having dinner, and people selling toys, lights and lazers which lit the square up. It looked so magical.

All the staff were so polite, accommodating and friendly and the food and service were both brilliant. There was not one thing I would have changed about my stay there. The views were incredible, the rooms were amazing and Venice itself was so pretty.

Next we went straight to Florence on the train, and I have to say, Italian trains are much nicer than the English ones!

The first thing that grabbed my attention in Florence was the river running through the centre of the city, as well as the beautiful bridges going across it. The city was definitely very different from Venice, (much noisier and busier) but I was excited to explore it!

Throughout our whole time in Italy, we spent a lot of time in little coffee shops and restaurants between each sight to the next. The quality of the food was amazing, particularly the ice cream!

The Coffee shops were all really pretty, but we couldn't go anywhere without almost literally being dragged into one! My favourite meal had to be the Tuna salads, or the Caprese (tomato and mozzarella) they were delicious!


























Similar to Venice, we also saw a lot of art in Florence. I'm not sure Abi was too happy about walking around the galleries for hours, but we did see some stunning work. Dad's particular favourite (and possibly mine too) was Michelangelo's "David" which was in one of the main galleries in the centre of Florence. We also saw "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli which was enormous, and very beautiful.

One day at our stay in Florence we decided to take a train out to Pisa to see the leaning tower.

It really leans!

The best part about the leaning tower of Pisa is the people posing near the tower. People had some really funny photo ideas! Abi and I decided to run around hi-fiving the tourists which made a lot of people laugh and made the day really memorable, it was a lovely day out.

Lighting candles in Florence Cathedral

Our trip to Florence was amazing, I definitely hope I'll go back to see more of the city one day, the hotel was lush and the people were all very friendly!

Out side the Pantheon in Rome.

We ended our Italian holiday in Rome.
Rome was probably the best place for lots of sightseeing, we spent a day a couple of days properly looking around, and it was a really interesting place! Unfortunately the Trevi fountain was being restored so we didn't get to fully appreciate it, but it was still an amazing thing to see!
We also saw the Spanish steps, the Pantheon, a lot of the Vatican (including Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel) and the Coliseum.

 The Coliseum was probably the best part of Rome, it was a brilliant thing to see, and I knew more about it than most of the places we went to visit in Italy so I found it really interesting to see up close.
It was so much bigger than I initially anticipated and I'm really glad I got to experience it!

The Vatican was beautiful, unfortunately we couldn't photograph the Sistine chapel, which was extraordinary. But it meant that I could really appreciate it! The only problem with the Vatican was that it was so busy that it was quite a quick tour around...but it was still stunning.

Although we spent the majority of the holiday in the cities exploring, we also had a little bit of time to relax because our hotel in Rome had a pool, and the weather was gorgeous, so we had some time by the pool! It was lush just to lie back, eat good food and enjoy the sun.

Unfortunately it was soon time to leave Italy, and we went home from the airport in Rome.


Most importantly, it was lovely to spend some time with my family, away from home, school, work, and all the other things we're always busy with...I've had the most incredible week in Italy, and definitely hope I'll go back in the future. I would definitely recommend Italy to anyone who is thinking about going!