Summer Colors in Venice

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For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com

It seemed so suitable for me to begin my first European venture in one of its most remarkable cities: Venice.

For me, Venice was everything I expected it to be, but my expectations were very high. In a sense Venice is like a microcosm of Europe as a travel destination, to me at least. It is beautiful, stunningly so. At every single bend or corner in the street (or canal), one is faced with a magical setting of ancient buildings restored with vibrant colors, imposing cathedrals, piazzas centered with marvelous fountains or elaborate statues, and no amount of time spent wandering the streets aimlessly, at least in my very limited experience, seems to take away from the overwhelming effect of awe that this much history and beauty has on the visitor. At first I tried to resist the urge to constantly take out my camera at every turn, but soon enough I learned that to fight the urge is pointless, and I just carried my camera at all times.

So as you may have gathered Venice is pretty, but it’s beauty comes with a price. Venice is expensive. So, so expensive, especially for a budget traveler like me coming from Asia. All those beautiful little cafes and quaint restaurants you see lining the streets and canals, well, don’t imagine that I could afford to dine in any of them. Street pizza and grocery store meals were my sustenance, but were delicious nonetheless. Also, I allotted a fraction of my budget to daily espressos (exquisite), and gelato (the best dessert in the world, I would put money on it), and finally but most importantly, I was very pleased to find that at least one thing is cheap in Italy: Wine, selling for as low as 1 Euro per bottle!

As you can imagine, Venice is absolutely overflowing with tourists, to the point that you are left wondering if any Italian people actually live there. I did not expect it to be otherwise, so I was not disappointed. In our short time there, my friend Hannah and I took in the main sites, but more often than not we just wandered and got lost in the labyrinthine streets, alleyways, and canal-front pathways. The days were hot and long, but we always made a lot of time for early afternoon coffees, and late afternoon wine & beers, and at night we retired to our canal front hostel room where boats and gondolas would pass below our window.

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com

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Comments

[Ella]

summer colors in Venice
Great pictures Nick....planning a trip to Croatia in September via Venice ....I want to stay for 3 nights in Venice and take the ferry to Porec but heaving a hard time finding a low rate hotel in Venice......Any suggestions would be helpful. Are you on Flicr? Best regards.......Ella Iceland