Venice, Italy - Through The Eyes of a Photographer

When we are kids we are often asked the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I always had the same long-winded explanation of how I wanted to move to Italy and become a chef, with all the details planned out. Now, at 23, I finally made my way to Italy, and although I am not a chef, I think the creativity of young me still shines through.

Before I was exposed to the world of travel on Instagram and the internet, the only place I ever really wanted to visit was Italy. I grew up knowing that my grandmother on my dad’s side was VERY Italian and was even from the Italian region in New Jersey. We had spaghetti and meatballs on holidays, I have what seems to be the oiliest skin on in the world, and I just have grown up with Italian culture all around me. When my boyfriend and I planned my first trip to Europe, I knew we had to make it down to Italy.

On our week-long trip to Europe, we decided to make a stop in Venice for two nights. We spent the night prior enjoying Oktoberfest in Munich. After a night out with friends and too many beers, we all refueled with some clean eats from an amazing restaurant called Heart Beet. It was about the only wholesome thing we ate for a few days since after our 13-hour flight we hopped right off the plane and started drinking at Oktoberfest.

We rented a car and headed south on a 6-hour drive through the mountains... and I mean literally THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS! Needless to say, the car ride flew by because of the unbelievable scenery. There were even many sub-par attempts of filming time-lapse videos during this part of the trip going through the dimly lit tunnels.

We arrived in the port where you leave your car and Aris, Colin’s sister, and I hopped out with our bags. Colin drove off to park the car in a lot. We waited for him on the side of the road for about fifteen minutes waiting for a train to show up with him in the door. Instead, we see him jogging around the corner, only a little out of breath. Colin is extremely antsy and energetic and decided to race the train on foot. I don’t remember if he said he beat it or not, but I now a train showed up right around when he ran around the corner.

We set out with our suitcases and backpacks strategically bundled up so that it would be very difficult for any pick pocketer to get anything from us. We purchased three water bus tickets from the depo and set out to our Airbnb. If our bags didn’t give away our tourist status, the look of awe on our faces did. The city is an unbelievable maze of canals with small and large boats systematically whizzing around. There is so much to look at, especially at sunset when all the lights are twinkling on the river ways.

We hopped off the water bus and set out trusting Google Maps to find our way to our place. We came to an open but covered plaza that smelt heavily of seafood. Colin guessed that there was probably a seafood market there during the day. When we arrived at the location that our Airbnb was to be located, we were confused as to there was an outdoor restaurant in front of our door. We fiddled with the door and lock for a while before an Italian-speaking server came out and politely let us know that we were in the right place but we had to go a few doors down to retrieve our keys first… I feel like this must happen all the time. The people at the restaurant were not happy about three tourists disturbing their dinner, so I was very relieved when we got in.

We all settled in and made a few calls home. The three of us vowed to wake up an hour before sunrise so we could soak up every minute of the daylight in Venice.

Colin and I woke up promptly at our 4 am alarms only to see that it was during rain. I got ready anyway and the two of us set out to find something for breakfast. We stumbled across my new favorite cafe of all time. The graphic designer in me came out as we walked by and I recognized their logo form when I researched Venice before the trip. We enjoyed two filed croissants and two specialty espresso shots that were adorable and delicious. We took a few more things to go and went back to the room.

While waiting for the drizzle to end, we got antsy and took some amazing photos from our Airbnb window. The other early risers waved hello as they walked by and watched Colin and I shoot each other’s photos from one window to another.

The rain stopped and the three of us spent the entire day walking through the narrow streets of Vince. We went whichever way we wanted and just wandered. I wouldn’t say we “got lost” as everyone tells you to, but it was a very long day. We looked at hundreds of mascaraed masks, ate some pizza, got gelato, admired the plaza, pet some stray cats, took hundreds of photos, and did a lot of window shopping. My biggest regret is that we didn’t go to many places but instead walked around nearly the whole island. There was so much to see and we hardly stopped walking. We did a lot of research beforehand and realized that Venice, while beautiful, is filled with tons of tourist traps and inauthenticity aimed towards visitors. I think we took this a little too cautiously because we really kept moving instead of delving in and experiencing what there was to see.

We returned to the Airbnb and relaxed before catching sunset outside near the grand canal and then going off to eat dinner. We made a big mistake and did not reserve a table at any of our top choices. Instead, we found a place with outdoor seating sadly unimpressive food. We all went to bed fairly early and got a full night of sleep.

We woke up at the same early time the third day in Venice and were so surprised to see that Aris had nearly a hundred gnat bites on her face and neck. We didn’t realize that her window was cracked and they all got in overnight. That is definitely something to be aware of if you’re planning on visiting.

We all set out with our luggage packed and our photoshoot ready fits on. We walked all the way to the main plaza with our bags before sunrise. We arrived at the nearly empty San Marco Plaza right as blue hour began. The only other visitors were an elaborately dress model and photographer, shop owners, street cleaners, and a few sketchy fellas. We were sure to keep our bags VERY close while we were shooting. We had one person with the bags at all times, especially after one guy hovered around us for much too long.

It was all worth it as the sun rose and we took some of the most amazing photos. It is truly worth it to wake up that early before the ships of tourists arrive. The block was so quiet and there were little flocks of pigeons wandering around. The photographer and model I mentioned before had a box of crackers and gave us some to attract the birds. We all got our photos looking like crazy bird ladies and then set off to the water bus. We departed Venice in our rental and set out to see my first mountain tops in the Dolomites! You can read about it HERE.

The whole experience was lovely and I would absolutely go back if I had a ton of money. The trip would have been completely different if we had been able to buy whatever food we wanted, been shopping in the beautiful stores, and stayed in a canal facing room. Venice is for everyone, but the experience will be very different depending on how much you are planning to spend. The views are free and the gelato was cheap, so definitely throw it on your bucket list!