travel with aimee

Think of the most romantic place to spend a valentines. Somewhere that’s dreamy, romantic…and not Paris. My head goes straight to Venice. Luckily for me, I lived that dream valentines and it the most perfect valentines ever.

On the 11th of February we waved goodbye to Rome to head to Venice. A lot of accommodations in Venice are super pricey so we stayed in Mestre which is only a 10 minute train ride over the sea to Venice. I think this is a popular way backpackers visit Venice due to the extortionate prices in the main area.

Our hostel was Anda Hostel and it was probably one of the best hostels we stayed in. It was so clean, there was two shower rooms and a toilet room in each dorm. A bar downstairs with nightly events. Vending machines, a kitchen and cool places to sit and chill. It was around £14 a night which is an absolute bargain for what you get.

That night we partook in one of the many activities the hostel hosts which was music bingo! It was super fun and you also had the chance to win free shots if you got up and danced along to JustDance videos. Once again, drinks were flowing, especially because aperol spritz is only €3 in Italy, and we had a pretty damn good night. (Ben didn’t remember much past a certain time)

12 February-

After a very slow start to the morning, including me recounting most of the night to Ben, we got up and made our way to Venice! Oh my word. Venice is stunning. The water is the most beautiful shade of blue and each street is full of quirky little shops. We spent the whole day just wandering around the town, through so many narrow alleyways and just admiring the picture perfect place. A big thing that most tourists do in Venice is the iconic gondola ride on the canals, despite the idea being so romantic, €90 was a bit too out of budget for us…

We also passed a man playing the accordion on the street who was playing Bella Ciao! So of course we danced along in the streets of Venice like a fairytale!

13 February –

Back to Venice we went, this time exploring further in the city. As a big bookworm, my to-do list was to visit the Libreria Acqua Alta which is a little bookshop with an outside photo opportunity on a staircase of books. Adorable. After dragging Ben there, we strolled around St Marks Square where we saw Doges Palace, St Marks Basilica, and St Marks Clocktower. I could have wandered through Venice forever, and probably would have if Ben wasn’t with me because it would be so easy to get lost in all the streets!

14 February –

We woke up in Anda hostel and I gave Ben his valentine card off me. We were checking out of Anda this day to stay in an apartment just the two of us that night. It was only a short distance to walk and we arrived there at around midday so had some lunch and got dolled up for our valentines meal.

We decided to not follow our budget this day as back home we would have been spending anyway. To kick it all off, we found a little place to have a cheeky aperol spritz while looking out to sea.We then found a gorgeous restaurant by the Rialto Bridge which was perfect for views, vibes and of course, food. We had some bruschetta to start and then Ben had carbonara and i had bolognese (basic but the best). Safe to say we were stuffed!

After that we headed to St Marks square where Venice carnival was happening! This was a welcome surprise that wasn’t planned at all but a good end to a most unforgettable Valentines. The carnival happens around mid Feb every year and features people dressed up with masks and fabulous costumes. There’s also shows in the square at night during the carnival including music, dancing and singing. Definitely a cool cultural experience.

It was definitely an unbeatable valentine’s day.

Feeling content and lucky, we both went back to our accommodation that night in pure bliss before our travel day tomorrow.

MUST SEE’s:

• St Marks Square
• Doges castle
• St Marks basilica
• Rialto bridge
• Libreria Acqua Alta
• All the canals and bridges filled with cute little boats
• An aperol spritz in your hand!