The city that stole my heart...

I had only one night and a single morning in Venice, and she still managed to steal my heart. Every single part of her. The winding cobblestone streets where you could so easily and so delightfully get lost. The charming bridges offering tiny snapshots of Venice that I simply had to get a picture of, regardless of how many we had already passed over. The gondolas gliding down the canal with the oh-so-entertaining and sometimes singing gondoliers. The shops, the tiny colorful houses, the flower boxes, the wooden boats, the street vendors... The city was bursting with life and energy and this unique charm that I can't say I found anywhere else.

Since our time in Venice was so short, every image is burned in my mind. Eating our final Italian meal at a restaurant with twinkling lights right on the water, watching the canal and late-night gondolas being bathed in moonlight. Wandering through the twisting city streets all morning and then trying to find our way back. Standing on the Rialto Bridge gazing at the bustle of boats below us and taking pictures of the beautiful wooden boats I knew my dad would kill to be on. Riding a gondola through the canals (which remains one of my favorite moments of the trip), nervously impressed as our boat passed within centimeters of another one. And realizing the entire time that some people actually live here. Some people see this scene every single day and come home to these fairy-tale houses every night and drive these boats for a living.

I got such a small taste of Venezia. But I guess it just gives me a good excuse to go back...

"I want to make memories all over the world." - Anonymous