Whisked Away

At the beginning of last week Elliot told me to take Friday off. Without hesitation I got it booked off and expected a lovely long weekend with my boyfriend.

He picked me up from work on Thursday and on the journey home told me the most exciting news I've had this year. We were off to Venice. 

He'd planned the entire thing all weekend and in the early hours of Friday morning we were to encounter our first experience with Italy. 

A hop, skip and vaporetto later we were on the Grand Canal, taking in all of the beautiful buildings, boats and greenery that make Venice a truly stunning city to visit.

We were soon on dry land and quickly found our hotel, the Hotel Salut, dropped off our bags and eagerly began exploring. 

Not before experiencing our first taste of Italian Gelato. 

We walked through the little alley ways and streets, walking into galleries and Venetian mask shops as we went along. 

 

The 3 sides of Elliot :P 

We then came across this random little shop dedicated to Andy Warhol and the clothes he wore. Filled with velvet blazers, neon fixtures and some rather racy artwork. 

We then entered an Azerbaijan themed gallery with a room created entirely with this bright and intricate pattern. Even the books were covered (and a rather exciting discover was made once opened)

I decided to get mine and Elliot's visit down in history with a little message in one of the shops. 

We then found ourselves at a Richard Mosse gallery that consisted of a dark, blacked out room with large projectors playing different scenes from an African scouting mission. A rather dark content matter, we decided to promptly leave and continued strolling through the intertwining streets. 

Popping into another gallery called Supernatural that featured a more modern and rather strange collection of pieces. 

By the end of a very long day, we decided to take advantage of the line of restaurants with piers along the Great Canal. Sitting and chatting, drinking Bellinis, beer and Prosecco until we gained a sufficient appetite. 

We took a short walk to the next restaurant, got seated and ordered our first Italian pizza. Elliot opted for a pepperoni and pepper pizza with me enjoying a Quattro Formaggi pizza.

By the end of dinner we headed back to the hotel and quickly found ourselves snoozing off. What an amazing start to our first time in Venice!