The majesty and beauty of Venizia - 21st May 2026
- Brett Sedgwick
- Jun 5
- 3 min read
Buongiorno Bellas,
An easy hour or so from Verona, and we were rolling into Camping Fusina, which is on the mainland but with a direct view of Venice across the water.
Coming back to places that you love can be tricky. For example, I can go back to Edinburgh numerous times, and my heart swells every time, old haunts are revisited, and the sound and smell are the same. We were a little cautious about coming back here as Jen rates it in her top five favourite cities on the planet.
But we shouldn’t have been.
Venice was and still is one of the best.
We didn’t do gondola rides. 1) we’d already done one in 2015 and 2) they now cost 90 Euros!
We didn’t pay for taxi boats or Grand Canal cruises, but what we did do is we got a three-day ferry pass from our stop, Fusina to Zattere, and we also paid for a Vaporetta pass for 24 hours that let us ride the public ferries in the city, including up and down the Grand Canal.
We got to see it all, and we did it on budget.
The camp itself was awesome. Big shady pitches and a great shop, and the ferry went on the hour over to the old town and returned on the half hour. Too easy!
Also, the Bienalle was on in Venice, and we checked out a few free art installations. We checked out a painting exhibition called “Basic Failures” that dealt with flaws in humanity. The artwork was OK, but the exhibition was housed in the Science Building of the University of Venice, and the rooms were epic.
Jen-Jen also did a tour of St Marc’s Cathedral, but it isn’t that spesh to me, so I sat that one out. We also walked down several back alleys, over hundreds of bridges, checked out shops, cafes, pizza joints, etc…
But what of these mysterious Cicchetti I hear you ask?
Good question.
As I said in my previous post, they are a Venetian version of tapas. Basically, you walk into a restaurant and see the glass counter in front of you. You choose however many you want - say two each - and you order a drink to go with it. You can stand and eat at the counter or sit. As with many places in Italy, it is cheaper to stand and have your libations rather than sit. We did both. We discovered a few cicchetti joints, had great vino and amazing bites.
Side note: I love a quick espresso shot in Italy. One sugar in a tiny cup at the bar. Boom, down the hatch. 2 Euros, move on. In the words of the great Henry Rollins: Get some, get some, get some, get some. Go again!
We also used our 24-hour pass to visit the neighbouring islands of Burano and Murano.
The ferry took about 45 minutes to get to Burano, and we arrived in the early afternoon. The island is very cute with each house painted a different bright colour. Canals run down the centre of the main streets, and it is very tourist-oriented. We spent a nice hour walking around, drinking cafe, and taking some great pics.
On the way back we stopped at Murano, which, as you all probably know, is famous for its glass. We kind of got here too late in the arvo, and everything was basically closing. We had a drink and an early dinner at a local's bar and got back to Venice around 8 pm.
The ferries stopped at 7.30 pm, so we decided to have one drink at a cafe in St. Mark's square, as the lights all came on and the crowds had thinned out. The musicians were playing Italian classics and the scene was perfect… until we got the bill. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and Jen was happy to pay the 55 Euros for a large draft beer and a glass of Brunello (Italy’s best wine IOHO), with nuts and chips thrown in!! WTAF
We got the train to a city and then a taxi back to Fusina at about midnight.
We had a pretty quiet day the next day. We checked out Santa Maria Basilica and checked out a few places that we hadn’t seen, before retiring around lunchtime back to the shade and coolness of Delph.
We had three MASSIVE walking days in Venice. All up, we did over 45,000 steps, so I should be a skinny bitch, right? Nuh. I’m in Italy, baby; I’m eatin’ and drinkin’ whatever I wants!! So I’m still an FF
Venice is a city that you have to see for yourself. My words and Jen-Jen’s pics do it some justice, but I urge you all to get there once in your lives.
In the words of Ricky Baker: It’s Majestical!
Until we meet again.
Ciao Bellas.
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