V for Venezia

The phrase, saving the best till last, certainly seems appropriate here. I'm nearly at the end of my year in Italy, and last week I finally got to visit one of the cities that's been top of my list for a very long time. Venice.

Famous for its Venetian masks, the birthplace of the legendary Marco Polo and Casanova, and its uniqueness as the city that's built on water, here are some more fun facts I've unearthed about Venezia:

• Venice dates back to the year 400, and was founded in its unique location out of necessity, due to barbarian invasions encroaching from land on the north and east
• Venice is made up of 118 islands connected by over 400 foot bridges
• Venice was not built directly onto these islands, but rather on wooden platforms entrenched in the sea bed by thousands of wooden piles
• 50,000 tourists visit Venice each day, almost dwarfing the number of true residents (60,000)
• Venice has 150 canals, the biggest is the S-shaped Grand Canal which flows through the centre of the city
• There are 400 gondoliers in Venice. Only 3 to 4 gondolier licences are issued annually. Applicants must pass a rigorous exam after extensive training on the geography of Venice's many canals. (I imagine it to be bit like London cabbies' the Knowledge, but on the water). 
• There are 3 ancient bridges over the Grand Canal: the Rialto, Accademia, and Scalzi
• Venice is sinking by 1-2 millilitres each year. Acqua alta (high water) is a problem for the city, especially in November and December. A big engineering project is currently under way to help prevent water from flooding the town.

Venice feels a little like a rabbit warren when you're walking around - the streets are narrow and seem to lead nowhere and everywhere all at once. My advice would be to ignore the signs, don't even try to not get lost, and just enjoy wandering and exploring. 

On one of the many footbridges

One of the many gondolas

There are no roads in Venice (obviously) and one of my favourite things was seeing tiny footbridges that just led to someone's front door. As well as private boats, 'parked' outside people's houses.

Venetian Masks

On our way to the Rialto bridge

We eventually stumbled upon San Marco's square (Venice is like a beautiful maze, which confusingly has signs for San Marco on literally every corner), and decided to visit the top of the tower which gave us an amazing view of the whole city. This was the only proper 'touristy' thing we did while we were there, and I can't recommend it enough. Try to avoid going up on a windy day though - it was freezing up there! Also, this is the only city tower I've been up in Italy where they not only have a lift - taking the stairs didn't even seem to be an option. It seems things really are more modernised up North.

San Marco's Square

And the view from above...

Everyone should visit Venice once in their lifetime. Yes, it can be incredibly crowded with tourists, especially from April onwards. Yet it is also incredibly beautiful, historic, and pretty amazing when you consider that a city literally built on the sea is still standing, (and looking great while doing it), over 1500 years later. 

Street Art & Graffiti in Rome

Rome is covered in street art and graffiti; just wander down any side street and you're sure to find something that will catch your eye. This is helped by a tradition amongst teenagers of scrawling messages of the heart across Rome's walls and buildings. Additionally, many shops here decorate their store shutters with a depiction of their particular services.

Here's some street art and graffiti I've found dotted around Rome that's made want to stop and take a picture:

Piazza Bologna

Monti

Trastevere

Trastevere

Orvieto

San Lorenzo

Monti

Via di Ripetta

Via di Ripetta

Piazza Bologna

San Lorenzo

Piazza Bologna

Piazza Bologna

Piazza Bologna

Piazza Bologna

Piazza Bologna

Piazza Bologna

Cornelia

Trastevere

Tiburtina

Giardini Romani

As beautiful as the city of Rome is, sometimes you want to get away from the chaotic traffic and hundreds of tour guides that clog up the city streets, and escape to some greenery. Luckily, you don't have to go far from Rome to find a little haven of countryside. In fact, you don't have to leave the city walls at all. Rome is home to a number of gorgeous parks and public gardens, where you can escape the city entirely in minutes.

Orto Botanico (Botanical Gardens)

I'm writing about these first because they are probably the least well-known of Rome's public gardens, but are arguably one of the best. The gardens span 12 hectares on the Gianicolo Hill, and have been in Rome since 1883. The grounds are divided into smaller gardens which include a Japanese garden, a tropical greenhouse, a Mediterranean forest, a medicinal garden, and wonderful bamboo forest.

At eight euros to enter they aren't cheap, but they are definitely worth visiting. Most tourists don't know about them, so if you're lucky you may have the whole garden almost to yourself. The gardens also offer a wonderful panoramic view of the city, and couldn't be in a better location. They are situated right at the entrance to Trastevere, so are in a perfect spot to go for an aperitivo or caffe afterwards.

Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Gardens), Aventino

The Aventine hill is most famous for the 'aventine keyhole', in the piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. Here there is an unassuming green door, which when peered through via the keyhole gives you a breathtaking view of the dome of San Pietro, perfectly framed by a row of arching trees. However, there is something else to be found up here which is not so well-known; a beautiful garden of orange trees.

I should probably say at this point that the oranges are not for picking, something that Emma and I didn't realise until we had already helped ourselves to a handful. Feeling slightly ashamed of ourselves, we escaped from the garden with  our booty, only to quickly discover that the oranges are also definitely not for eating. It was like biting straight into a lemon. They were impossible to eat without first adding copious amounts of sugar, (which we later did to make a lovely Aventine Orange Cake - see Emma's blog for more info and pictures here: https://emmalaw.wordpress.com).


Villa Borghese

The Villa Borghese is so close to my new home that it feels like part of my back garden. However it is actually a gorgeous heart-shaped public park, situated right in the heart of Rome, and accessible from both Piazza del Popolo and Piazza di Spagna, as well as many other central places.

This oasis of greenery includes a zoo, a globe theatre to rival London's, two cinemas, a horse racing track, a dog friendly area where your pets can run free, a 'quiet area' for things like tai chi and meditating (very embarrassing for me when our dog Lilla didn't quite stick to her designated area, running straight into a full on yoga session), as well as, of course, the famous Borghese Galleria. The Villa Borghese was originally the grounds of the wealthy Borghese family, and the gallery here, housed in their old residence, is home to a stunning collection of art and sculptures that deserve a post in their own right. Suffice to say that it is a must-visit for any art history aficionados, and is so exclusive and sought after by visitors to Rome that appointments must be made in advance to see it.

Children's Cinema

Bici Pincio

The Villa Borghese was the first place I visited with my host family, on the morning I woke up in Rome ready to start my new adventure here. It has become like a part of my home during my time here, and for that reason it is my number one Giardini Romani; swathes of greenery, free to come and go as you please, stunning views of the city, and home to one of the most impressive art collections in the world, what more could you want from your local park?

There are many other gardens in Rome that I haven't mentioned here, and some that I have yet to visit myself. Among others, Rome is home to Villa Ada (Villa Borghese's northern sibling), Villa Doria-Pamphili, Rome's Japanese Gardens, Circo Massimo, and probably a lot of others that I don't even know about yet. So if you ever feel the need to get away to some greenery during your stay in Rome, hopefully this will point you in the right direction.