Venice- Day One

Venice is very, very surreal. 
The city exists soley on water and as you arrive by water taxi, you feel like it can't be real or that you're on the set of a movie. You feel as though you must be dreaming, or that you're in some crazy alternate universe. 
It's truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in real life.

So yesterday, our first full day, we set off to explore the city... getting lost in all the winding labyrinth esq streets, taking photographs and video footage. 
We checked out a couple of Venetian mask shops, picked up some gelato (it really had to be done), and sat outside a cafe by the water drinking strong Italian americanos, and planning our day.

We were planning on finding the famous church, but ended up getting distracted and taking a gondola around the city. 
It was one of the most relaxing experiences ever, the lapping of the water, and the driver singing in Italian to us. I have to say, Venice looks even more incredible from the water level of the gondola, sickeningly romantic, too!

We managed to duck out of the rain, find a local restaurant tucked away in one of the side streets, and enjoyed some traditional food and wine, before having a little bar crawl on the way back to our hotel. 
The great thing about all the bars we went to, was that they are all in cake and chocolate shops, what a genius idea?! Cake and alcohol all in one place, these Venetians sure know how to live!