
Italy certainly is the home of fine ice cream, and that’s no less true in Venice. Look around you in any part of Venice (especially in the more popular tourist areas during summer) and you’ll see at least two or three people licking their multi-coloured ice cream cones of home made gelati – ice cream in Italian.
You don’t have to walk very far anywhere in Venice to find a cafe or kiosk selling a dozen or more flavours, ranging from ones with exotic-sounding Italian names to more familiar ones and, of course, ubiquitous vanilla. But don’t be fooled, even the vanilla is so tasty you’d swear you’ve come across a real vanilla pod inside your ice cream.
What makes the taste so wonderful seems to be something that simply makes the flavours more real and authentic. many ice cream flavours today are synthetic and taste synthetic and lack the creaminess of ‘old-style’ ice cream. One spoonful of Venitian ice cream and you’ll be certain that you’re eating the real thing.
Finding the ‘best’ ice cream in Venice is a matter of debate, and sometimes legend. Some visitors will return home with dreamy eyes and tales of how they found the heaven of ice creams ‘nearby our hotel in a small alley’ but ask for details and few will recall the name or exact place of the outlet. But rest assured, ice cream vendors dot the city and you won’t have to walk very far to find one.
So whether you’re looking for a snack for yourself or something to motivate the kids with to endure yet another museum visit, you can’t go wrong with Venice ice cream.
Are you a cat person? Then you’ll love Venice! La Serenissima – the Serene One, as Venice is lovingly called by its huamn inhabitants – is also home to a community of friendly felines. They seem to have taken it upon themselves to perform a kind ‘meet and greet’ service to visitors, particularly those that have a soft spot for the purry kind.
While Venice most certainly is the city of canals and water, it is also, logically, the city of bridges. There are more than 140 bridges in the Venice, ranging from small, quaint brickwork ones spanning narrow canals to bigger ones where boats can pass under (though sometimes requiring the passengers and driver to duck) and the regal heart of Venice, the Rialto Bridge, probably one of the most photographed icons of all Italy.

You’re ambling along one of Venice’s numerous little alleyways one bright, sunny morning. You’re taking in the centuries-old ambience for which Venice is known worldwide: Red geraniums flowing brightly in window flower boxes, neighbours chatting amiably, and the ubiquitous Venice cat lazing on a sunny balcony.