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The headlines read, “Venice flooded by high tide”, and many more like it. Venice had been hit with the worst flood in about fifty years, thus causing a drought prior to us arriving there. My anxiety played up leading to the holiday. Would it ruin our Valentine’s day plans? Upon exiting Venezia St Lucia train station, my boyfriend Morgan and I walked down the steps and saw Venice for the first time. The blue waves of the water gave me a lot of comfort. It was as if we’d landed in a Disney movie. We walked across Ponte delgi Scalzi and took it all in. The boats, gondolas, old architecture and the masses of tourists just like us. Venice is a place I wouldn’t mind getting lost in, I could wander the streets for hours. These are all the moments that really stood out to me when we entered a new world on water that occupied no cars, only boats, water buses and gondolas. On Valentine’s Day, of course we had to ride a gondola. Not only did we get to see the different types of buildings and houses in Venice but we also got to experience their world on water. As the main method of transport, it was calming to see the blue sky and the buildings reflecting off the water while the waves move as you do. When we asked for photos the gondolier took a few before exclaiming “And one kiss!” We chuckled and obliged to his request while he took a snapshot. Now every time a kiss is what we desire from one another, we say, “One kiss,” in an Italian accent. It’s slowly become my favourite private joke. The next day we visited the island of Burano via Vaporetti. Burano is a colourful island with many bridges and an everlasting rainbow of colourful houses. It was concentrated with tourists taking holiday snaps. I have always loved colourful houses. They brighten up any dingy street. I wondered if the people of Burano were ever allowed to repaint their houses in a different colour, or if that would mess up the grand colour scheme of things. We watched the sunset on the pier. Shades of pink, purple, orange and yellow painted the once blue sky while the clouds lingered and reflected the colours above us. That evening, after we got back to Venice, the train back to where we were staying was going to leave in four minutes. Everyday we had bought train tickets and no one checked them. Even ticket inspectors walking about on trains didn’t seem to bother. The queue for the ticket machine was busy and the people in front of us took ages. We made the decision to just run onto the train as we would’ve missed it and had to wait an hour for the next one. We were anxious, but assured one another we’d be fine. That was until Morgan saw a ticket inspector two minutes before we were due to get off. We were slapped with a fine of around 68 euros. I couldn’t believe it. I cried until we got to the Airbnb, devastated. No one checked our tickets after that at all. It was a huge kick in the teeth. The last day saw us visiting everything we stumbled upon as some of the things on our itinerary were closed or too far to get to on time, but I still wanted to make sure we made the most out of holiday. Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli wasn’t a sight I had read about in a tourist guide, but it was the most beautiful church we went to on our trip. Upon entering, I was deeply impressed with the marble interiors that complimented the gold ceiling showcasing small paintings. A hidden gem most people don’t know about. And that’s why I really enjoyed Venice, not only was it a whole new world on water, but it was also so easy to get lost and still be content. It’s so picturesque you end up finding things you wouldn’t expect to, like an old building, church or a bridge. We had our last gelato and bid “Arrivaderci” to Venice.