Padova & Venice

We originally planned on staying 2 nights in Venice, but struggled to find anywhere to stay that wasn't extortionate and/or a complete dive. A bit of googling suggested Padova/Padua which is about half an hour from Venice by train.

We turned up in Padova and realised that it's actually a really lovely place. It's supposedly the oldest city in Northern Italy and it's very sweet and Lincoln sized. We ended up spending our first day just strolling through the cobbled streets and sitting in the Prato della Valle - the largest square in Europe (?).

Today we took a day trip to Venice. We got one of the regional trains for about £3 each taking about 45 mins - Easy. We arrived in Santa Lucia Station (which itself is a bit rubbish looking) and headed outside to the canals.

We initially avoided the mental crowds and went for a really enjoyable stroll through the streets, getting lost and not really minding. After a couple of hours we headed back to look for San Marco Piazza, which is the main touristy bit. We spent 3 euros on ice cream and came back to Padova. Venice on the cheap - love it!

Tomorrow we travel to Lake Bled in Slovenia. This involves the hugest amount of faffing around ever: We get the train from Padova to Mestre, then from Mestre to the Italian side of the Slovenian boarder, Gorizia. From there we take the bus to Nova Gorica on the Slovenian side and then take the train to Bled. Eurghh.