The moment I set foot in Venice, a strange calm settled over me. It was as if the rhythm of the city
blended with the beat of my heart. Here, it’s not streets that wind through you, but canals; not
footsteps that move you, but gondolas that carry you gently back through time.
Venice… Even the name stirs a quiet music within. Maybe it's because this city has been the
backdrop of so many love songs and films I’ve known for years. But when I arrived, I realized that

Venice isn’t just a romantic stage—it is, in itself, a feeling, a living poem.
At first light, I made my way to Piazza San Marco. Watching the sun dance on the golden mosaics
of St. Mark’s Basilica was one of those moments when you silently fall in love. I felt both the
stillness of time and the flow of history all at once. Beside me, the Clock Tower—Torre
dell’Orologio—seemed to whisper the minutes of the past.
Just beyond the basilica stands the magnificent Doge’s Palace—a marvel of elegance. Slender
columns and stone carvings as delicate as lace… I stood in awe, wondering how a city could be so
fragile and yet so powerful. Walking through the palace brought me to the Bridge of Sighs, where
the whispers of history echo between stone walls.
And then, I surrendered to the true magic of Venice:
A gondola ride.
Like a poem gliding on water…
Each stroke of the oar a verse.
The only sound breaking the silence was the gondolier’s melodic Italian:
“’O sole mio… Sta nfronte a te…”
I closed my eyes. The canals, reflecting centuries-old stone walls, made my soul dizzy with wonder.
As we drifted through narrow waterways, it felt as though each corner told a love story. Houses
with ivy-covered balconies where secret letters might be hidden, red curtains fluttering with
whispered memories… In Venice, every home, every canal is a novel.
Passing under the Rialto Bridge, I looked up. A timeless meeting point for lovers, that bridge, to
me, is like the chorus of a song—the place everyone returns to. Even waving at the gondolas below
while walking across it felt magical.
As the sun began to set, the city turned to gold. I climbed to the top of the Campanile, the bell
tower, for one last look. Surrounded by water, this labyrinth doesn’t make you feel lost—it makes
you feel found. I hadn’t felt so perfectly in place in a very long time.
It was in Venice that I learned a city can be a poem, a gondola can sing, and a bridge can have a
heartbeat.
Venice is not just my favorite Italian city; it is a love that etched its name into a corner of my heart.
A place that still gives me shivers every time I remember it.