A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
Venice needs no introduction. The world-famous floating city in Italy has been featured in so many Hollywood films, TV shows, books, video games and modern media, that everyone knows what it looks like. Theme parks and malls around the world build artificial canals just to replicate the look and feel of Venice.
While in Venice, we got to stay in a historic hotel on Lido de Venezia or Lido Island, which hosts the Venice Film Festival every year. The 1st Venice Film Festival took place on Lido Island in August 1932. The 81st film festival is happening from August to September 2024, with stars congregating at “Palazzo del Cinema,” a 1937-era theater just five minutes away from the hotel we stayed in.
After a full week of sightseeing in Italy’s capital city Rome and Vatican City ticking off all the big-name attractions for first-timers and biking along Rome’s ancient Roman roads, we got a taste of “La Dolce Vita” (the sweet life) in the Tuscan countryside near Florence on our way to Venice.
Rome isn’t really famous as a cycling destination compared to other European cities. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of exploring Rome on two wheels is driving the iconic Vespa rather than a traditional bicycle. My original vision of our Roman Holiday involved whizzing around ancient sites and city streets aboard the classic Italian luxury scooter.
Traveling to Europe has always been on our travel bucket list. We originally hoped to go on a European tour in May 2020 for our 10th wedding anniversary, but we all know what happened that year. In the past few years, I’ve realized that life is short and we should take the time to travel and enjoy life while we can. Fast forward four years later, and the dream came true when we finally went on our first-ever trip to Europe to 10 countries for almost a month in June 2024.
Last year, during a trip to Vietnam, I got to explore Saigon by scooter, the most popular mode of transport. In my opinion, it’s the best way to experience the culture of the bustling city.
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