Recently, my friend Midge and I decided to go on holiday to Venice. It was beautiful, and we had a really great time! We chose Venice because as history students we wanted to visit somewhere with a rich culture, rather than a typical girl's holiday of drinking and beaches (though there's nothing wrong with that either). It was really good fun and not too expensive as we could just walk around admiring it's beauty without feeling the need to go into museums or attractions, and the shops and restaurants were all very reasonably priced too. This was very good for our small budgets!

My favourite part of Venice was the little bridges over tiny canals like this one. I have 100,000 photos like this but I picked my favourite for this post so it wouldn't just be millions of identical photos. The houses were so colourful and contrasted beautifully against the dark water. The tourist attraction areas like St. Mark's Square were pretty busy but most of the side streets like this one were empty which was lovely. Occasionally a gondola would go by but other than that it was completely quiet and peaceful! We would stop as we walked across to admire the view or sometimes just sit there for a while (often with a gelato in hand). I think it's the only city I have ever been to that hasn't got a single ugly area in it. The tiny streets and millions of steps make it impossible for traffic to get through too, so there's no vehicles other than boats to get in the way or be noisy or smelly either which was very unusual but so nice to experience.

Obviously, we had to go to St. Mark's Square while we were in Venice. The queues for the Basilica and Doge's Palace were horrifically long so we chose to admire from the outside rather than going in but they were still works of art. The paintings on the outside of the Basilica in particular were truly stunning, I honestly don't know how anyone could produce such works of beauty. My grandad said he once attended a concert here and it was just as beautiful inside as it is out, so perhaps if I go again I will brave the huge queues!



This tower was part of the Doge's Palace, and this also had hour long queues. As I am not a fan of heights, I feel this would probably not have been for me anyway but I still admired it from the bottom. Although, I did enjoy the TV Tower in Berlin so maybe I should have given this a chance to hahaha. We didn't realise what this was at first, and Midge spent all day frantically searching for the Doge Palace until she realised we'd already been there, which just about sums us up to be honest. I have no idea how much these attractions cost, so if you're planning a visit I'm afraid I am a bit useless. My grandad tells me that when he visited 40 odd years ago it was free but I highly doubt that's still the case. Upkeep on beautiful old buildings like these, staff to look after the place and control visitor numbers etc. don't come cheap so I am sure there must be an entrance fee these days.



On our final day, we went to Ca' d'Oro which was just fantastic. It's this beautiful old Venetian house with elaborately tiled floors, gorgeous stone pillars, and a gorgeous art gallery housed inside. There were statues and paintings and a couple of drawings too. Entrance was very reasonably priced (€7.50 if I remember correctly, plus a student discount was offered). To top that all off, there were balconies with these beautiful stone arches as you can see in this picture, and the view from the third floor especially was breath taking!

Overall, if you are planning a trip to Venice, my advice would be to just wander in random directions. Ninety percent of the time, Midge and I had no idea where we were or what we were doing and we loved it. Every single corner of Venice is so beautiful that wherever you end up, you can't go wrong. Visit the Ca' d'Oro if you have time, as it was one of my favourite places I've ever been. Take your time, admire the views, and go at Easter as it is the best weather for it! Don't forget your suncream. Elastic waistbands are best, as the pizza, pasta and gelato options are delicious and many. If you come across white chocolate and passionfruit gelato, try it! It was my absolute favourite. And most of all, take plenty of photos! Although I'm sure you won't be able to resist.

• Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. This is my all time favourite movie. It tells the story of a teenage girl in love, and her struggle to fit in. It's hilarious and heartwarming and there's an adorable cat. A real feel good film with an amazing sound track.

• Miranda. One of my childhood heroes, Miranda will never fail to make you giggle. Short episodes follow a woman in her mid-thirties while she dates, hangs out with her friends and runs a joke shop (and makes many funny blunders). I'm hoping season 4 will be added to Netflix soon but for the time being you can watch seasons 1-3 there. 

• Pretty Little Liars. Four teenagers struggle to come to terms with the disappearance of their best friend. On top of this, they now have a dangerous cyber bully. This series is creepy and gripping, with romance and friendship as underlying themes throughout. Thoroughly enjoyed.

• Gossip Girl. So funny and dramatic! I was so hooked on this show while I was watching it and actually enjoyed it enough that I would consider rewatching it. You'll be kept on your toes guessing who gossip girl is right until the end.

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This show is massively funny, Will Smith and co. had me giggling away every episode. Yet this show also deals with some important issues, such as race, love, family and drugs. Definitely worth a watch.

• Friends. MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE TV SHOW! I know there has been a lot of controversy over whether this show is sexist etc. recently but I don't think so. I love love love this show it's hilarious, but also has very emotional and romantic scenes too. Phoebe Buffet will forever be my idol, she's fantastic.

• Skins. Much more dramatic than real life but some very real everyday problems dealt with. Religion, homophobia, death, drugs, mental health, sex, love and friendship are all covered in many ways and it's heartbreaking and heartwarming at different moments. I got so hooked I watched it all in about 3 days.

• Mamma Mia. This is my Oma's favourite movie, and it's one of mine too. I love ABBA and these versions of the songs have me singing and dancing along every time. I also think the story line is really sweet and romantic. I have watched this 1000 times and I am sure I will watch it 1000 more.

• Shrek. Gotta love Shrek. All 4 movies are available on Netflix.