From the archives: this one goes all the way back to July 2017. It’s still my most-loved Italy post ever, and re-reading my own caption โ “Is it cheesy to post this picture of myself? #ladolcevita #nofilterneeded” โ I have thoughts.
Yes, 2017 Kristin, it was a little cheesy. And you know what? You were right to post it anyway.
The case for getting lost
Venice is the one city where getting lost isn’t a failure of navigation โ it’s the entire point. The streets (can they be called streets when they’re barely wider than your shoulders?) twist and dead-end at canals, and every wrong turn deposits you in front of something beautiful: a tiny campo, a bridge with no name you’d ever remember, a doorway that looks like it’s been there since forever. Put the map away. The getting lost is the itinerary.
La dolce vita, no filter needed
That hashtag held up, by the way. Venice in July is hot and crowded and completely, unapologetically itself โ grand palazzos rising straight out of the water, gondolas doing their slow glide, spritzes at golden hour while the light does impossible things on the canal. No filter needed was the truth, not a hashtag flex. Some places you have to work to make beautiful in photos. Venice does all the work. You just stand there and take the picture.
Nearly a decade later, this is still the Italy post my followers loved most โ and I get it. There’s something about Venice that bypasses all irony. It’s cheesy. It’s perfect. It’s la dolce vita, exactly as advertised.
Where I stayed
Hotel Metropole โ my verified Venice stay, and a grand old dame of a hotel in the best way. Classic Venetian elegance, the kind of place that makes you stand a little straighter in the lobby.
That’s the Italy series โ find all seven guides together on the Italy hub page.
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