My Surprise Trip To Venice

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for someone to plan a surprise trip to Venice for your birthday, I can tell you that the logistics of it are extremely difficult.

I only know because Scott did exactly that for me a couple of weeks ago while we were in Italy. At the time, I had no clue that he was planning for us to spend the weekend in Venice celebrating. I only knew that we were in Bologna and that we didn’t have a plan for where to go next. Scott was being very elusive about the whole thing, which made me even more nervous, as I don’t like not having a plan.

“I’m taking us somewhere tomorrow…and I want it to be a surprise…so, erm you may have to wear a blindfold or something”

Erm, say what now?

Fast forward to the next morning at Bologna train station, and sure enough, Scott has my sleep mask in his hands.

“But how will I see where to go and get on the train? Won’t I hear the announcements?”

Scott assured me he had thought of it all. He would guide me onto the train and make me listen to music through my headphones the whole way, to try and block out some of the noise.

So, looking like a royal idiot wearing a sleeping mask at the train station, I obliged. And it actually worked. I saw no signs on the train of the final destination, and the landscape was of course totally unfamiliar.

After what seemed like an eternity on the train (although it was only really about an hour and a half) we arrived at our destination and I removed the mask….warily…only to find that we were in VENICE!

I had only been to Venice once when I was child with my family and knew that Scott had only spent one night there on a previous trip and wanted us to visit together. But I never thought he would have planned something like this. To make things even better, we were staying in our own apartment in the centre of the city, as provided by Go With Oh, which meant that on the morning of my birthday we could make homemade Bellinis and scrambled eggs. Yum.

We spent the day on a boat trip out to Burano and returned just in time to catch the last of the gondola regata race which occurs every year, whilst dangling our feet over the edge of the Grand Canal and sipping prosecco. We then hustled to the supermarket to try and find a cake and in the absence of a sponge one, we bought an ice cream one and stuck candles in it instead.

All in all, it will definitely be one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve ever had, not least because it was the first birthday I’ve ever spent abroad. I guess turning 29 isn’t so bad after all.