James and Christine's Big World Tour: Venice - is it as beautiful as everyone says?

After a painless train journey we are ready to meet our next host, Jay, who is an American guy living just outside of Venice in a place called Padua. He is really friendly and a talented photographer, there are lots of his photos dotted around and apparently all taken on his iPhone!
We decide to see what Padua has to offer so stroll into the city which is pretty but there doesn't seem to be a lot to do. We have a calzone pizza on the steps of the church whilst watching the impressive Astrological clock. Time for an ice cream, sorry, gelato before walking up to the huge cathedral which contains the body of Saint Anthony. Its an impressive building with a stunning interior, by the time we get out it has gone dark but we still have one more thing on the map to see. I forget what it's called but its a lovely square with greenery and lots of statues. It reminds me of a scene from Oliver! so obviously I free my beautiful singing voice with a few verses of "Who will buy?" and a couple of sweet moves thrown in. James is obviously impressed as he moves away from me to get a better view from afar.

Padua's astrological clock. James got a lesson from Christine on how it worked!

Elvis shares an evening snack

The next day we are excited to visit Venice so hop on the train to see the most romantic city in the world. "I hope its, like, pretty" we hear an American girl say, we'll assume she's never heard anything about Venice or saw any pictures.
As we walk out of the train station we're both taken aback, we've never seen anything like this before, so much water! The river is full of water buses, water taxis and Gondolas and we spend a few moments on a bridge watching them go about their business. Time to wander the countless winding streets and I can't put my camera away, it's too pretty here! We stop for a tea and coffee and people watch for a while before I pester James to buy me a Nutella filled crepe. We continue exploring the city, walking aimlessly around, crossing so many bridges and stopping every 30 seconds so that I can take pictures of the beautiful buildings and boats. The Rialto bridge was quite an experience, full of people and lined with small shops. We had to take it in turns with people to look over the edge as everyone wanted a 'selfie' shot there, it was with good reason though, the views across the river and down the street were both worth admiring. We consider getting on a gondola but I'd rather that be an experience when I'm all dressed up and not looking like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards. We already know that we'll be coming back one day so for now we're happy to get lost in the maze of streets. Stumbling into a pretty church square we stop to listen to a busker singing beautifully while playing guitar with tambourines strapped to his leg. Evening time and we stop for a candlelit dinner before aiming for our train...oops we missed it and the next one isn't for another hour and a half! As it's 11pm there's nothing we can do but go in the only open place near the station...an Irish bar, you can always count on them!