Venice is a magical city. The moment we stepped out of the airport into the sweet scented air we were in love with it. It’s summer now, so the weather is hot and humid and the waterfront is crammed with tourists and street venders selling ‘I heart Venice’ t-shirts.

With bridges all over the place, there is no such things as cars, traffic or even bicycles around here – everyone travels on foot. I’ve been enjoying the walking and the sunshine. It’s impossible to stress in Venice, the pace is so relaxed and everyone is smiling. English is spoken in most touristy places, but I’ve found that people warm up to us a lot more when we try to use Italian.

Today we went to see the Guggenheim collection. What an experience! In one morning I stood within inches of Picasso’s The Poet, a suitably depressing looking Marc Chagall, Pollock’s Alchemy, Indian Ink works by Man Ray, a gloomy Marcel Duchamp, one of Modigliani stunning portraits and works by Salvador Dali – I was in art heaven! Oh, and I was a bit naughty and touched the Anish Kapoor garden sculpture just so I could say I had. I shall slap my wrist at once!

Because the works were exhibited in Peggy Guggenheim’s old house, the whole experience felt deeply personal. The presentation resembled so many of the exhibitions I’ve attended for aspiring and unknown artists, but here we were staring at L’Atelier by Picasso. In one hand, this highlighted for me the simple aesthetics of art. That you don’t need to be famous or infamous to produce something beautiful and meaningful. But in the other hand, it also allowed me to get closer than I’ve ever been before to these works and see some of the skill and detail that makes them truly stand out.

After four days of eating, eating, lots of photo taking, and some eating, tomorrow we are jumping on a train and heading to the next town on our journey. I can’t wait!