I am Become Drew, Destroyer of Good Weather

Douglas Adams once wrote about a Rain god, an ordinary man who was so adored by rain clouds that they followed him wherever he went. I'm starting to wonder if I have a similar power.

The evidence is starting to stack up. First, we have two successive London summers infamous for their complete suckiness. Next we have the inexplicable cold in Spain while I was there – right in the middle of summer. Finally, we have this trip to Italy where, after one and a half days of sun and blue skies, the grey clouds and rain have arrived bang on schedule – and it's forecast to be awful for the rest of the week.

Seriously, though, the reason I bring up the bad weather is because it is the only negative aspect I can think of about today. I think it's fair to say that Venice is probably the most thoroughly enjoyable city I have ever visited in my life, and it's going to take something pretty spectacular in order to knock it off the top spot.

I know hundreds have tried and failed to describe Venice, but I may as well add my voice to the choir.

Imagine if M.C. Escher had designed a city. Now, picture the city builders taking a look at these plans, scratching their heads and deciding it wasn't quite complicated enough! This is the best way I can think of to describe the wonderful labyrinth of passages, streets, paths, bridges and, of course, canals that make up the entirety of this amazing place.

Another way to think of it is as the world's biggest theme park, built strictly for adults. It doesn't feel that far off the mark: there are no cars, for starters – instead, they are relegated to parking on the outskirts of the city. Everywhere is within walking distance (depending on what your definition of walking distance is), while there are boats, ferries, water taxis and gondolas to help get you where you're going much quicker, or if you're feeling weary - and, in certain cases, it's loads more stylish.

My initial entrance was last night from the train station, adding further to the feeling of an alternate Disneyland, with my first sight being the great canal that snakes throughout the main islands and the curious mix of architecture – and inevitable giant billboard. It is just so utterly unlike anywhere else I've ever been it's impossible to not want to just jump on a ferry and start exploring right away.

Which is pretty much what I did this morning!

Unlike most places I go, I had nothing in mind that I wanted to see while I was here – the main attraction, for me, was the city itself. Having seen pictures, movies and stories about Venice for most of my life, it has always been high on my list of places to visit just to find out for myself exactly what it's like. I'm sure there are hundreds of amazing sights to see here, but to me just the thought of exploring the maze of streets was my only plan for the day.

With no agenda set for the day except to explore, I embraced the chance to lose myself among the streets – and it took approximately one minute to find myself hopelessly and utterly lost! Wandering the streets alone, I decided I should leave any plans to fate and just see what happened. If one street looked more interesting than another, I took it. If I was hungry, I'd find the closest snack bar and grab something to eat. I had no idea where I was, where I was going, what I was going to do or what I was going to see – and it was the most liberating feeling I've had in years.

Although I'd done a tiny bit of research into the area, my main goal was simply to discover new areas of the city as they came to me. As it turned out, one of the best ways to do this is by water ferry (or vaporetto). I'd bought a day pass earlier, and as I walked past one of the stops a ferry arrived. Not knowing where it was going (except somewhere new), I hopped aboard and followed it to its end.

As it turned out, this one finished its journey at San Marco – possibly one of the most recognisable areas of Venice (at least, I recognised it). The piazza is one of the largest I've seen and, consequently, was the busiest around. Also here was a giant bell tower that I was tempted to climb, but dwindling finances caused a rethink on this idea. Instead, I wandered into the Basilica, the cathedral.

Inside was one of the most extravagant shrines I've ever seen, with a vast mosaic covering the entire roof – made almost entirely of gold. As usual, photos weren't allowed to be taken inside but, for once, I think I can work out why: if just one flash were to go off inside, it would likely blind everyone as the reflections bounced off everything inside.

More aimless wandering commenced from here, passing by dozens of small shops selling everything from fashion, masks, food to Murano glass. As chance would have it, I was passing by another vaporetto on its way to Murano – so I hopped on.

Murano is an island slightly further away from the rest of the mainland of Venice, famous for its amazing glassworks. In fact, the entire island seems to be dedicated entirely to glass – after walking around for an hour or so, about the only places around were shops selling their amazing works or art, or workshops dedicated to making them.

Back on the vaporetto, I returned to the mainland for another wander around – and a bite to eat. This time, the only clue I had to where I was came from the train station, so I was somewhere north. Not wanting to tempt fate, I continued north for a while until I ended up back at the water and another vaporetto stop! This one was heading out to another island, Lido, which sounded good to me!

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't do the greatest amount of research into Venice and had no idea what to expect at this new island. If I did, I most likely wouldn't have gone. Its claim to fame is its beaches which, considering the weather, wasn't likely to be the most exciting thing to see. Surprisingly, there were cars on the island as well, which came as a bit of a shock after not having to deal with them all day.

Returning to San Marco, I took a different path through a different set of backstreets and found myself at Rialto, home of the famous Rialto bridge. With darkness approaching, the lights around the city were starting to turn on bringing an entirely new perspective to the city. It also gave me an extra incentive to continue on, so once again I hopped aboard a vaporetto to see where it would take me...

If I sound a little vague about where I was throughout the day, it's because most of the time I genuinely had no idea where I was! I'm sure there are also loads of places I went to that I didn't write about, simply because I either don't know what they were or where they were. With so much to see, I know for a fact I missed out on seeing so much. It's the sort of place you could spend literally months in order to see everything on offer – and even then you'd probably still only be scratching the surface.

I'd always hoped to visit Venice with someone else, it seems the perfect place for a shared exploration. At the very least, I know for a fact I will be back to visit again – hopefully for longer than just one day. For now, though, I'm content to know I've seen one of the most amazing cities on the planet – so, after an evening's walk out of the way, culminating in a visit to the Rialto bridge to see it lit up, I headed back to my hostel for an early night in preparation for my 8.45am train to Florence.