Photo album: Venice, Italy (10th - 12th July)
Venice was seriously infested by tourists! Heard that the tourist-locals ratio is like 2-1. But it was really pretty as well. A city built on water, Venice is made up of like super alot of mini islands and connected using loads of bridges. Sounds like pretty much big a deal. But it's kind of okay lor, nth much actually.
It was a nice change from Rome as we no longer have to be too careful with our belongings. Oh but 3 days is a little too long to stay in Venice. Got pretty boring. 2 days is enough to explore the whole place le. So our itineary was pretty slack there. Which is also good - can rest more for the rest of the trip! Heehee. Had our first sun-tanning session there at Lido beach (nice place!) It was super hot. The sand was seriously scorching hot lo. Dun understand how the 2 jap girls we saw can lie on the sand. Faints.
Oh we took the vaporetto (water bus) too. Bought a one day pass for 12 freaking euros. Madness man. Super expensive. But it was a nice experience, and the only way we could get to Lido beach. Heehee. Hmm the gondolas on the river looked super pretty but I think it's 50-60 euros for a ride. Tourist trap! Ohoh there's no cars on Venice too, since it's a city built on water. Perhaps tts why it has retained a certain rural charm ba. Rural yet touristy? Haha I'm being contradictory.
Ohyah I almost forgot to mentioned this. I saw this in the window display in one of the shops!!
The Picasso-inspired clocks!! Heh I remember copying this idea in my Sec 2 art exam. It'll be so cool to have one of these in the house yeah! Haha suddenly I sound so artistic.
Sights
Hmm the main tourist attraction here is probably the San Marco square, where u queue for ages to enter the basilica. Talking about names of places, everything in Italy has almost the same name lahs. Duomo, campanile, accademia etcetc. We went up the bell tower, had a pretty good view of the entire city (since Venice is really quite small), visited the Doges palace and learnt a bit of how Venice was ruled in the past, visited the Rialto Bridge, explored the many many alleys (the small roads are usually not named on maps, making it very difficult to get around and we keep getting ourselves lost. Hahas)
Oh yesh at the Doges Palace, we saw the world's largest painting on canvas. Was really amazing. Too bad we weren't allowed to take any pics. Though I managed to sneak one, it was rather blur. There were many churches too. Bought a Chorus pass with the intention of exploring all 15. But in the end, we din make full use of it! Bleahs. Haha but it expires in a year. Anyone wants to buy from us?? Haha.
Lido beach was really pretty! Heh they also had a Carrefour kind of store there. And they sold very cheap and pretty bikinis! Haha but I dun think I need another eh. Dearie bought his green italy slippers there! Haha he thinks it's very hip. Lols. Hmm and the beaches are actually divided into private and public beaches de. Hmm makes not much difference to me actually. Heh we wanted to visit the casino but it's super far and apparently the water bus doesnt go there anymore, despite wad's stated on the route.
Hmm we din make time to visit the Murano island nearby. Glass making doesnt seem very interesting to us. Heh but there were loads of shops selling Murano glasses (hard to tell which is authentic and which is not) and pretty but pricey Venetian masks.
Our hostel
Our favourite hostel!! Residenza Ca Dario. It was super nice. Felt really like home there. So I guess I din really mind spending 3 whole days in Venice cos of it. Everything's super new and clean. Love it! A must stay if u're going there! The owner was this young women who speaks good English. So there was no problems communicating. The location was near the train station, though we took incredibly long to reach the place cos we misread the directions. It was actually a private residence originally but have since been converted into a guesthouse. Hmm maybe that's why it felt so homey warmy. We could also finally make our own coffee here! They also had a very cool coffee machine (like those u see in posh cafes) which we had no idea how to use. Hahs. Boiling water facilties in the other hostels we stayed were a rare sight. Duhry right. Oh well.
Food
Was dying to try Brek when I reached Venice. Have heard so much good things from this girl's blog who went backpacking in Europe too. But it was kinda disappointing. Cos the food's too salty. But it's defintely cheap! Just EUR4 for a plate of pasta. It's located along Lista Di Spagna (heard the street name changes often though. Lols) Ohoh but i love the strawberry tarts! It's sort of like Marche. Where u order, they cook, u grab the food and pay at the counter. And to my surprise, there's actually a branch in Singapore Changi Airport lehs. Terminal 2 I think. Must go try next time. Hehee.
We had sandwiches and roast chicken on the beach too! Haha. Yesh, roast chicken on a beach. So dumb right. The whole chicken somemore. But we were really hungry! The sandwich rolls were super nice! Very soft and overflowing with chicken/tuna/egg/ham plus mayo and stuff. Yums! Must make next time.
Okie, now for local specialties. I tried the spinach
risotto (rice dish). Yes this disgusting thingy below:
Had the shock of my life when the person served this lah. Looks so much like baby food. But it tasted much better than it looks. And since I din really have proper veg for the past few days. It was okie ba I guess. Haha I think I dun sound like myself. I'm supposed to be a carnivore! *roars*
Tried the sgroppino which is supposed to be this creamy alcoholic lemon sorbet. But it tasted disgusting!! Alcohol content was super strong lahs. And not nice. Turned out to be a glass of some liquid. While I was imagining ice cream. Hahas. The gelato in Venice was not as good as Rome's. But the heat was really getting to me. Tasted quite fake, I thought. Hmms.
At the end of the day, I really felt quite at home in Venice le. You know where's everything (kk not really but sorta). A bit sad that we have to leave the homey hostel, but then again, Venice was getting too boring!! All the shops more or less sell the same souvenier touristy stuff. And its either that, or they'll be selling expensive tourist set meals. Think I'll go broke living there. Haha.
Labels: Europe
