Italy (Venice)
After a night of limited wifi, we all woke up early for our venice tour! Good morning Venice!!
First stop was to Rialto bridge and it was pretty challenging going around the alleys and lanes. Was clueless about the street names!! Landed up at St Marks square in the early morning (which was near our airbnb).
Navigated myself a little and spotted the "Per Rialto" signage and reckoned it meant "To Rialto".
Spotted BATA shoes shop!
In case you don't know (like me!), BATA is an European brand and it has history dated way back before World War I!
So much for "Buy And Throw Away" huh?!
Ignorant us, thinking it was a Singapore/ Malaysian brand =P
In case you don't know (like me!), BATA is an European brand and it has history dated way back before World War I!
So much for "Buy And Throw Away" huh?!
Ignorant us, thinking it was a Singapore/ Malaysian brand =P
Check out the price! It's way more expensive than in Singapore!
Us, in one of the alleys!
Continued to follow the signs going along the endless lanes and landed at the beautiful grand canal!
 |
| On the Rialto Bridge |
A backdrop worthy of a group shot. The backdrop was like a man made backdrop!
 |
| Someone left a note there! |
 |
| On our way to Fondemente Nove |
 |
| Checking out the Fruits Stall |
 |
| Waiting for the Water Bus to Burano Island |
To go to Burano or Murano Island, head over to Fondemente Nove where you can catch the Vaporetto 12 to the islands. It will reach Murano first before Burano.
 |
| See the stops here, you may also check the timings via the boards at the vaporetto stops. |
 |
| Us, on board! |
 |
| Good way to see Venice from the outside. |
Remember to check out the timings of the Vaporetto at the stops so you know what time to come back for your ride back!
Welcome to the colourful town where houses are painted with different cheery shades!
Burano, northen island of Venetian Lagoon is famous for lace-making (I told NB and he thought they produced LAYS potato chips here -_-) and the colourful homes.
In the past, houses were painted colourfully to demarcate the boundaries.
while legend has it that fishermen painted their house colourful so that they can see it from afar when they are on water.
Trivia: Read about it that if someone wants to paint their homes, a government request needs to be submitted in which they will be notified of a colour permitted for the house lot. Interesting...
Hahaha!
Lace shops line the area.
Spotted another leaning tower in Italy!
First gelato of the trip!
Chocolate and Hazelnut flavours. Had this is #burano it was pretty good, the flavour and all but was expecting it to be stickier like those gelato we have in Singapore. Serving here is slightly smaller.
Damage: €2.50 for 2 flavours
Rating: 7 / 10
The only (i think) Vegetable seller on the island who sells his stocks on the little boat.
He got alot of business as we took awhile in the queue to get strawberries!
Cute little pretty fruits!
Not fully sweet, a tinge of sourness but still delightful! |
| Trying to be funny |
Address: Fondamenta della Giudecca 88,
30142 Burano, Italy
Trying a restaurant famous here that even Jamie Oliver recommended it!
We were there on the island too early and it was not opened yet!
Waited for a few hours and when it finally opened, the waiter told us the seats were fully booked!
Felt like jumping into the Italian waters!
Thankfully, NB did a check with the staff inside and turned out they could still save a seat for us inside the restaurant since all the outdoor seats were booked. Phew!
Before we start, it's the usual bread and breadsticks!
Love the breadsticks! Crunchy and fragrant!
Both couples ordered the Risotto and it was fabulous! Savoury and super tasty!
 |
| Grilled black squid |
NB and I shared a grilled black squid with 2 lumps of what seemed like mashed glutinous rice.
It was a tad oily but the squid was very fresh and amazingly soft!
You know how usually squid gives a rubbery texture, this goes through perfectly with every bite!
 |
| Grilled seafood platter |
This was also ordered and grill was great as well! Nicely flamed with the right amount of BBQ charring! We love fresh seafood!
 |
| The bill that amounted to... |
Rating: 9/10 Good food but do reserve beforehand!
 |
| Can't help grabbing a shot of the Heart! |
Went around the place and took shots of the different houses for my colourful montage!
Here's Burano in colours!
 |
| Us at a Happy place! |
 |
| On our way back to Venice |
 |
| Gondola |
These beautiful Gondolas were all around Venice and you can see tourists riding on them.
The seats looked pretty luxurious but I was disappointing as I didn't hear any of the gondolier singing! They were just merely rowing tourists around, boring!
The seats looked pretty luxurious but I was disappointing as I didn't hear any of the gondolier singing! They were just merely rowing tourists around, boring!
And guess what, each ride can cost about €100!
Of course, you can bargain (I think) but it's definitely not a cheap ride.
Count on your feet!
Disclaimer on the products sold. =P
Address: Salizzada S. Lio 5727, Venice, Italy (Castello)
Our 2nd Gelato in Italy and in a day!
Saw good reviews on Trip Advisor so decided to give it a shot!
Chose Nutella!
Not too bad but still not the kind of Gelato I was expecting! Better than the 1st but would think they Gelatos in Singapore are better.
Damage: €2.50 for 2 flavours
Rating: 7.2/10
Address: Calle De La Casseleria, 5324,
30122 Venice, Italy
Tucked away in a small alley with no obvious signage except the fragrant smell of freshly cooked pasta sits Alfred fresh pasta on the go. This little shop is highly raved on trip advisor so we had to have it as well! The shop notes that the pasta is best consumed once Cooked so the taste is kept optimum. Packed in a white box, you see patrons walking out of the shop tucking into the freshly cooked pasta. Menu is available in quite a number of languages on screen.
 |
| The menu in multiple languages! |
Mine was wacky named pasta - Viagra penne which had lots of tomato, cream and mint leaves.
Good vegetarian choice with generous serving of tomatoes with just right amount of tomato cream base sauce.
NB had Pesto which was also delicious!
Damage: €6 and €7 respectively.
Rating: 8.5 / 10
It was a short stay in Venice as we headed on an overnight train to big city ROME!
Waited in the cold cold train station for about an hour as we took the midnight train and finally boarded to the comfort of our Cuccette C4 Comfort-Compartment!
This is the type of cabin which allows for 4 bedder with locked doors so we can all sleep peacefully without having to worry about thieves on train!
The train seats turned into beds at night.
Not the softest but still comfortable enough for us to sleep through the night (or morning).
Some delicious packed Grapefruit juice, water, and wet towels to freshen up in the morning!
Damage: €48 not cheap for a train ticket but there were some savings for lodging! Besides, it was pretty comfortable.
Damage for Day 5 = €81 per pax
Photo (all except those lousy shots taken by my mobile phone) credits to Alexander!
Credits to AirFrance for the free tickets!
