Before coming to Venice, you would have this romantic image of the city in your mind – gondolas with strong masculine men with baritone voices singing while the gondola tours around the city, buildings floating magically on water, and an abundant number of celebrities being spotted here and there.
Unfortunately, this blog post isn’t going to continue on with this illusion, but rather I will paint you the proper picture of what Venice is.
Despite its water canals that you see on its postcards, you get quite used to it within a couple hours while reaching there. Instead, you’ll see these water canals very soon as similar to roads, whereby they are sort of “hurdles” you have to get through. You get water taxis that bring you to different places. Maybe it’s the murky weather I got when I was there, but Venice was definitely much more romantic hearing about it than actually seeing it.
Then the gondolas were often filled with tourists. There were so many tourists in Venice everywhere, most of them from Chinese tour groups. Plus I think gondola rides are overhyped and therefore are pricier than they should be. I read from a book that the art of making a gondola is actually quite fascinating, if you’re interested in knowing what types of wood is needed to build gondolas… there aren’t a lot of gondola manufacturing companies in Venice anymore apparently.
The food was pretty good. The museums were OK, but of course nothing comparable to Florence and Rome. Perhaps it was my first time in Italy, so I found the narrow alleyways a bit sketch, especially during the dark (and yes, I realise after being to a couple of Italian cities, this was actually normal so nothing to be afraid of usually).
One thing that really stood out to me in Venice is that… there’s a lot of people bringing out their clipboards and paper and just sketching and drawing whatever they could find… mainly architecture and buildings, but sometimes you see groups of students adjoining with each other to sketch some sort of painting, whatever they feel inspired by. Artsy Venice this place is.
Anyway, this will mainly be a photo blog, with lots of photos below. My supposed itinerary will be at the bottom, supposed because this was the itinerary I planned before going on this trip, but may not have 100% been accomplished. Also, I included a ton of Leonardo da Vinci’s machineries because, I mean c’mon, this guy is literally a genius! Now some of da Vinci’s machines aren’t revolutionary, as some may have existed already, but still they were improvements or helped illustrate what was going on during his times in his society. Those machines and illustrations can all be found in the Leonardo da Vinci’s Museum.
All these masks as souvenirs
Not the sunniest of weathers, but OK
I remembered being adamant in coming to this restaurant due to good reviews on Tripadvisor, despite us starving for 1.5 hours while walking and trying to find this place
Riding on these water buses
Artsy girl
He kind of reminds me of Robert De Niro
Taxi stand
Dark alleyways…
The hotel we stayed in
So here we go, Leonardo da Vinci’s “inventions”, concepts, machineries, and illustrations
Flying 101
It’s funny because despite eating a lot this trip (we ate breads and other sides not shown), I lost weight after Italy because of all the walking we did in general and around museums
Modeling
Our room again
Itinerary
Academy Gallery (Gallerie dell’Accademia)
Campo della Carita | Dorsoduro n 1050, 30130 Venice, Italy
39-041-522-2247
famous for Venetian Paintings
Saint Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco)
St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco)
Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Basilica di San Marco
Palazzo Ducale
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Punta Della Dogana
Teatro La Fenice
Most important opera house
Ca’ Rezzonico
Collection of eighteenth-century Venetian art
Murano
Glass creations
Isola di Burano
Grand Canal
St. Mary of the Friars
Musica A Palazzo
Operas
Palazzo Ducale (near St. Mark’s square)
Interpreti Veneziani
Chiesa San Vidal – San Marco 2862/B, 30124 Venice Italy
39 041 2770561
Ca’ Macana
Cale delle Botteghe | Dorsoduro 3172, 30123 Venice Italy
39 41 2776142
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
San Polo, 3052 | Campo San Rocco, 30125 Venice Italy
Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Castello 6363 | Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, Italy
041-523-5913ß
*Cannaregio (it’s a district)
For more history on WWII
Santa Maria della Salute
Campo della Salute | Dorsoduro, Venice, Italy
Madonna dell’Orto
Campo dell’Orto | Cannaregio 3512
Prato della Valle (district for fairs and amusement)
Museo Ebraico di Venezia
Cannaregio 2902/b, 30121 Venice, Italy
Ponte dell’Accademia
Ca’ d’Oro
Museo Querini Stampalia
Castello 4778 | Campiello Querini Stampalia, 30122
041-2711411
Scala Contarini del Bovolo
Manin Square
Arsenale
5 minute walk from Piazza San Marco
Riva S. Biasio Castello, 2148, 30122
39 41 2441 399
Beautiful architecture, canals, bridges, gondolas, festivals like Carnevale, il Redentore, and the Historic Regatta, the Grand Caffès in Piazza San Marco like Florian’s and Quadri, the Biennale every other year and Venice Film Festival every year, the Basilica and many other churches, the Doge’s Palace, museums like the Correr and Gugenheim … It’s a great place to visit.
http://www.timeout.com/venice/
- Basilica di San Marco – Museums
- Campanile – Attractions
- Boutique del Gelato – Restaurants & cafés
- Palazzo Ducale – Museums
- Torre dell’Orologio – Attractions
- Al Chioschetto – Restaurants & cafés
- Metrò Venezia Club – Adult Entertainment
- Skyline Bar – Restaurants & cafés
- Ca’ D’Oro (Alla Vedova) – Restaurants & cafés
- Gallerie dell’Accademia – Museums
Area Club – hardcore techno tosatto 9
Il Muretto – roma destra 120
Vanilla club – buonarroti 15
Restaurants
A Beccafico Restaurant
L’Orto dei Mori
Osteria di Santa Marina
La Zucca
Osteria Oliva Neras
Al Paradiso
Il Ridotto
Hotel Centauro, Venice
Campo Daniele Manin 4297/a
Venice, VE 30124
Phone: 39 (041) 5225832
