Hotel Ca' Dei Conti - Venice, Italy

02 February, Friday

I always look forward to visiting Italy and so far I have been blessed enough to visit three times in the last decade. During the flight, we caught a glimpse of snow-covered mountains! I don't think i noticed this on the previous trips. I always prefer to visit countries during their cold season because I really hate the heat we get all year round in Singapore. We booked our trip to coincide with Carnevale Di Venezia festivities too.

We landed at the Venice Marco Polo airport and took a bus to the waterbus stop at Piazzale Roma and waited for the vaporetto to take us to San Zaccaria. Although i am prone to getting motion sickness, the boat ride was pleasant.

We made our way to our hotel Hotel Ca' Dei Conti on foot and had to drag our suitcases on the cobblestone pathways which was a little troublesome. Thankfully, I had Nick to handle my suitcases. While he was handling that, i kept snapping shots of the beautiful buildings and canals.

After settling in, we headed out in search for an authentic hearty Italian meal. Walking along the canals was so romantic especially when a gondola with a singing gondolier passed by.

Osteria Calle 21 seemed like a safe bet for our first meal in Venice. We ordered gnocchi, spaghetti alle vongole, squid ink spaghetti, beef salad and fried chicken which were all good! Check out their menu here.

We walked around Piazza San Marco where they were setting up for the Carnevale Di Venezia festivities that were going to take place over the next few days. Although we were walking around aimlessly, just standing over the bridges and watching the gondolas go by was magical. A 40-minute gondola ride would set you back 80 euros and that does not include a singer.

All the store fronts & displays were done up beautifully in line with the Carnevale theme. Each intricately designed mask was different from the next but equally eye-catching.

I really liked the coloured glass balloons but...

1) they were not cheap

2) I would need to buy a whole bunch because a lonesome balloon is just sad.

3) It would be a real bitch to clean them regularly.

Don't they remind you of the movie "Up"?

Although we just ate lunch, the sandwiches in the windows were calling out to us.

We had Gelato instead because i will never say no to Gelato.

For a light dinner, we went to Altrove S.R.L. which is located behind the San Marco clock tower at Sestiere San Marco 367/B, 30124. We ordered the grilled octopus and octopus salad which was both delicious.

On the way back, we found the cutest little Gondolier onesie and matching hat for Hachi!

03 February, Saturday

Nick the gondolier was the first to be ready in the morning and waited for the rest of us to go for breakfast.

Although there was a limited selection of food for the breakfast buffet, it was a pretty decent meal. I especially loved the cracker toast with butter and honey which Nick introduced me to. YUMMMMM.

It's always exciting to check out the local markets to get a taste of the local fare. Mercato di Rialto was just minutes away from our hotel so we made that our first stop of the day. The vibrant colours of the fresh produce and aroma of herbs were too much to resist. We bought Risotto, herbs, sun dried tomatoes, anchovy fillets and tins & tins of TRUFFLE OIL!

For a light snack, we went to Wenice which was recommended by my brother. We had the fritto misto (mixed fried seafood & vegetables), insalata di piovra (octopus salad) , and sardine salad. I enjoyed the fried stuff and octopus salad.

We met up with our guide, Francesca, at Piazza San Marco and commenced the tour at Basilica Di San Marco where we went up to roof top to get a bird's eye view of the square and its festivities.

At the upper terrace of Basilica Di San Marco, Francesca explained the workings of the nearby astronomical clock, with two bronze statues striking the bell every hour. The outermost circle of the face has Roman numerals for the 24 hours which is then followed by the Zodiac.The inner circles show the 5 planets of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, the Moon’s phases as well as the position of the Sun in the zodiac.

Next, Francesca gave us a guided tour in the Palazzo Ducale also known as the doge's palace.

the ceremonial staircase in the courtyard is flanked by statues of Mars and Neptune standing at the top, to represent Venice’s power by land and by sea.

Inside the palace, it was hall after hall of richly decorated ceilings and walls. We spent a substantial amount of time in each hall to admire each and every painting.

We crossed the Ponte dei Sospiri also known as the Bridge of Sighs which connected the interrogation rooms in the Palazzo Ducale to the new prison. The name Ponte dei Sospiri came about because prisoners would sigh at their final view of Venice through the tiny slits on the bridge prior to their pending imprisonment.

By the time our tour ended, the atmosphere in Piazza San Marco was abuzz! Venetians and foreigners alike were in full costume for Carnevale Di Venezia! All of them were more than happy to pose for photographs but it was tricky trying to find my way to the front to get a good shot. Despite the fact that the costumes are ridiculously expensive to rent, many Venetians and foreigners rent the intricate costumes and roam the square. Some opt to buy the inexpensive but pretty half masks from the push cart stores in the square.

After snapping a couple of shots, we went to Kori for dinner. We had the lobster fettuccine, pizza, French fries, and vegetable soup which were all good.

Check out their menu here.

We discovered the local supermarket known as Coop on our way back to the hotel. This well-stocked supermarket is located near Campo Santa Maria Formosa. The bottled mineral water here costs less than 1 euro each! It is a good place to stock up on inexpensive mineral water and snacks.

04 February, Sunday

The limited breakfast buffet selection did not change from the day before but I was quite happy eating this.

As it was the weekend, there were large crowds everywhere. We encountered several police cordons to restrict entry to Piazza San Marco. When we managed to make our way to the square, it was packed! Everyone was dressed in costumes and in high spirits.

My favourite costumes were the dog wearing a gold mask and the dog dressed as the Venetian lion.

We made our way back through the crowds to get back to the hotel but stopped by Gelateria Sommariva to pick up parma ham and salami paninis to eat in the room.

We ventured back out to visit the Basilica di Santa Maria Della Salute. It sure was a long walk but the beautiful scenery enroute was worth it!

The walk took so long that the sky was getting dark by the time we reached.

On our walk back, we came across a couple in really cool matching costumes! I really liked their bird skeleton cage prop!

We had dinner at Trattoria Ai Leoncini where we ordered octopus salad, vegetable soup, lobster fettucine, spaghetti vongole and Penne Arrabbiata. check out their menu here.

05 February, Monday - Murano

We walked to Ponte di Rialto to catch the vaporetto to Ferrovia where we had to take another boat to Murano.

It was nice to be greeted by the melody of "Girl from Ipanema" when we alighted from the vaporetto at Ferrovia. The beautiful melody that filled the air came from a busker seated by the waterfront playing his guitar.

We came across a stand selling beautiful chocolate-covered apples, pears and marshmallows. I selected the white chocolate covered pear encrusted in pink sugar. Pretty and delicious!

We took the vaporetto from Fondamente Nove and finally Arrived at Murano. It was definitely quieter and less crowded than Venice.

Lunch at Osteria Al Duomo was amazing! I especially loved the Frittura Misto. Check out their menu here.

There were many shops selling beautiful glass sculptures ranging from tiny animal figurines to jewellery to large showpiece sculptures.

Just as the sun was setting, we took the vaporetto back.

It was amazing that every day without fail, we would spot several innovative and beautiful costumes. This one had lights!

being too tired to check out the other restuarnts, we returned to Osteria Calle 21 for dinner.

I found a teensy tiny mask for Hachi.

06 February, Tuesday - Off to Florence

It was a 15-minute walk to Rialto bridge where we took a 10-minute ride on a vaporetto to Ferrovia. We waited for the 10.25am train Trenitalia to take us to Florence.

From the train station, we walked to our Hotel Croce Di Malta. After checking in, we went to our junior suite which had a living area, balcony overlooking the courtyard, and mezzanine bedroom and bathroom.

I didn't enjoy our first meal in Florence which was at Ristorante Lorenzo De' Medici. We ordered the Bistecca Alla Fiorentina, vongole soup, mushroom risotto and fried squid. I think that the bistecca was terrible and i was not satisifed with the meal at all. The rest of them seemed to enjoy the meal though.

After that lousy meal, we went to the Fontana Del Porcellino. It was really easy to miss & it took us some time to find as it was behind the Mercato Nuovo which is a small market square. We rubbed its snout and hoped to come back to Florence in the near future!

Hello, cutie.

As recommended by my Italian friend, we searched for All'Antico Vinaio and tried their sandwiches. This totally made up for the lousy lunch I had! My sandwich had cold cuts, truffle sauce, spicy eggplant and cheese. It was heavenly! I should have bought 1 for myself instead of sharing with Nick.

07 February, Wednesday - Exploring Mercato Central Firenze

We went to the local market Mercato Centrale Firenze in search for more truffle products and herbs to buy home. We started on the first floor which had many stores selling fruits, dried goods, meat, and lots of other good stuff.

This fat boy is too adorable for words.

Jackpot! A 500g bottle of truffle sauce. I'll take 2.

On the second floor, it was more of a food court with many cooked food stalls to choose from with proper dinning tables and chairs.

pet pooches are more than welcome to accompany their owners to go food-hunting at this market which is totally awesome.

After stocking up on Italian spices and truffle products, we caught the bus to the luxury outlet mall known as The Mall Firenze. We spent about 3 hours there.

I was not really satisfied shopping at this particular outlet mall because of the brands offered and the product selection available. I think that Outletcity Metzingen in Germany had a better selection. That being said, i bought a pair of Tory Burch boots for 160euros and a couple of pieces from Alexander Mcqueen which totalled 490euros.

08 February, Thursday

Buongiorno Firenze!

We set off early in the morning for our full day tour.

While waiting for our guide to meet us, we explored the Piazza della Signoria which is the most famous square in Florence. One of the main draws is the Loggia della Signoria which is the outdoor gallery housing many invaluable sculptural masterpieces.

We met up with our guide Julia for the tour of The Uffizi gallery. The gallery has two intimidating statues guarding its entrance. On the left, a life-sized replica of Michelangelo’s David and to the right, Bartolommeo Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus.

The Uffizi gallery houses the Medici family's large art collection, including masterpieces such as Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and many of Michelangelo's fine artworks.

Keanu Reeves, is that you?

We took a short break in between the tour to have a sandwich.

We walked to Basilica Di Santa Croce which is the church that houses the tombs of some of the most illustrious Italians such as Michaelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante.

We walked past The Duomo but did not enter because of the long-winding queue.

Our final stop on the tour was the Galleria dell'Accademia which is home to Michelangelo's David. Standing at 5.17 metres, the exquisite marble statue represents biblical hero David just before his battle with Goliath.

Feeling artsy after a full day of being emersed in so much art history, I bought a tapestry of Mucha's Spring and a scarf with Botticelli's The Birth of Venus printed on it from the shops near Mercato Centrale.

For dinner, we went to Ristorante La Spada to try their version of Bistecca Fiorentina which turned out to be pretty good. I also enjoyed their profiteroles and tiramisu.

09 February, Friday

For breakfast, I enjoyed the fresh strawberries and blueberries from the Mercato Centrale with a side of chocolate mousse from the supermarket.

We walked to Ponte Vecchio which was originally occupied by butchers centuries ago but it is now tenanted by jewellers and souvenir shops.

Craving for Gelato, we made a beeline for the nearest gelato stand which unfortunately for us was Gelaterie Sofia SRL. Most of the time, gelato costs around 2-3 euros so we did not ask for the price and went ahead and ordered 2 cones. After the storekeeper handed us the cones, he said the total was 16 euros. UNBELIEVABLE. When we checked Tripadvisor, over 90% of the reviews rated it as Terrible. The gelato itself was pretty good but the price really pissed us off.

These dogs lightened the mood after that terrible experience.

We took the 1.20pm train back to Venice. Our tickets included a bag of chips and a coke to snack on during the short journey.

Ristorante Trattoria Pooled caught our eye because the maitre d' was dressed as casanova! He showed us to our table which was along the Terraza Sul Canal Grande.

We ordered octopus salad, spaghetti carbonara, pizza, fries, and grilled veggies. I enjoyed this meal mostly because of the setting by the canal.

As we made our way back to the hotel Hotel Ca' Dei Conti , the sky was a pretty mix of pastel pink and purple.

After putting our suitcases in the room, we headed back out to Piazza San Marco. i really enjoyed looking at the elaborate costumes. I kinda wished that i had a cool costume too.

While shopping in Zara, a shopper came in with her dog and that made me wish that more shops in Singapore would allow dogs to enter.

We went back to Calle 21 yet again but this time we ordered the grilled monkfish to try and it turned out pretty well.

10 February, Saturday - Murano & Burano

After breakfast, we walked to Fondamente Nove to take a vaporetto to Murano.

We picked the first glass factory we saw and enquired about the glass-blowing demonstrations. They charged 2euros per person for a 30-minute demo.

He made a horse within 2 minutes.

We had lunch at Osteria Al Duomo and ordered fried squid, vegetable soup, and spaghetti vongole. For dessert we had the tiramisu and sorbet. everything was excellent! Check out their menu here.

We took the vaporetto to Burano.

The whole island of Burano is Insta-worthy with its brightly-coloured houses and canals. I stopped at every other house to take a photo because they all had their own charm!

Burano is also well known for its handmade lace so I bought a parasol, fan and handkerchief to commemorate my trip there.

On the vaporetto back, this dog was panicking and begged for his owner to carry him. His owner gave in and eventually picked him up. I would have carried him if the owner had said no.

We went back to Kori for dinner. We had the lobster fettuccine, spaghetti bolognese, French fries, and mussels. YUM!

11 February, Sunday - Ciao Venezia

It was the peak of the Carnevale Di Venezia festivities! We made our way to Piazza San Marco to soak in the atmosphere one last time before returning to Singapore.

At Ponte di Rialto , there were many people also dressed in costumes.

We wanted to enjoy the fried stuffed at Wenice one last time but their fritters were not ready so we just had the octopus salad.

I couldn't resist the fried potato torpedo.

#travel #venice #holiday #murano #burano #gondola #italy #vacation