Venice | Italy - The Floating City

Where: Venice, Italy

When: Aug 13-16

Hotel: Liassidi Palace Hotel, 4/5 stars

Day 1

Ahhh, we have finally landed in Italy! We had a 2 hour layover in Dublin (just enough time for a Guinness at 5 am), and then another 3 hour flight to Marco Polo Airport in Venezia! I had booked a private airport transfer (around 80 euro)- so a bus that took us to a water taxi that dropped us off at Monumento stop, about a 5 min walk to Liassidi Palace hotel. Honestly, the private transfer was worth it for me because I definitely was not in the mood to navigate with all of our baggage in a new chaotic city. Honestly, at this point in time with it being 99 degrees, I was no longer in the mood to even exist.

We checked into our cute little hotel Liassidi Palace that had a beautiful garden/patio entrance with tables that we didn’t take enough advantage of since we didn’t spend much time hanging there. Central location within walking distance of everywhere we wanted to go. Rooms were nice, a bit dated but added to its charm. Breakfast included and our view every morning was overlooking the canal. Tre chic (wait I think that’s French).

We took a stroll towards the *main events* like San Marco and Dodge’s Palace. Stumbled upon a little lunch spot tucked down a side street called Ristorante Centrale. This was by far the best prosciutto and burrata + olive oil we’ve ever had. The Fettuccine Truffle Ragu couldv’e saved a life as well.

After lunch, we had to stop to get our priorities straight… Gelato. These little gelato stands are a dime a dozen literally everywhere in popular Italian cities, but the one we stopped at was called Fantasy. Tried the Salted Caramel and Tiramisu and ate it along the canal admiring all of the posh people on their water taxi’s. Happy to say that I didn’t catch a glimpse of Kanye’s juicy ass on the back of water taxi.

We considered perhaps going back to take a nap but we thought, “we’re in MF Italy, better not”. So we went to Baracallo Jazz Bar for an aperol spritz and first espresso martini of the trip. It was a gorgeous moment. Saw our waiter from lunch at the bar, he was so kind and gave us plenty of recommendations for dinner and nightlife options.

We decided on dinner at Osteria Olivia Nera, just a hop skip + a jump from our hotel. Here we had our first bottle of red wine of the trip. Tried an interesting traditional Venetian fish appetizer called Baccala Montecato; I would describe it as “warm tuna” and definitely did not pass the vibe check from my end anyway. Caprese salad and Lasagna were delicious, but you could’ve already guessed that.

Night cap at Terrazza Danieli, super boujie hotel with live music in the lobby, incredible espresso martinis and a passion fruit cocktail that was divine. The little old man playing on the piano was so stinkin’ cute I wanted to take him home with me and put him on my mantel.

Day 2 (technically a holiday, assumption day)

Slept in late to catch up on jet lag (and drinking til midnight). Breakfast at the hotel with a view right into canal where private water taxis will pick you up for a pretty peny. Walked to the water bus to jet off to Murano and Burano Islands for the day (paid 25 euro pp for a 24 hour all access ticket). This is definitely the budget friendly way to go, especially if you’re planning on exploring more parts around the island and have to take water transportation.

Murano is known for glass blowing/art and had tons of little shops, I got a Santa ornament and Bob got tummy troubles from breakfast.

Burano is known for their handsewn lace, we got a watercolor painting of the colorful houses and many bridges throughout the town.

These towns were so adorable and are a definite must do if you’re going to Venice. Same vibes with the canals and such, but so unique in their own ways.

Dinner reservations at Ai Barbacani, known for its scenic + romantic table right on the canal, it’s giving “very exclusive”. I had to book these reservations months in advance, and because there’s only ONE table that sits outside on the canal, they require a deposit/a cover charge/and a minimum amount to spend. So so worth it. Our sweet waiter walked across the bridge and took our photo, making us feel like the celebrities that we are.

·        Liter carafe of house red!

·        Beef carpaccio (thinly sliced raw beef) Bob loved it, me not so much

·        Clams and mussels loved by all

·        Spinach and ricotta raviolis with butter and sage, stunning

·        Fettuccine ragu, super rich meaty flavor and incredible hand made pasta

·        Risotto with asparagus and shrimp, very flavorful but we were so full and didn’t finish it all

·        Too full for dessert but they still gave us some traditional biscotti and limoncello 

All around incredible experience, staff was super friendly and made it very special and memorable, was cool to watch random people walk by on the bridge and realize we were having dinner right there. Everyone pointed and said “awwww”. You can’t afford us.

At the end of the night, we knocked an item off our bucket list - took a Gondola for 100 euro to slowly drift around the canals for 30 min while our gondolier whistled the tune “that’s amore”. ‘Twas very romantic and I don’t even care if it was super cliche. After this, we had massive aperol spritzes at Dal Moros. Not kidding, they were bigger than my head. Very cool and most lively spot we’ve been to yet.

PROS

Unreal setting, it truly is like a movie set, nothing out there like it

Walkable

Great food

Super friendly people- we ran into our servers from brunch at another bar and they were so kind and took up conversation with us

CONS

Vertigo feeling

Too many stairs if you’re lugging tons of suitcases around

Google maps ‘aint it here- just accept the fact that you will be lost because this place is a maze

Depending on where you stay, it’s a trek and pricey to get to the main train station

RECAP:

Venice was my favorite when I visited over 10 years ago, and I’m happy to report that my opinion has not changed.  This floating city truly has so much charm and doesn’t even feel real. Bob seems certain that Venice will be under water in the next 10-20 years, so this was definitely high on our bucket list. I loved that we were able to walk everywhere and even explore other islands around Venice, it was totally worth it because they were quite different than Venice itself. I can’t describe Venice any other way than “charming”. I’m obsessed. 10/10. Get here before she’s under the sea. And more importantly, be aware that they serve green olives in their aperol spritzies. I do love my olives but this wasn’t it… internal crisis.

Day 3 travel day

OK HEAR ME OUT- double check which train station you’re supposed to be at before you set sail (literally) because this was confusing to a lot of travelers. We had to walk to the public boat that took us to a bus that brought us to the train. It was hectic, to say the least. My parents went to the wrong train station and almost missed their reservation. EEK! So louder for the people in the back- DOUBLE CHECK YOUR VENICE TRAIN PLANS.

Venice Station was chaotic and I don’t think I will ever internally recover. We got a juice and an americano and while Bob was in the bathroom, I was hounded by a homeless man that cried because he was hungry. He wanted money for McDonalds, and I didn’t have any euros on me. I offered an apple and granola bar and he replied with what I can only imagine as “fuck off” in Italian. Also at this same moment, I witnessed a pick pocketer grab a girls phone and she chased him out. I’m pretty sure these two men were in cahoots with one another. It spooked me and I was shaken up and yelled at Bob to never leave me again.