Travel : Venetian escape
Assalamualaikum and Bonjourno to all!
I have just recently been to Venice, Italy with my dear husband, Ikhwan aka Ikhwano. =P
We went there through groupon and everything was pretty much inclusive. We paid each 200 pounds for return flight tickets, the hotel for 3 days, a gondola ride and free breakfast. But boy.. did we PAID for the cheap price! The room barely had air conditioning and the manager said that they wanted to save costs! I wanted to iron my hijab but again the manager said that ironing is prohibited in the room.. =_=' whatever..
It was also not inVenice, but the outskirts of Venice, a place called Riealto. Basically it took us almost an hour to get to Venice. We had to take a tram to Mestre station ---> Train to Venetia Lucia --> Water taxi (Vaporetto) --> Venice. The good side of the hotel was its breakfast.. it was soo good!! Alhamdulillah. The Ryanair airplane reminded me to be close to death, which is kinda good and the gondola was a bit tipsy! haha. However, looking back at the trip, it was worth it because we get to see the locals and it was an adventure!
The first day:
We reached Treviso airport early and head straight to Venice! It was mesmerizing, subhanallah to find a city solely on water. Up till now I could not totally grasp that idea of water and big, tall buildings on it. Amazing architecture since the year 1056.. I had always dreamnt of going to Venice but it was just a dream when I was a kid. I guess prayers are granted. =)
The locals themselves use this as their means of transportation too.
As a wife, I made the research where to go in Venice since we didn't have much time. On the first day we decided to visit the Rialto market, Rialto brigde and just walk around. Be prepared to be lost in Venice because the roads are narrow and there are no proper signage to guide us. It was the best 'lost' decision ever. We did got really tired because we had to carry our luggage with us. It is advisable to leave your luggage at the Mestre station for 5 euro for 5 hours. But we didn't know that at first.
This is the Rialto bridge, it was the main market for the locals to get their goods during those times. We got cheap souvenir there too. There are loads of bridges in Venice, all 455 of them. Interestingly, the buildings are very different from each other even though they are very close together. We wanted to see the market because reviewers said that you can taste fresh seafood from the sea. But, nahh I don't think my stomach can handle that. Hehe. So we just hang out there and took some pictures. Along the Rialto bridge were many seafood restaurant but we didn't eat at any because it was tooo expensive according to hubby. That is one of the reasons he has more savings than I do.
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| Us on top of the Rialto bridge |
We headed to Venice relatively early after wafting through mouthfuls of croissants, absolutely delicious cafe latte, nutella and yup more croissants from our hotel. We targeted to visit the Correr museum, San Marco Square, Gondola ride and a trip to Murano Island to see the glass blowing they are famous for. This is me beside the famous Doge Palace. Doge is like a name for the leader/ruler. Incredible place. We bought a museum pass for 18 euro that includes 12 museums and one each in Murano and Burano.
The gondola ride is something that we did not expected. It was tipped to a side to allow the driver to maintain his balance. It was soo scary!! Haha.. but later our other American groupmates calmed us down. A gondola driver must be trained for 5 years before they are allowed to bring passengers. Wow!!
Dear husband was scared because he could not swim. Worry not, I will save you after I save my bag, ok! It was really awesome because Venice is super clean! You could not find a single trash in the water!!
The best thing about Venice is also the gelato hunt! According to the locals, GROM is basically the best one. However, I prefer the one I had at the Fondamente Nove station. We were also lucky to find a nice pizzarie in Murano. It is called, 'Osteria al duomo - ciccketteria pizzeria'. Do not be deceived by the outer side of the shop, for the inside sits a beautiful open garden. However, their kitchen closes at 3pm. Italians are famous for working from 9am - 1pm and having a 3 hour lunch break because they sleep after lunch. They also do not work after 6pm or so. There is NO night life in venice. We went back quite early the second day because we wanted to pray in our hotel. Despite the fact that the city is clean, but occasionally there is dog poo because people love to bring around their dogs. And sometimes I felt uncomfortable to use my shoes and trousers to pray.
The third day:
We started off late because we it was raining a bit and it stopped after 11 am. We checked out at 12pm.
Do not stay at smart hotel in Venice. Totally not worth it. We decided to visit the Burano island. Burano island is famous for their lace. They have been doing it since the old times. My husband and I bought handkerchiefs with initials in it.. Its soo pretty! Burano is also more quieter than in Venice. The buildings are more vibrant in colors because they need to get the government's approval for the color of their houses. I wanted to eat the mix fried seafood aka 'Presce Fritto Misto', which is really famous in Burano, but Ikhwan said it is too expensive and he wanted to eat at the same place in Murano. =( From then onwards, I was in shatters and in a bad mood. To make things worst, we had to walk quite a distance to the restaurant and by the time we made it there, they were only serving pizza and no pasta dishes. ='( Super sad I tell you!!!!!! I also wanted to try the nego pasta or also known as the pasta drench with black squid ink. ='( forever cry!!
All in all, I believe Venice is a nice place to visit, to a point it feels surreal to me. Its like a dream that I have been there and suddenly feel as if it did not happened at all. It was a bit emotional for me at the end because I starve myself to show to ikhwan how much I really wanted to eat that presce fritto misto and the nego pasta!! He also had trouble finding a transportation to the airport as everything was closing down. In the end, I cried at the airport and everyone was watching me. Ikhwan said, is there anything I can do for you to make you happy? I said : no. I learned the emotional way that you can't have everything you want. We did get the chance to visit the glorious Doge Palace and it was so cool because it had a prison inside it, a very very nice assembly court for all the men in Venice to gather and discuss their concerns with the doge, called Il Paradiso, and it also exhibit swords with bullet knives, if you know what I mean. Haha. Till then, ciao.
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| There was an orchestra playing at the san marco sq! |
This is mainly near the san marco sq. We had to find our gondola service since there are a lot of services from different companies that provides the gondola ride. It depends, some are around 80 euro per person but it would be cheaper if you share a gondola.
Venetians are famous for their masquerade festival in February. They locals say that its easier to find masks than a meat shop in Venice. =P The weather was perfect. The day before, it was broadcasted that it would be raining but Alhamdulillah it did not. =) Apparently there were not a lot of blacks/asians.. Mostly were europeans and caucasians.. I wonder why.. =S
After that, we went to Murano, which is famous for its glass blowing. I bought a ring and bracelet which is very beautiful and ikhwan bought a nice glass mug. We also saw the effortless glass making demonstration. It was magical subhanallah!! =)
Dear husband was scared because he could not swim. Worry not, I will save you after I save my bag, ok! It was really awesome because Venice is super clean! You could not find a single trash in the water!!
The best thing about Venice is also the gelato hunt! According to the locals, GROM is basically the best one. However, I prefer the one I had at the Fondamente Nove station. We were also lucky to find a nice pizzarie in Murano. It is called, 'Osteria al duomo - ciccketteria pizzeria'. Do not be deceived by the outer side of the shop, for the inside sits a beautiful open garden. However, their kitchen closes at 3pm. Italians are famous for working from 9am - 1pm and having a 3 hour lunch break because they sleep after lunch. They also do not work after 6pm or so. There is NO night life in venice. We went back quite early the second day because we wanted to pray in our hotel. Despite the fact that the city is clean, but occasionally there is dog poo because people love to bring around their dogs. And sometimes I felt uncomfortable to use my shoes and trousers to pray.
The third day:
We started off late because we it was raining a bit and it stopped after 11 am. We checked out at 12pm.
Do not stay at smart hotel in Venice. Totally not worth it. We decided to visit the Burano island. Burano island is famous for their lace. They have been doing it since the old times. My husband and I bought handkerchiefs with initials in it.. Its soo pretty! Burano is also more quieter than in Venice. The buildings are more vibrant in colors because they need to get the government's approval for the color of their houses. I wanted to eat the mix fried seafood aka 'Presce Fritto Misto', which is really famous in Burano, but Ikhwan said it is too expensive and he wanted to eat at the same place in Murano. =( From then onwards, I was in shatters and in a bad mood. To make things worst, we had to walk quite a distance to the restaurant and by the time we made it there, they were only serving pizza and no pasta dishes. ='( Super sad I tell you!!!!!! I also wanted to try the nego pasta or also known as the pasta drench with black squid ink. ='( forever cry!!
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| Burano's houses are vibrantly lit up. |
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| Lace all over Burano |
All in all, I believe Venice is a nice place to visit, to a point it feels surreal to me. Its like a dream that I have been there and suddenly feel as if it did not happened at all. It was a bit emotional for me at the end because I starve myself to show to ikhwan how much I really wanted to eat that presce fritto misto and the nego pasta!! He also had trouble finding a transportation to the airport as everything was closing down. In the end, I cried at the airport and everyone was watching me. Ikhwan said, is there anything I can do for you to make you happy? I said : no. I learned the emotional way that you can't have everything you want. We did get the chance to visit the glorious Doge Palace and it was so cool because it had a prison inside it, a very very nice assembly court for all the men in Venice to gather and discuss their concerns with the doge, called Il Paradiso, and it also exhibit swords with bullet knives, if you know what I mean. Haha. Till then, ciao.
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