Venezia (Part 2)

1) Hello! I'm a tourist!

Venetian gondolier hat: Random souvenir stall

Lace embellished, polka-dotted blouse: Wholesale Dress

Cameo brooch: Vintage fair

Alexa-inspired satchel: Random blogshop

Paperbag trousers: H&M

Lace up floral brogues: New Look

Doesn't my outfit just scream "tourist"?
Cheap "Venetian hat" on head? Check!
Camera around the neck? Check!
Guidebook in hand? Check!

2) Gorgeous pins made by a local designer

3) Tiny, tiny hand-painted masks

4) Elaborate Venetian mask

5) Masquerade! Paper faces on display! *brownie points to you if  you know where that came from*

It was extremely difficult to photograph the Venetian masks as nearly all the vendors in Venice have a very strict "No Photography" policy. They have their reasons, I suppose:
1) Pesky tourists coming in and taking pictures all day long without buying anything must be pretty annoying
2) They fear their original masks designed and lovingly made by local craftsmen will be copied and mass-produced

6) "No China"

I guess it's pretty clear what this shopowner is saying ;) There are also plenty of posters around appealing to tourists not to buy "Made in China" masks, but to support the Venetian mask-makers, a dying trade. In Murano, it was the same as the glassblowers face stiff competition from imported goods.

7) Pizza made by a husband & wife team

8) Rialto Bridge

9) Saint Mark's Basilica

10) The boyf and I on the veranda at Saint Mark's Basilica

11) The Campinile at Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square)

12) Ooooh my legs look so long. Yeap, this photo serves no purpose :P

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13) Where the gondolas (and tourists) congregate

14) Spaghetti cabonara

15) Spaghetti frutti di mare

16) Gelato in yummy flavours

We had quite a lot of gelato the whole time we were there because it was so frigging hotomgyouwontbelieveit! I wore trousers and pulled on the cardigan because we were going into the cathedral and we had to dress decently. I swear I almost had a heatstroke! *drama* Anywayz, yummy scoops of gelato (which, according to our guidebook, has less fat than normal ice cream. WIN!) saved me from potential embarassment of fainting from the heat.

17) Oh, Venice, you're so pretty!

18) Bus Vaporetto stop

Last day in Venice.

19) On the Bridge of Sighs

Remember I talked about the Bridge of Sighs in my first Venice post*click*? Well, this was the "last glimpse" I was talking about.

20) Piazza San Marco again

On the last day, the weather became much cooler because it rained the previous night. Though I loved the entire Venice trip, I think I liked this day the best because of the cooler weather and also because it was slightly less crowded. So my tip would be to visit Venice during the colder months.

21) The view in front of the Doge's Palace

22) Inside the Doge's Palace

23) One of the cosy, little restaurants not infiltrated by tourists (except us haha!)

24) Mixed platter

25) Homemade lagsana

Oh, by the way, I know the squid ink spaghetti in my previous Venice post looks quite gross, but it actually tastes pretty good! It's a local delicacy apparently, so we had to try it. It was good, but I must admit that halfway through, it kind of got a bit too rich and I got sick of it. It was nice to try it once, but we never ordered it again during the rest of our trip. I don't know how to describe it, but I think it tastes a little bit like Marmite? Haha, I know Marmite's one of those things where you either love it or hate it.

And that concludes my trip to Venice!
Next up, ROME!

Check out Venezia (Part 1) here*click*

Venezia (Part 1)

We really didn't have any plans for the first day since we arrived in the evening and so we just wandered around aimlessly, peering through window shops and enjoying the cool night air. It was fun getting lost in the little Venetian alleyways.

1) Venice in the evenings

2) Though quiet in most parts, the main streets still bustle with activity

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Venice is beautiful, but at night, it's gorgeous! It's so quiet and if you walk along the canals, you can hear the soothing sounds of water gently lapping against the sides. However, some of the bigger streets still have plenty of vendors around trying to sell their merchandise to the last dwelling tourist.

3) Pasta in an assortment of colours and shapes

Very soon, we were hungry for our first authentic Italian meal. I know some of you guys like looking at food pics, so I made it a point to photograph our main meals. Oh by the way, we had tiramisú nearly every night, but they don't seem to photograph very well, so I'll only post those that looked decent.

4) Parma ham

5) Gnocchi in bolognese sauce

6) Raviolli

7) Quiet alleyways

The next day, we woke up bright and early to explore some islands. Our first stop was Murano, a series of islands famous for glass-making. To get there, we had to catch a vaporetto (waterbus). In Venice, there are no cars and the main mode of transport are boats via the waterways. So the cars, taxis and buses here are all in the form of boats. One evening, while we sat at the docks to chill after a day of walking, we saw many men looking smart in office attire returning home on a motorboat. Pretty cool, eyh?

8) Murano

So in Murano, we saw plenty of glassware. Some so detailed, they were truly works of art. It was unfortunate that we didn't get to see any glassblowers at work as most of the place was shut. I noticed that the Venetians take their lunchtime very seriously. They completely shut for a good hour or even two and as there's usually only one person manning the shop, they can't take shifts.

9) Glassworks

10) Lampworks

11) Murano canal

12) Gelato on a hot summer's day

13) Tiny masks on sale everywhere

Then, we caught a vaparetto to the next cluster of islands, Burano. These little islands are famous for their colourful houses. Each house is actually painted a different colour! Imagine how pretty the place is with such bright, happy colours everywhere.

Before I show you all the happy clappy houses, let me show you these quirky drinking fountains found everywhere in Venice.

14) Drinking fountains

These taps were a lifesaver. The water was so cooling and it's great just to wipe some on my neck to cool down. It was absolutely boiling the week we were in Italy!

15) Colourful houses in Burano

16) Bridges that link the little islands together

17) The boyfriend and I

18) Duff Beer

How random is it that we saw Duff beer being sold in shops?

19) Bought this little souvenir in Murano

20) My Diana Mini accompanied me on this trip

21) Burano's leaning tower in the background

22) Sunset

As the sun was setting, we caught the last vaporetto back to the main Venice islands. We had a beautiful view of the sun setting, though it was hard to capture on camera. When we arrived, the sky was already dark and again, we just wandered around to take in the night view.

23) Bridge of Sighs (under repair works)

It's a very short bridge linking the Doge's Palace to the adjacent prisons. Apparently, it was so named because prisoners often sighed on this bridge as they had their last glimpses of both the sky and the sea.

24) Eerily quiet

Dinner was a very satisfying meal. The seafood was so sweet and fresh! Yummeh! I'm missing my frutti di mare already.

25) Pasta con il Nero di Seppia (Spaghetti in squid ink)

26) Spaghetti frutti di mare (seafood)

Most photos were taken by my boyfriend as I was busy with my Diana Mini, so credit goes to him