So. You must know that almost all my blog posts are published super late. For example, my trip to Venice was back in August, but I haven’t published this blog post until now. The way I’m able to remember details of the trip and write these blog posts so much later is because I write little notes to myself on my secret Tumblr, and often when I’m on vacation, I’ll post informal diaries on my secret Tumblr. Anyways, I mention this because there’s one “diary” entry that just says: standing at the edge of the boat with the waves beneath my feet, I’ve never wanted more to be a dolphin. I don’t know what else to say about that o.o Okaaay Audrey, moving right along…
From the airport, we took a water taxi to our hotel. I love that they’re not called “boats” but “water taxis.”
Venice is an Instagram feed waiting to happen.
Yay! Got my own Tumblr shot of the Ponte dei Sospiri!
So many pigeons. I wanted to get my own Tumblr shot of a sea of pigeons in the middle of the piazza, but for some reason it just didn’t work out. Perhaps if I lured them over with bread I might have been more successful. We’re not supposed to feed them, but people do anyway. My dad was reading a Venice guidebook and we learned that seagulls eat pigeons.
Tbh I’m not sure which cafe this is, but my dad, brothers, and I spent an afternoon at Caffe Florian. Check out the full blog post here!
Caffe Florian
Piazza San Marco, 57-30124
Venezia, Italy
041 520 5641
Just waiting for Sebastian to pop up and start crooning love songs.
Gelato roses are so last year. This. This is art. Gelato art. I took this photo as per my brother’s request. He’s a natural-born sculptor and creator.
Spotted this cute little storefront and had to go in. I bought myself that shirt!
Bottega del Mondo
San Marco 5164
Ponte Rialto, Venezia
041 522 6684
Whilst waiting for the food to arrive, my dad was playing Pokemon Go. He caught a Pokemon and made an exclamation and showed my brothers (who also play Pokemon Go; I don’t). A few minutes later, our waitress came back out and said, “The chef wants to know which Pokemon you caught.”
Al Portego
Castello S. Lio 6015
Venezia, Italy
041 522 9038
During our short time in Venice, the Kazanskie Brothers were busking on this corner every night. They’re so talented!! They were taking donations, and if you donated €10, you got their CD too! As per my effort in supporting creatives I love, I got myself their CD. On the CD cover it says “Trios” although I only saw two people. On the DVD it says “Ivan Bemer.” In the DVD description, it says “Ivan Kazanskiy” for their Facebook. But it was not their Facebook page. /ivankazanskiy was someone else. So I searched up the name and found his personal Facebook profile. With a little Facebook stalking, I finally found their Facebook page and found that they were called the Kazanskie Brothers. It took me so long to find their Facebook page, which I linked above, so check them out!
This is the kind of quality content you’re missing if you’re not following me on Snapchat. Btw, my brother made that art on that photo on the right all by himself. Proud of him. He’s a natural. #nofilter
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Despite being picture-perfect, Venice wasn’t my favourite place to be. Except for at Al Portego, the service at most of the restaurants were so terrible! We even walked out of a restaurant o.o If I were by myself, I probably wouldn’t have walked out because I think I’m pretty tolerant/good at stewing underneath, but my dad wasn’t having it! And really, the waiter was being so rude. (We had only just ordered–or attempted to order–so the food hadn’t arrived so it wasn’t like we walked out on our check or anything.) The greeters at the door of all the restaurants are all so nice, vying for your attention, competing for your attention even, but once you go in and sit down, it changes completely. It makes me so uncomfortable. I mean, I get that maybe serving people food might not be your favourite thing to do, but then don’t try so hard to lure me in! If I don’t go in, I feel bad for walking past you, but if I go in, I feel bad because, well, you’re being rude. Plus, getting a meal in Venice is not cheap. I don’t need this!!
But I don’t want to end this blog post on a sour note though, so I’m going to say a little more about Al Portego. It was a little bar and restaurant but despite its size, it was very busy, very 热闹! Drinks were constantly being poured, laughter and smiles everywhere. And c’mon, the chef specially requested to know which Pokemon we caught at his restaurant.
Venice is so beautiful, as you can probably tell by all these photos. I was constantly stopping in my tracks to take another photo of another wall, another door, another window, another bridge, another arch, much to my brothers’ chagrin. Walking through all the alleys was definitely one of my favourite experiences in Venice. I think I definitely enjoy experiencing the little things more. I didn’t do too much prep for this trip because I never prep for a trip with my family because whenever I’m with my parents I revert to baby mode, so day after day we returned to San Marco, which is where all the tourists go. Maybe what I need from Venice are the little nooks and crannies.
Have you ever visited Venice? Do you have any recommendations?
PS: caffe florian, roman holiday, florence, snapshots of italy