Gosh I’m so far behind on these travel posts. I’ve already been to Hawaii since my last one.

Anyways, Venice. It was the perfect in-betweener locale during this Europe trip. A little break of a city where we didn’t have to constantly worry about being run over by crazy drivers or getting lost on public transporation in the middle of nowhere. Oh but don’t get me wrong, you can definitely get lost in Venice.

Speaking of getting lost—I had assumed our hotel would be easily accessible, given it’s close proximity to the Rialto Bridge. I was wrong. After getting off the waterboat and escaping down a side alley to avoid the throngs of people, we were immediately lost. It didn’t help that the maps of Venice didn’t have street names. Regardless, we finally found the hotel, a charming little inn by the name of Residenza Goldoni. As charming as it was, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really only need a place to sleep. It’s location was good—in between the Rialto and St. Mark’s Square, but the management was half-assed and just kept making empty promises to our complaints.

When we finally settled down, we went in search of the family’s first taste of Italian gelato.

SO yum! Even better, we had lunch at the same restaurant I ate at 3 years ago. A touristy place just a block or so off St. Mark’s Square. I never got the name of this place, just left with a memory that they had the best Pomodoro e Basilico ever. Luckily I also remembered vaguely where this place was. So glad I found it!

If this is too plain for your taste, they also have BOMB gnocchi. Best I’ve ever had.

Little pillowy puffs of heaven. Dunked in bolognese sauce. Mmm.

The rest of the time in Venice was spent touring the major sights and eating a LOT of gelato and pasta. Venice probably had the best of both on our entire trip. For gelato, Il Doge is the best and surprisingly cheapest we discovered. Kori and probably any of the tourist places next to the Rialto are good for pasta. If you’re looking for a more genuine Italian meal not catered to tourists, you’re talking to the wrong girl. If I had the guts and tastebuds to venture into the world of the unknown, then maybe I’d have a few places to list. But again, not a big foodie to begin with.

There wasn’t a WHOLE lot to do/see in Venice. It was just very relaxing compared to the hectic schedules we had in the other cities. Roaming the cobblestoned streets in search of the perfect Murano glass earrings with a gelato in one hand seemed to suit me just fine. The last time I was here, I believe I only had maybe half a day to see all Venice had to offer. It was enough then, but this time around, two days was perfect..maybe even a bit too short! It surprised me how much I enjoyed Venice, probably because I actually had time to. I’d come back, not for a while, but it definitely won’t be the last I’ll see of Venice.

Next stop, Roma!