After spending a night's rest in the beautiful Venetian apartment, it's time to go explore. The best, and actually only way to see Venice is by getting lost in its charming little alleys. It's the only way because there are so many little alleys, twists and turns that it's impossible, or just a total waste of time to use a map. To orientate yourself, you there are these signs at each corner showing the general direction to reach the few famous places like Piazza San Marco, or Rialto Bridge and you just follow them. Or, you can follow the throngs of tourists.
Venice is simply breathtakingly beautiful. I couldn't stop photo snapping at every bend I took.
this is the alley where my apartment is. Once you descend from the stairs of the apartment, open that little door, you see shops opening, and loads of people walking about.
These are the signs you kinda follow to get to anywhere important. GPS can just go and die here.
ahh! Gondolas!
blues, greens, reds
Piazza San Marco
Oh, we had been warned about overpriced coffees at this place, although it is still a good experience to be able to enjoy a drink here. We warily went into the cafe and checked out the prices. Hey, they looked surprisingly ok. So we sat down and waited to be served.
killer pigeons
Turned out that the eat-in menu was way more expensive than the to-go one that we had studied earlier. We pretended to look at it a bit and ran.
Upon seeing this guy carrying so much on a trolley, did I realize that there are no cars on Venice and since people only get around on boats, these guys have to use trolleys..
Most of the stores here sell the same things at the same price. Some do have more special masks which they claim are Venetian made, and not made in china like the rest.
We finally found a little eatery. All cappucinos in France/Italy are fantastic. I wanna buy their coffee machines coffee powder and milk.
pizza for breakfast.
Next we popped into a little store to buy water.
loads of pastries.. I'm not a fan of sweet stuff like these so we didn't try any
colors everywhere!
Murano glass beads. Venice is famous for its glassware from the island of Murano which we can visit via boat.
when you walk the dark, quiet little alleys, you can see the Venetians taking a break or a smoke.
we found a supermarket near our apartment that sells water at 1/3 the price of the earlier grocery store
masks again
our first venetian gelato
this stall owner was rubbing his doggy's tummy. It was a superbly adorable sight.
camera showdown! Canon 450d vs Sony W70!
Towards Rialto!
I had to stop myself from buying these superbly cute Dali-inspired clocks which were too overpriced. But I've really never seen anything like these before. Wonder if they can be found in Singapore.
The Persistence of Memory by Salvadore Dali [Source: Wikipedia]
Shopping in the Disney store for our princess Joy
These are the cheapest form of food you can find in Italy. It's not as bad as it looks cos they actually heat it up for you. However all that flour everyday can get really boring.
a beautifully decorated gondola
they have BATA here! Somehow the Italian BATA seems much classier. You can really smell leather once you step in the store and the stuff are really quite fashionable.
You know you're headed in the right direction when you see the crowds.
Rialto Bridge
coconut
10 euro jerseys
1.50 euro fruit cups
pb bought one of these 8 euro silk ties
i loved this combination! too bad it was summer.
This man was serenading away and he did it with such gusto we had to tip him. Impressive.
Venetian paper shop
gay pride here too? Oh, turns out that the Italian PACE (pronounced pah-chay) flag has one more color than the gay pride flag we're used to seeing in the US.
I need a wide angle lens
Murano glass I suppose
We found lunch at a little cafe where I had my best pasta for the whole trip.
Our cafe Ai Bari, and our cheapo 2 euro wine that tasted like piss
pb wanted fish, and he got ikan bilis!
We walked and walked until we saw some Gondola rides being offered. Well, we simply have to try this. At the time of writing I've already selectively forgotten how much it cost. Ok, I haven't, it should be about S$200 for 45 min (although we were shortchanged and it only lasted 30 min)
Our er, gondola man. Is there a term for these guys? Anyways he says all of them are born in Venice.
face still flushed from the cheap wine
this guy cheat our money...
So anyway, we took the gondola ride in a very ulu area of Venice so there wasn't really much to see. My suggestion would be to take it in a better place, probably near San Marco Square so that you can see better stuff such as the Bridge of Sighs. Provided there aren't any traffic issues.
more pastries
even the graffiti is colorful in Venice
As we made our way back to our apartment, we see that guy who was playing with his doggie earlier on in the day, closing his stall and going home for the day.
beautiful pinks and greens
witnessed the sunset near San Marco square
big versus small
That's how they display their seafood
met another doggie while buying pizza. We bought the cheapest pizza which only had cheese and tomato. Tapao to not pay cover charge, and enjoy with our coke in the comforts of our apartment. But it was good, at least it was freshly made.
