First of all, I want to tell you that this trip was almost cancelled! We booked the trip maybe 3 months before going into it and just a week before, the city had the worst storms and high tide (acqua alta) that records of the city show.

We tried to cancel everything, but as the airline and the hotel couldn’t return us the expense, we decided to go there and see what happened.

Before the trip we got ready packing our water boots and our best umbrellas just in case. Once we landed (it was like 16:00) we even could see sunlight, so perhaps the weather wasn’t going to be so terrible after all.

On the first afternoon the tide was kind of high but we walked around the city during the last moments on sunshine we still had left. We saw the Rialto bridge and tried to check out the St. Marco square, which was kind of flooded and we didn’t dare to walk around. We have to say that Venice wasn’t as crowded as expected, maybe because of the acqua alta forecast or maybe because of the time of the year it was. I was recommended by my boss (who lived very near by Venice for 7 years) that December was the best time of the year to travel there. So that night we just enjoyed a nice dinner and had half-bottle of wine.

Day 2:

On the second day we went to the fish market (it’s fun to see the seagulls flying around), Fondaco dei Tedeschi (a very nice shopping mall that preserves the original architecture of the building, which used to be a palace), the Arsenale, the port and we took a quick look at the St. Marco square. From there, we had a Spritz at the bar of the Correr Museum, at the same square, that allowed us to have wonderful views.

For lunch we went to Cà D’oro alla Vedova and had some nice home cooked pasta for a very reasonable price. Highly recommend it! (Below I will leave a list of recommended restaurants).

After that we took a long walk around the Dorsoduro, where the Peggy Guggenheim museum is (it used to be her own place!). Actually it is just a small gallery and considering the amount of pieces in there, it might feel a bit expensive, but it all was contemporary art, which we like better, so it was fine. One of the coolest things of that place is that it has its own entrance to the canal.

To take a rest, we loved a small cafe near by the Lovo bridge, called: Pasticceria Ponte Del Lovo. You might end up paying 15€ for 2 people, but the pastries are just amazing. There are so many chocolate options there that I just kept wanting to go back! The water, small cookies and chocolate squares are complimentary (even though it feels like you are already paying for them).

Day 3:

As I am becoming one of those people who hate crowded cities when travelling, I decided to wake up very early to be at St. Marco Square at 6:30. And boy was it worthy! The city was empty, only local workers where there and I could enjoy the space and a very relaxed walk. I think all the pictures I took that morning are the best ones of my trip:

It seems like it’s only possible to see these kind of pictures from the National Geographic, but you just need to wake up earlier and the city will be yours.

One fun thing is that, at that time, you only see local workers and photo weirdos. Photo weirdos might rank from those news agencies reporters (with the huge cameras and tripods) to those fashion obsessed people who would do anything for a picture. And I saw a few of the last ones, the craziest of them was a couple who was wearing tank tops at 9 degrees Celsius. Hello??? Are likes really worth a hypothermia???

After that, that morning we went to the St. Marcos Basílica and the Doge’s Palace (no, it’s not the meme). It was quite amazing to see it all from the inside and it reminded us how crazy the economic power of the catholic faith has always been.

Later on we took the nicest trip on a gondola! Be careful, because gondoliers don’t work at certain hours. There’s a fix price of 80€ the trip (paid with cash always) and you can start almost anywhere in the city. Depending on where you start, you will see certain areas. They won’t take you around the whole city as the trips usually last 30 minutes and half of the trip is going back to the dock.

We took it from Rialto, so we could see the Grand Canal and we just couldn’t believe how different the city is from inside the rii (name venetian people use for the canals)!

That afternoon we went all the way up to the Campanile and saw the whole city from there. It’s a very claustrophobic experience as you are constantly surrounded by people trying to get there but, if you are lucky, you will get to see a very nice sunset. Beware that the bell may ring at any time and it scared us to death.

Later on, we took a walk around the Cannaregio (we were hunting restaurants to be honest) and guess what! We ended up in the jewish quarter (Ghetto Nuovo, the first Jewish ghetto in the world) where they were celebrating the end of Shabas (it was exactly 18:00, we promise we didn’t plan it). And we witnessed all the chants and songs of men dancing around in a big circle, and, of course, women were just watching it from the distance as they aren’t allowed to celebrate. It was pretty intense!

Once it was finished, we walked around the area to discover a supermarket that used to be an old theatre (Teatro Italia):

Day 4:

As we had mostly seen everything we wanted to see in Venice, we decided to take a small side trip. We left our luggage the whole day in Vaise for about 12.5€ and we took a boat to Burano (the return ticket for 2 people was 30€). But the island was so colourful and nice! What we didn’t like about it is how crowded it is and what a tourist trap it has become (you will end up eating for 30€ per person). But we can’t deny it’s just beautiful.

We strongly discourage you to visit Murano, it looked kind of dark to us and it didn’t have much charm, but if you are really into glass figures, go there, the island is like a huge glass factory itself.

And that was mostly it.

• Below the bonus of restaurants that a person who knows what he’s talking about recommends:

Restaurants:

• Cà d’Oro alla Vedova
• Vini Da Arturo
• Bancogiro
• Al Covo

Cicchetti (something like pintxos -tapas- but really next level):

• Cantine del Vino già Schiavi
• All’arco