Day 7: Never Get Cones on Hot Days

Today, Amy and I moved into our first hostel. Our hostel is on an island called Lido just one boat stop away from main Venice. It is the only part of town with cars. To me, it feels sort of like the Davis of Venice. The streets are filled with bikers and the town's atmosphere is friendly. There are far fewer tourists than there were in main Venice.

Amy and I had quite the adventure checking into our hostel. When we got our key, we accidentally went to the wrong room. Oddly, the door opened, even with the wrong key. Amy was confused why there was a shirt in the closet and we both wondered why there was only one large bed when we were supposed to have three. When we went to the lobby to ask why we didn't have three beds, the hotel manager claimed there were three beds. After extensive questioning about the whereabouts of these mysterious beds, the lady eventually led us to the correct room. After we had retrieved our belongings and settled down, Amy tested out the beds. One of the beds she claimed was too squishy. When I tried laying on it, it collapsed! (picture below)

In other news, Amy and I went to our first European beach, which was very warm and had very few waves. We also had our daily gelato. I had bacio, again, and mascarpone; Amy tried the special creme and the pistachio. We got our gelato in cones but because the day so hot, the gelato melted too fast for us to enjoy the flavors let alone taste each others. As a result we have no flavor of the day. By the end, my hands were covered in gelato.

Day 6: Creme del Doge

Last night, Amy and I watched the semi-finals of the Euro Cup at a restaurant in central Venice. People from off the streets crowded around wearing jerseys and face paint. The atmosphere was so much fun. Plus, the game was filled with excitement and we got to end the night with lots of cheering and celebration. The Italians sure were happy.

Today, we went to Ca D'Oro, the castle of gold. There wasn't really much gold in the castle but rather a lot of religious paintings. The paintings instead were only mediocre, but the palace had two beautiful balconies looking out over the grand canal and a courtyard (shown below.)

Then, we explored another area of Venice, Cannaregio. We ate at a local restaurants and walked around look at shops. There were tons of places filled with delicious treats!

Next, we went to a Chiesa de la Salute on the edge of the Grand Canal. Outside a group of art students were sketching and painting on the steps. All their art was amazing. We sat on the steps a while and Amy fed some of her chocolate pastry to the pigeons. I tried to get them to eat out of my hand but they didn't want to. We suspect they don't like chocolate that much. (pictures below)

Throughout the day we saw something being set up in San Marco's Square. We learned later on that a drink company founded in Venice, Aperol Spritz, was trying to set the new Guinness book world record by having the most number of people making a toast at once. The goal was to get 2000 people in orange shirts in the square all toasting their Aperol Spritz at once. Amy and I decided to participate and both got free orange shirts and sunglasses plus a free Aperol Spritz. Turns out Aperol Spritz is pretty gross. Nonetheless, we broke a world record!

Lastly, we went to Campo Santa Margarita for our daily gelato at one of the most highly recommended gelato places in Venice. I had the dark chocolate and a mixed berry while Amy had coffee and Creme del Doge, a orange chocolate mix filled with chocolate swirls and orange candies. We both voted for Creme del Doge as Flavor of the Day.

Day 5: Bacio

Last night after my post, we went to an opera concert dedicated to Vivaldi, who was from Venice. The two soloists were very good, although I felt the tenor was loud and overpowering. The soprano, however, was amazing.

We finished the evening by watching the Portugal-Spain soccer game in a hotel lobby. Tonight, we plan to watch the Germany-Italy game. I hope to get the full European soccer watching experience. If Italy wins there will be parties in the streets!

Today was all about the tourist sights. We started the day at the San Marco's Basilica (shown below.) The walls were made of gold mosaics that brought gold light shimmering down into the room. After the church we hit 3 museums.

We went to the Dali museum, the lace museum, and Museo Correr, the corner museum, located in the corner of San Marco Square. The Dali museum was cool, but not as cool as the one I saw in Paris. It was also very expensive for the size. The lace museum was a store in disguise. Nonetheless, we enjoyed looking at the intricate lace designs that Venice is famous for. Lastly, we went to Museo Correr. There, we got a true cultural experience. One of the guards of the museum got really angry when my Dad, who was walking back from the bathroom to meet us, was walking through the rooms in the wrong direction. She followed us through the museum for a few rooms to continue her yelling when she ran into a couple who was also walking the wrong direction. Then she started yelling at them instead. Then, a different security guard started a yelling match with her.

Today we also had our first real pizza, and Amy finally tried her pasta al nero, a black pasta made with cuttlefish ink. Amy says it tasted just like tomato sauce. We also had our daily gelato. Amy had a mint gelato, and I tried bacio, which was some kind of chocolatey hazelnut. Amy and I both voted for the bacio as Flavor of the Day.

Day 4: Chocolate

Today, Amy and I started off our morning with a trip to a pastry shop we discovered yesterday. We both tried éclair-like pastries that were filled with chocolate. They were very rich and very good. Amy also had a cappuccino, which she highly recommends. Then we wandered and found another pastry shop; hopefully we can try that one out tomorrow.

Later on we had our daily gelato. Amy had a chocolate mousse gelato which was very creamy. I ordered a Nutella and sacher gelato. The sacher actually looked like a cake in the gelato store and had actual pieces of cake in it. Initially, I voted for the sacher and Amy voted for the nutella, but when we tried my mom's chocolate we both agreed that was definitely the Flavor of the Day. It was also the best chocolate we have tried yet. Apparently it won an award in a 2012 contest.

Amy and I wanted to go see the museum dedicated to the Venice Carnival, but accidentally went to the textile museum instead. The museum was okay, but the palace that it was in was definitely cool to see. The rooms were filled with velvet chairs and curtains and chandeliers made of the famous Murano glass as well as enormous paintings on the walls and ceilings.

Then, we wandered around the city, exploring the small alleys and the canals. We took a tons of pictures along the way and on our boat ride home (shown below.)

Day 3: Amaretto or Strawberry

Today was our first full day in Venice. We began the day with an early morning walk through town to San Marco square, grabbing delicious freshly baked chocolate croissants on the way. Because we were up early, we got a chance to see the square without the huge crowds of tourists, so I took a few pictures (shown below.)

Then, we all went to a cafe in a nearby square for breakfast. We all ordered crepes except for my dad who ordered gelato in four favors: coffee, chocolate, pistachio, and strawberry (photo below.) We decided all Italian gelato is flavored very strongly. My vote for Flavor of the Day goes to strawberry. There were also tons of other goodies there! (photo below)

Then, we went over to two other islands, Dorsoduro and San Polo. (Our apartment and the breakfast place are both on San Marco.) We walked around and got lost a few times, but got a good taste of Venice (photo below.) We also got some gelato! I had chocolate and raspberry,although I didn't know it was raspberry at the time since the sign was in Italian. Amy got amaretto and another mystery flavor that we never quite figured out. Amy's vote for Flavor of the Day goes to amaretto.

Then we went to Grande Suola San Rocco, the great school. Apparently, San Rocco was a guy who fought the plague, then got the plague and was saved by a dog who brought him bread in the forest. Weird. The artwork there is supposed to rival the Sistine Chapel. I guess we'll find out when we go to Rome!

Day 2: Dark Chocolate

We arrived in Venice at 8:45 am after a whole day of flying. We took a boat into the city. The boat driver seemed to be kinda of spacey. While other boats zoomed passed us, we snailed along taking short breaks while the boat driver checked his cellphone and chatted with his friends. Apparently Italians also enjoyed listening to Eminem.

We are staying in an apartment in a gorgeous courtyard in the center of the city (photos below.) In order to find it, we had to maneuver through a maze of small alleys all lined with shops, many of which are filled with delicious goodies!

Our first outing was to Murano where the famous glass blowers once lives: there is evidence of the glass blowers everywhere. We got to watch a glassmaker make a vase in just a few minutes and a glass horse in 90 seconds by sticking them in a 1200 degrees C oven and then shaping them.

Amy and I got to taste our first Italian pasta and gelato. Amy got some mystery flavor that had pistachios and cherries on it. I tried some lemon and tiramisu. The lemon was very, very tart. The best flavor of the day, however, was definitely the dark chocolate.

Day 1: No Gelato Yet

5:30 am wake up and we're ready to go! Amy's bag is quite a bit larger than mine. She's prepared for everything! Hopefully I didn't forget some major item that takes up a ton of space..

Let the gelato tasting begin!