Fantasy Gelato has record year after swalter518's Venice visit...
Nov 1st, 2005, 08:29 AM
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Fantasy Gelato has record year after swalter518's Venice visit...
OK, so I left a little gelato at Fantasy Gelato for the rest of you visiting after us but after 8 days in Venice, we certainly boosted the gelato economy. Thanks to all who recommended this gem, it made up for me having to forego the vino and if the studies that say that babies taste buds are formed in utero are true, we're going to have a gelato addict on our hands!
Needless to say Venice was wonderful. We enjoyed every minute there and felt we really saw Venice after spending 6 days there. (We spent a day in Verona and a day in Bologna as well).
Ca Rezzonica, our hotel, was fine. I loved the neighborhood, just off of Campa San Barnaba. The room was decent sized (Room #6) as was the bathroom. It's nothing fancy, no tv, no newpapers, etc. but it is certainly adequate and clean. The breakfast was either outside in the garden every morning or in their small breakfast room (on the one day we had rain). It was basic, cornetto or hard roll, cereal, fruit, juice and coffee/tea, but not being big breakfast eaters that was fine with us. The only downside was the churchbells ringing outside our room every half hour but after awhile, we didn't even notice them (except for the 7:30 am "get your a#$ out of bed" bells). More later, work calls...
Needless to say Venice was wonderful. We enjoyed every minute there and felt we really saw Venice after spending 6 days there. (We spent a day in Verona and a day in Bologna as well).
Ca Rezzonica, our hotel, was fine. I loved the neighborhood, just off of Campa San Barnaba. The room was decent sized (Room #6) as was the bathroom. It's nothing fancy, no tv, no newpapers, etc. but it is certainly adequate and clean. The breakfast was either outside in the garden every morning or in their small breakfast room (on the one day we had rain). It was basic, cornetto or hard roll, cereal, fruit, juice and coffee/tea, but not being big breakfast eaters that was fine with us. The only downside was the churchbells ringing outside our room every half hour but after awhile, we didn't even notice them (except for the 7:30 am "get your a#$ out of bed" bells). More later, work calls...
Nov 1st, 2005, 09:30 AM
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Glad you enjoyed Fantasy Gelato and Venice. My only disappointment with it was it didn't stay open as late as the gelateria in Rome and Florence. One night we literally ran from our dinner to make it there before it closed!!
Nov 1st, 2005, 10:03 AM
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Jgg, we were on the afternoon gelato schedule so we didn't run into any closing time problems! The only day we didn't have our afternoon gelato was when we stopped into Harry's Bar for a Bellini. (The dr. gave her blessing for one before anyone starts flaming me for being pregnant and drinking!) Outstanding! I know they are over priced but they are so darn good. I also highly recommend the "piccolo sandwiches" fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwiches that were delicious. They were a relative bargain by Harry's Bar standards at only 4.75E.
Nov 1st, 2005, 10:32 AM
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Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning. We flew UA from O'Hare to Munich then Air Dolomite (code share with UA) to Venice. The flights were fine, no problems being pregnant except the little one was apparently as excited as me as she/he did somesaults and backflips the entire flight. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, but I digress...
Venice airport is very nice and was easily navigable. We knew we were back in Italy though when we arrived at the Alilaguana dock to find a mob of people, no red line boat, one blue line boat and everyone going nowhere fast. Of course, as soon as the blue boat left, a "private driver" aka taxi driver pulled up to the dock offering a "special rate" to take people directly to San Marco. We waited for the next boat (blue line) and took it, even though we were supposed to be on the red line. An hour and a half later, we landed at Piazza San Marco and bumped our way up and down the bridges with our luggage to our hotel, past Accademia Bridge near Campo San Barnaba. The walk was a bit long for my DH who had to lug one bag to the top of each bridge, switch places with me at the top and then bump my bag up. He didn't complain though-I think he was just thrilled to finally be there!
By the time we got there, it was about 5 pm local time and we crashed for an hour and then asked the hotel owner for a recommendation closeby for dinner. He recommended Taverna San Trovosa (sp?) which was fine-full of tourists, nothing spectacular but not bad by any means. I had a Caprese salad with outstanding mozzarella but green tomatoes (my fault for ordering it out of season), DH had proscuitto. Then we had gnocchi quattro fromaggi (DH) and spaghetti with clams (me). It was a big place and I knew it was definately on the tour book circuit when I saw the waiters had electronic PDAs to enter the orders. But, like I said, the food was fine, we were exhausted and it was close to "home".
Venice airport is very nice and was easily navigable. We knew we were back in Italy though when we arrived at the Alilaguana dock to find a mob of people, no red line boat, one blue line boat and everyone going nowhere fast. Of course, as soon as the blue boat left, a "private driver" aka taxi driver pulled up to the dock offering a "special rate" to take people directly to San Marco. We waited for the next boat (blue line) and took it, even though we were supposed to be on the red line. An hour and a half later, we landed at Piazza San Marco and bumped our way up and down the bridges with our luggage to our hotel, past Accademia Bridge near Campo San Barnaba. The walk was a bit long for my DH who had to lug one bag to the top of each bridge, switch places with me at the top and then bump my bag up. He didn't complain though-I think he was just thrilled to finally be there!
By the time we got there, it was about 5 pm local time and we crashed for an hour and then asked the hotel owner for a recommendation closeby for dinner. He recommended Taverna San Trovosa (sp?) which was fine-full of tourists, nothing spectacular but not bad by any means. I had a Caprese salad with outstanding mozzarella but green tomatoes (my fault for ordering it out of season), DH had proscuitto. Then we had gnocchi quattro fromaggi (DH) and spaghetti with clams (me). It was a big place and I knew it was definately on the tour book circuit when I saw the waiters had electronic PDAs to enter the orders. But, like I said, the food was fine, we were exhausted and it was close to "home".
Nov 1st, 2005, 12:08 PM
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Our first full day so we headed out early to Piazza San Marco. No crowds yet despite it being a Saturday so we walked right into the Campanile and rode the elevator to the top. The first thing my DH said was "wow, it really is all water isn't it." I had been there before but he hadn't and was really struck by how water bound Venice really is. I guess I'd never thought about it. We were also struck by how quite it is compared to other places with it having no cars, Vespas, trucks, etc. By the time we got to Bologna, it struck us how loud it was compared to Venice.
Went on to our Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace. I highly recommend it. It really gave a feel for the place at the time it was used, despite the very "German-like" tour guide who yelled at people for talking and standing too close to the "treasures". Never experienced anyone so uptight in Italy before but she was very informative. After the tour we went back through the public areas of the museum and commented how happy we were we took the tour.
By the time we left, the place was a zoo so we were quite glad we got out early. We grabbed a quick pizza at a take out place and sat on the platforms stacked up for the flooding and marvelled at the number of people waiting in line at the Bascilica and the people who pay to feed the pigeons. Here in Chicago, they try to get rid of the pigeons but whatever floats your boat I suppose (Venice pun fully intended!
After lunch, we walked right to the front of the line of the Bascilica with our online reservation form feeling mighty like big shots! I highly recommend paying the extra Euro to see the Golden Altar at the front of the church-it's spectacular. To think how much it must be worth just for the gold and gems alone!
Went on to our Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace. I highly recommend it. It really gave a feel for the place at the time it was used, despite the very "German-like" tour guide who yelled at people for talking and standing too close to the "treasures". Never experienced anyone so uptight in Italy before but she was very informative. After the tour we went back through the public areas of the museum and commented how happy we were we took the tour.
By the time we left, the place was a zoo so we were quite glad we got out early. We grabbed a quick pizza at a take out place and sat on the platforms stacked up for the flooding and marvelled at the number of people waiting in line at the Bascilica and the people who pay to feed the pigeons. Here in Chicago, they try to get rid of the pigeons but whatever floats your boat I suppose (Venice pun fully intended!
After lunch, we walked right to the front of the line of the Bascilica with our online reservation form feeling mighty like big shots! I highly recommend paying the extra Euro to see the Golden Altar at the front of the church-it's spectacular. To think how much it must be worth just for the gold and gems alone!
Nov 2nd, 2005, 11:24 AM
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Saturday night we had a WONDERFUL dinner at Ristorante Agli Alboretti, Accademia 884. This tiny restaurant is very close to the Accademia Bridge-the waitstaff was great. Had pumpkin risotto and branzino (sea bass) and DH had turbot. It was all outstanding. For "dessert" we had a cheese plate and my husband ordered a scotch, to which the waiter replied, " you want whiskey with cheese?" "Are you sure? No, no, I bring you nice red wine." It was quite humorous and became the quote of the trip. I highly recommend this place and thank whomever recommended it on this board.
Nov 2nd, 2005, 11:48 AM
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swalter, I'm enjoying your report. I stayed at Ca Rezzonica in May and enjoyed it. We had the room on the first floor next to the breakfast room and never heard a thing (or the bells thank goodness!) Our favorite gelato was just over the little bridge and on the right in Campo San Barnaba. Waiting for more!
Nov 4th, 2005, 08:31 AM
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Go Miki, We walked past that gelato place at least 10xs per day but never at the right time. It was certainly busy though.
Sunday we ventured to Murano and Burano in an attempt to avoid crowds, apparently so did everyone else in Venice as the vaporettos were packed! The one thing I had done on a previous trip to Venice was to see a glass blowing demonstration and my DH had no interest in it so we just strolled around Murano for a few hours and shopped at a few shops. I found some great, more modern jewelry pieces at some shops along the way and would be happy to pass along the names if anyone's interested. Burano was absolutely charming, the only downside was that there were a ton of people there, jamming the entire main thoroughfare. We got there about 2 pm and all the restaurants were jammed so we just grabbed some pizza and sat in a little piazza just past the main street. After that we wandered some back streets - the colorful houses were so cute and our impression was that you had to have a little $$ to live on Burano.
Sunday night we had dinner at Cip's Club at the Cipriani Hotel on Guidecca. The private boat (a "Ralph Lauren" wooden boat as my mom calls them) picked us up right off San Marco and whisked us over there leaving us feeling like realy big shots! Dinner was again very good-the pumpkin gnocchi literally melted in my mouth and my DH's mushroom ravioli was outstanding as well. We both had fish dishes which were also very good. It was very pricey but you can't beat the ambiance of sitting outside eating dinner with the view of San Marco across from you.
Sunday we ventured to Murano and Burano in an attempt to avoid crowds, apparently so did everyone else in Venice as the vaporettos were packed! The one thing I had done on a previous trip to Venice was to see a glass blowing demonstration and my DH had no interest in it so we just strolled around Murano for a few hours and shopped at a few shops. I found some great, more modern jewelry pieces at some shops along the way and would be happy to pass along the names if anyone's interested. Burano was absolutely charming, the only downside was that there were a ton of people there, jamming the entire main thoroughfare. We got there about 2 pm and all the restaurants were jammed so we just grabbed some pizza and sat in a little piazza just past the main street. After that we wandered some back streets - the colorful houses were so cute and our impression was that you had to have a little $$ to live on Burano.
Sunday night we had dinner at Cip's Club at the Cipriani Hotel on Guidecca. The private boat (a "Ralph Lauren" wooden boat as my mom calls them) picked us up right off San Marco and whisked us over there leaving us feeling like realy big shots! Dinner was again very good-the pumpkin gnocchi literally melted in my mouth and my DH's mushroom ravioli was outstanding as well. We both had fish dishes which were also very good. It was very pricey but you can't beat the ambiance of sitting outside eating dinner with the view of San Marco across from you.
Nov 4th, 2005, 08:53 AM
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what is the difference between the red line and the blue line? Different final destinations? Different speed? Different price? I leave for Venice tomorrow (I'm starting to get just a little bit excited)
Nov 4th, 2005, 10:28 AM
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It's just different stops (Both stop at San Marco). Here's the link you can check the map for the closest stop to your hotel. Have a great trip!http://www.alilaguna.it/?funzione=12...amp;bodyonly=1
Nov 4th, 2005, 10:28 AM
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swalter,
Thank you for a wonderful trip report. Later this month, we will follow some of your recommendations, like having the "piccolo sandwiches" at Harry's Bar.
How would you recommend getting tickets for the Secret Itineraries Tour? Thanks.
Woody
Thank you for a wonderful trip report. Later this month, we will follow some of your recommendations, like having the "piccolo sandwiches" at Harry's Bar.
How would you recommend getting tickets for the Secret Itineraries Tour? Thanks.
Woody
Nov 4th, 2005, 10:47 AM
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Woody, I purchased the tickets online at TickItaly.com. It's a dollar or two more expensive than calling directly as other posters have recommended but the convienence was worth it to me. Here's the website...
http://www.tickitaly.com/galleries/d...enice-tour.php
I also highly recommend the free reservation for San Marco's. You can only reserve about 14 days out but it sure beats waiting in line. http://www.alata.it/eng/BOOKING/sanmarco.asp
http://www.tickitaly.com/galleries/d...enice-tour.php
I also highly recommend the free reservation for San Marco's. You can only reserve about 14 days out but it sure beats waiting in line. http://www.alata.it/eng/BOOKING/sanmarco.asp
Nov 4th, 2005, 11:25 AM
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swalter,
enjoying your report very much. Will be heading that way in March, so I'm taking notes of your recommendations, especially the palace tour and the cathedral bookings!
What's this about Fantasy Gelato? Is it a particular store's name? Guess I'll have to do some research there.
pumpkin risotto - yum!
Thanks!
Oh, and looking forward to more of your report!
enjoying your report very much. Will be heading that way in March, so I'm taking notes of your recommendations, especially the palace tour and the cathedral bookings!
What's this about Fantasy Gelato? Is it a particular store's name? Guess I'll have to do some research there.
pumpkin risotto - yum!
Thanks!
Oh, and looking forward to more of your report!
Nov 4th, 2005, 11:31 AM
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Fantasy gelato is the store's name. It's right off of Piazza San Marco and was recommended by another poster. I'm sure you can do a search and find the exact address. I'll check in my stuff to see if I have it.
Nov 4th, 2005, 11:48 AM
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Fantasy Gelato is on Calle dei Fabbri (one of the main streets linking Piazza San Marco and Rialto). It is barely 1 minutes walk from the Piazza, midway along. Or if you leave the Piazza in the corner by the Correr Museum you enter Fondamenta Orseolo, where lots of gondoliers ply their trade (you can negotiate with them down to around 80 euros). Take a right over the bridge into Calle San Gallo (see if you can spot St Theodore and his crocodile on the wall high up!) and continue on a few steps and you reach Calle dei Fabbri - Fantasy Gelato is almost opposite, just to your right. It closes about 9.30-10pm. There is a bar opposite where I would drink limoncello while the children ate their gelato. After the 2nd night they recognised me and had my limoncello ready for me when I had sorted the gelati (or is is gelatos?)!
