Weekend trip to Venice

Venice – what a wonderful place. Kind, welcoming people, and it feels a little like stepping into another world.
Have you been to Venice – and what did you think?

The weather

We went in mid-May, and the weather was glorious. Around 25 degrees, pleasantly warm air, warm evenings – beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable. There weren’t that many tourists either, so the streets never felt crowded, and it was easy to get around.
It was also easy to get transport without having to wait – the summer months are another matter entirely. We spoke to several locals who said the summer months are often unbearably hot, with no wind and packed streets, so you’d be wise to come outside the high season.

Flying from Billund

We flew from Billund. The girls were off to Legoland with their grandmother, so we took the chance for a quick getaway. And it did turn out fairly quick – after a 3-hour delay, we didn’t land at Venice airport until 21.00. From there it was a 40-minute taxi ride and 10 minutes by boat.
We were already heading home on Sunday morning, leaving the hotel at 08.00, so it was a short but lovely weekend. Next time, though, we’ll probably add a day or pick different flight times😉

We checked in at the airport on Friday at around 14.00. Our flight was at 16.00, so we had plenty of time to relax and get something to eat and drink before the trip.
We popped up to the lounge at Billund Airport, and we certainly didn’t regret it. What a lovely, spacious lounge – plenty of seating, good food, good wine and the friendliest staff. A big recommendation from us if you’re at the airport and fancy something to eat and drink. The tables were constantly being cleared, and everything was beautifully kept.

The plane then ended up almost 3 hours late – first 1 hour, then 2 hours, then 3 hours🙈 Something about a broken light, which meant they couldn’t use the aircraft. In the end they actually flew an empty plane up from Venice for us to fly back on – so off we went😊

Restaurant Terrazza Danieli – we were turned away

We had booked a table at Restaurant Terrazza Danieli for the first evening, but we could see that, with the delay, we wouldn’t make it on time. So we rang the restaurant, several times, and moved the booking – thankfully without any trouble.
In the end we were so late that we could barely make it, but the restaurant was kind enough to say that if we could be there before 22.15 and had decided on our food in advance, it could still be done.
We only just made it to the hotel, changed clothes and headed straight back out by water taxi. We were at the hotel for maybe 10-15 minutes, so it was a real rush – but we were determined to make it to that restaurant.
We had really been looking forward to visiting it, an experience we’d been anticipating ever since we booked the trip. We run up the stairs to the restaurant and are standing there at exactly 22.10 – slightly out of breath, but happy to have made it.
And then what happens… We get turned away at the door!
And why? Simply because Jes was wearing shorts🤦🏼‍♀️ Perfectly ordinary, smart beige shorts with pressed creases – surely they couldn’t be serious?! Oh yes, they could. There was hardly a soul left in the restaurant at that hour, but they refused us entry because of those bl*** shorts.
You can imagine the looks on our faces – we felt utterly crushed. After all the stress of getting there, all the phone calls back and forth, the expensive water taxi rides and the brief high of actually having made it. 

Great start to the holiday😉

Rather deflated, we had to walk back down the stairs and out into the streets. Many restaurants were closing, several had already shut their kitchens, so by the end we were fairly desperate – and honestly not in the best of moods.
We then found a little restaurant that squeezed us in at the very last minute so we could order some food. Very friendly staff, but really one of those typical “tourist traps” where the food just wasn’t anything to write home about. Overcooked pasta that was almost double in size from all the water it had soaked up, no flavour, and none of that authentic atmosphere we’d been looking forward to. On top of that, the owner’s picture was on every plate, and there was one large portrait of him after another on the walls😂
So let’s just say we got some food, ate it and went home again😉
The next day we could thankfully laugh about it – and then the holiday began in earnest.

The hotel – Radisson Collection Hotel, Palazzo Nani

We stayed at the Radisson Collection Hotel, Palazzo Nani. A stunningly beautiful hotel with so much charm, so many stories in its beautiful ceilings, and truly the loveliest staff.
In front of the hotel was a pick-up point for water taxis and water buses, so getting around was nice and easy.
We only used water taxis, and that was on the pricey side, to put it mildly. So next time we’ll make a point of working out how the water buses work, because you can save a lot of money that way.

The hotel has a lovely bar that can mix anything your heart desires, a good breakfast that was included in our room rate, and simply a wonderful atmosphere. There’s also a restaurant for both lunch and dinner, but we didn’t eat there.
Behind the hotel is a garden where you can enjoy your breakfast, lunch or dinner, or have a coffee, a drink or the like.

City life in Venice

Venice is made up of almost 120 small islands, all joined together by a good 400 bridges – which is quite something.

Many, many years ago I was in Venice – just for a single day, and it must have been in high season. All I remember from it is Piazza San Marco, where we were packed in like sardines, fighting for space alongside the countless pigeons and gulls that practically attacked whatever we had in our hands 😉

It was nothing like that this time – I have to say May was simply perfect.
Open, airy streets and a comfortable number of tourists.
The city exudes a holiday mood, beautiful streets and that wonderful scent of Italy. Everywhere we went the service was excellent, even if you just popped in for a drink. I don’t know what I’d expected, but I often find touristy places can be a little lacking on the service front. That certainly wasn’t the case here.

On Saturday we took a gondola ride, and our lovely gondolier shared plenty of knowledge about Venice.
He told us that just 10 years ago, 100,000 Italians lived permanently in Venice. That number has halved – partly because prices have become so high.
As he so beautifully put it: “What my girlfriend and I pay to live 15 minutes outside Venice in a decent-sized flat, we’d have to pay for a place here in Venice where you can boil pasta and sit on the toilet at the same time”😂 I think that sums up the situation pretty well😉

Venice is a tremendously charming and romantic city, and I’m completely taken with the fact that all the traffic runs on the water, and with its many beautiful bridges.
You can actually get everywhere on the island simply by walking. But do remember proper footwear, and a good dose of patience too. It can take time, as there are lots of winding lanes – and, as mentioned, a great many bridges.
Being taken home late in the evening in one of their beautiful taxi boats is really something special – very beautiful and very romantic.

The food in Venice

Apart from the tourist trap we landed in on the first evening, we also had a couple of really good food experiences.
We always use Tripadvisor to guide us, but we didn’t get round to it that first evening, as time was against us. 

Lunch – Ristorante Regina Sconta
Our lunch on Saturday in particular was a fantastic experience.
We  booked a table in the morning, before we set off to explore the city, so we knew where we’d end up.
A beautiful little restaurant tucked away in a small side street, which we’d never have found if we hadn’t been on Tripadvisor.
Authentic and really cosy, and once again with outstanding service.
For my starter I had a cooked carpaccio – it tasted absolutely wonderful. I’ve since made my own version of the same dish – you’ll find the recipe here – click here.
Jes went for the catch of the day, which was called fried soft-shell crab. We had probably assumed the crab meat would be breaded and deep-fried, or something along those lines. But the fact was that because these crabs were “so soft shell”, they came in whole… and deep-fried😂🙈

We’d agreed to share the starters, but as I’m not sooo good with food that still looks very much like itself, even after cooking, I politely left the crabs to Jes.
Jes is always up for trying something new, and it did taste really good – but as he said, “it was a bit much to bite into when the brain and everything else oozed out”.
If you follow me on Instagram, you can see a clip from the Maldives under my “Travel” highlights, where we spot what looks like a GIANT tarantula in the sand. It turned out to be just a crab, but that’s exactly why crabs have taken on a whole new meaning for me.

We both agreed on the main course – when there’s truffle pasta on the menu, there’s no choosing anything else. Normally when we eat out we always pick different dishes to get as much inspiration as possible, but neither of us could say no to this one. And thank goodness for that – WOW! The best truffle pasta I have ever tasted – so creamy, so much truffle and simply delicious.
I picked up a few tips from the kitchen, so you’ll find my version by clicking here.
We were very full, but couldn’t leave without trying their tiramisu, so we got one to share, and that was wonderful too.
A big recommendation from us – a thoroughly lovely food experience.

Dinner at AMO
For the evening we had booked a table at AMO.
The place is set in the middle of a shopping centre. All the shops were closed and the floors darkened. Every floor up through the building was decorated with figures in the openings – a really striking place with great interior design.
Once again we were met with excellent service, and some lovely, roomy seats on a big sofa.
The food tasted very good, but perhaps we had expected a little more all the same. The restaurant is in the Michelin Guide, so I think we’d just set our sights on something different. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the flavours – really delicious – but we ordered a pizza Margherita, for instance, and I think we’d simply expected a proper Italian pizza with a chewy, airy crust. Instead, out came a platter of extremely hard slices of bread topped with tomato sauce and cheese. And it tasted lovely – just perhaps not quite what we’d expected😉The starter, on the other hand, was superb – deep-fried artichoke hearts with some sort of delicious cream – really good.
Jes ordered an avocado dish, but as he asked for it without coriander, he actually just got an avocado cut into slices. The topping was apparently a guacamole with coriander – but then, sliced avocado tastes lovely too.
Dessert was homemade ice cream with various toppings – just what we fancied.

Until next time

We rounded off the evening with a water taxi home and a large Baileys over crushed ice in the hotel garden.
We knew the alarm would go off again at 6.00,  so as it approached 01.00 we thought we’d better head to bed.
On Sunday morning we set off early for the airport – we were picked up, rather tired, by water taxi at 08.00, so unfortunately we didn’t manage much before departure.

But the conclusion is that we will, without doubt, be going back. We’ll definitely want a day or 2 more – or else arrive early on Friday morning and leave late on Sunday, so you get something out of both days.
We had a thoroughly wonderful trip, and a getaway like this is just what’s needed sometimes.
And next time, we’ll remember long trousers for Jes 😉

You can also read about our trip to Lisbon here, or our dream trip to the Maldives here.