Venice The Magical City

Venice is that place you must visit in your lifetime. Once you set foot in Venice you will think that you're living in a fairy tale. Of course, that feeling will go quickly when you see all of the tourist traps there. But still it's totally worth the visit.

It's easy to get to Venice from Rome by train from Termini station. Second class seats cost 80 Euros per ticket and the trip takes around 4 hours. If you have any questions you can visit the tourism office in the train station. They were very helpful and the service was free.

You can get a free map of the city from the front office in your hotel.

We went in winter. It was cold and rainy, and it made it more beautiful. It was crowded, just the right amount of crowd. We stayed at Locanda Art Deco in Accademia area. The room was okay. The bathroom was very small, breakfast was not much and not special. However, I really liked the staff. Not all of them could speak English, but they were helpful.

There are countless numbers of souvenir shops there, some start with 4 Euros for a mask and other shops sell a mask for 1000 Euros.

There are a lot of tourist attractions in Venice. A gondola ride is the most famous and the most amazing. In Egypt we have an old proverb, “You can't buy happiness with money”. This proverb is totally wrong in this case. With the money you pay for the gondola ride it will bring you happiness and joy for about 35-40 minutes. If you are traveling with a group you could ride the gondola for 25 Euros each for 6 seats. If you're traveling with your beloved one take a private ride 80-85 Euros for the boat.

Free places to go:

There are some places you can go for free. The music museum is free, and there are some art exhibits with free admission. 

http://www.interpretiveneziani.com/en/museo-della-musica.php

You can go to a church to enjoy the art and rest your legs for a bit.

Don't forget you can walk every where for free. A walk in the back alleys and tiny streets will take your mind away from everything. You'll fall in love with the tiny alleys.

Where to eat:

Osteria al Mascaron restaurant is the place to eat. Just by walking in front of it you'll smell a mouthwatering smell that will make you hungry. The staff were nice and spoke English. The food was absolutely delicious. They serve a variety of seafood dishes. My favorite thing was the artwork hanging on the walls. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. Working hours from 12:00-15:00 and 19:00-23:00. I highly recommend the cuttlefish spaghetti in black ink dish. It's a heavenly taste.

http://www.osteriamascaron.it/eng/storia.html

                                                            Spaghetti in black ink

                                                                 Swordfish steak 

Le Cafe restaurant and cafe at campo Santo Stefano near Accademia. They serve pizza, sandwiches, pasta, dessert and gelato. I loved their dessert, which start at a reasonable price.

http://www.lecafevenezia.com/

Many small cafes serve sandwiches starting at a couple of Euros. You can find those cafes away from the big squares. If you want to eat at the S. Marko area make sure you check the prices on the menu outside of each cafe and restaurant. Dinner at some places there will cost a week's budget if you're traveling on budget.

Rome, tips, reviews and places to go

So visiting Europe was always my dream, Italy and Greece especially. The first step was saving money. We had a budget for two people, which was about 6,000$ for 3 weeks including air tickets. Of course, we didn't know how expensive Italy was. In this post I'm going to give you some tips for your trip to Italy. I highly recommend buying the guide book Rick Steves' Italy. 
http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Italy-2014-ebook

When you arrive at Fiumicino airport you'll have some choices to get to Rome:
1- Non-stop train from the airport to Rome, Termini. 14 Euros a ticket and it takes 40 minutes.

2- A shuttle bus which costs 4 Euros per ticket, one way and it takes about 1 hour to get there. You should book it online because tickets might be sold out.

3- Private buses run by private companies. It costs 15 Euros a ticket and it takes about 30-40 minutes to get to Termini. I don't recommend it because the driver was driving very fast and didn't drive well.

Things you should know before going to Italy:
1- Public bathrooms cost money. Some places charge 1 Euro and other places 2 Euros.
2- Taxies start at 5,50 Euros.
3- Not all restaurants and cafes accept credit cards.
4- Be aware of pickpockets.

Two people staying in a hotel would cost as much as staying in a hostel, so we stayed in a hotel. We didn't couchsurf because many surfers don't/can't host couples, maybe because their apartments are small.

If you're single, I highly recommend couchsurfing, it would save you a lot of money and also it's a great way to make new friends. If it's your first time to do it, you should pick a surfers with good references and send them a couch request.

If you're a family you should check Agoda for prices and don't forget to delete your cookies so the website doesn't give you a higher price.

When you stay at a hotel in Italy, you should know that when you check out there is something called city tax, which is 2-3 Euros per person per night. And some of the hotels we stayed at, they didn't have a sign saying that.
For our first 3 nights in Rome, we stayed at CROSTI hotel in Termini area. I highly recommend staying in this area. It's a 10 minute walk to the Colosseum, easy access to trains, subway and buses. You can buy bus tickets from newspaper stands. It costs 1.5 Euros a ticket. Also there are a lot of restaurants in the neighborhood.

Our room at CROSTI hotel was big and clean. The breakfast was nice, cheese, lunch meat, a lot of bread, fresh juice, different kinds of coffee. There were 2 things that I didn't like about the hotel.

1- We sent them a request for pick-up from the airport and we expected someone to pick us up when we arrived. But no one was there. It was cold and late, I wasn't happy about that.

2- When we went out the front desk the worker gave us a restaurant card and said that he highly recommended eating there, and the restaurant was owned by the same person who owned the hotel. Anyway we went to the Hostaria Da Vincenzo restaurant. Once we sat the waiter brought bread to our table and left it there. We assumed it was free, since the waiter said nothing about it. However, they charged us for it. We ordered 2 dishes. Both of them were served cold. The lamb chops were just fats. The waiters were pushing us to order more food in a very bad manner and it was expensive. I don't recommend eating there.

We moved from city to city and stayed in Rome three different times. Staying at the Augusta Lucia hotel was a good experience. The room had massaging beds which were amazing, the hotel was in a perfect location, 2 minutes walk from Termini station, and there were a lot of restaurants around it. However, the staff weren't nice. We left before breakfast time so I don't know how their breakfast was. This hotel is expensive but you can get a good deal through Agoda or any booking website.

The last hotel we stayed in Rome was at Villa San Lorenzo Maria. The room was okay, the service was great and served nice breakfast. However, the bathroom was tiny. It was far away from the train station. It was near to the slow tram line, which takes a very long time to go any place.

Things to do in Rome:
When in Rome, the Colosseum is a must. Such a beautiful place and even though it was cold and rainy, the trees were green. You could easily spend the whole day there. If you get thirsty you shouldn't buy water from the sandwich trucks which are everywhere. They sell a small bottle of water for 2 Euros. You can get water for less than a Euro from a supermarket.
If you get tired from walking in the Colosseum and the Forum go to Oppio cafe and restaurant, across street from the Colosseum. The service and the coffee were very good. Fast WiFi too. 

A crypt visit for 6 Euros, will take you out of time. Or a visit to museums. If you really want to save money you could just walk around and see the beautiful fountains, or the Pantheon for free.

What to eat in Rome:

Italy is well known for its dishes and I have to say Italian food is amazing. I will share with you the best dishes I had in Rome. Of course restaurants are expensive there. What my husband and I did was have breakfast at the hotel, buy bread and cheese from a supermarket for lunch and go to a restaurant for dinner.

If you are staying at the Termini area or around it you must eat at Giovanni restaurant. Dinner there is perfect, nice atmosphere, the service was very good and the food was delicious.

                                                 Ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach.

                                              And my favorite was cheese and shrimp risotto.

                                                         Gnocchi Pasta stuffed with cheese.  

Half moon hill

Just a tease of coming traveling posts. :)