Tuesday 23 December 2014

Travel Log: A Journey of Restoration (Day 15 & 16)

Previous Day (Island Hopping in Venice)

Destination: France & Italy
Duration: 15 Days 15 Nights (Sep 02~Sep 17, 2014)

Day 15: Lost in Venice and Spending the Night in Paris CDG

Today was our last day in Venice so we simply spent the day wondering around and getting lost without a real destination.  We kicked start the morning by getting a sandwich at a sandwich shop at San Zaccaria which contained thick cheese! YUM!
Time to get some food!
Look at the CHEESE!!!
We ended up at the magnificent Santa Maria della Salute which was actually opposite San Marco Square. After that we hopped on the water bus with no clear destination in mind and stopped at Gallerie dell'Accademia Venezia and Galleria G. Franchetti alla Ca’d’Oro to take some pictures externally. We were simply too lazy to visit museums after so many visits in the last 14 days.
Row Row Row a Gondola
Santa Maria della Salute
Finally here after staring at it from San Marco
Impressive Altar
The Dome
 Mosaic?
Taking the view of San Marco from Salute
Random Building beside Santa Maria della Salute
Boat Hopping
Galleria dell'Accademia - the outside! LOL
I think this is Galleria G. Franchetti alla Ca'd'Oro?
We went back to Rialto to have a light lunch at Lino Fritto which sold cute little pint size seafood. We ordered the fried calamari with crunchy vegetables, seafood quiche, steamed salmon on a stick & fish meatball. The food tasted just okay but looked adoring. =)
At Rialto again...
Walking the Streets of Rialto
The Rialto Bridge
Look at those exquisite food from Lino Fritto!
All looks so cute!
Can i have all?
End up with these items here...
 After the light lunch, we shopped in small stalls and shops along the Rialto Bridge and found some nice bargains. The price here seemed to be cheaper than those from San Marco so you might consider shopping here instead. Most importantly – there was a free water fountain here so you could save some money from buying bottled water.
Another Church at Rialto Square
Let's go explore the shops!
After shopping, we went back to San Marco (which was always crowded). We went to hunt for the famous Dal Moro’s in some back alley. Dal Moro’s was famous for fresh pasta and cheap price. Before we even found the joint, we could spot a long line queuing there. We ordered the Pesto Pasta & Marinara Pasta.
At San Marco again!
In front of the Clock Tower
Pasta order to made!
The pasta was served in a take-out box so we had to either eat it standing or just sat on the back alley in front of some random shop. We were totally stuffed before we finished half of the pasta. Accordingly to Tripadvisor, they were famous for the pesto sauce but we found it was too creamy for our taste. The Marinara was quite common. One thing did stood out was the texture of the pasta! It was indeed very springy and nice to chew on and the taste on its own was totally different from Pasta from supermarket.
Finally got our Pasta!
Huge portion!
After the heavy late lunch, we simply walked around the winding alley and got lost until it was time to get on the water bus to airport. Another downside of Venice? It was really a PAIN to find the toilet! One should just wear diaper when go to Venice!
San Zaccaria
Random Alley
When we reached the airport, we noticed there were lots of flights being cancelled especially Air France due to Strike. Thankfully there was no such issue for budget airline that day! The Easyjet Counter was really crowded and the flight was real full. We simply grabbed a sandwich at the airport for dinner.
Reaching Venice Airport at Dusk
The Sky at Dusk
Goodbye Venice!
Lots of People...
Sandwich for Dinner
The Bakery in Venice Airport
Is this the plane we are boarding?
It was almost 12am when we reached Paris CDG so we got to Terminal 1 to find a good spot to spend the night. This was definitely not the first time we spent the night in Airport. The Verdict? Less long couches if compared to Changi Airport but definitely more comfortable than LCCT (duh!). =P
Paris CDG!
There were quite a lot of people spending the night there as well and security was always walking around which made you feel ‘safe’. We slept as comfortable as the couch afforded us until next morning. 

Day 16: A French Breakfast and the Long Way Home

Breakfast was pastry in a little bakery at Terminal one. The mini pastry was cheap and nice whilst the banana chocolate tart tasted heavenly.
Our 'Bed' for Last Night
Breakfast time!!!
This is so SINFUL!!!
French Pastries!
Thus this ended our long journey in Europe – we boarded Malaysian airlines flight at around 12noon and sat in 74A with extra legroom. The flight was almost empty and many people got to have the whole row for themselves. I guess the tragedy of MH17 was still fresh from people’s mind during that period.
Going back to Reality
Seat with Extra Legroom!!!
Empty flight on MH
Lunch was served on board – Chicken Rendang and some fish set. Both tasted okay – my favourite though was the mini baguette. =P It was a long long flight but we just couldn’t sleep at all. By the time we finally starting to doze off, we were woken up for breakfast!!! Omelet or Nasi Lemak which were meh.. >.<
Sammy with some peanuts and wine
Fish Set
Beef Rendang Set
What else? MH breakfast Nasi Lemak Set.. :p

We finally reached Penang after a short transit in KLIA and grabbed the Rapid Penang to go home. Oh ya! Rapid Penang is definitely the cheapest way to get from Penang International Airport to town! They even have a ‘route planner’ on their website – go check this out (link).

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