Someday, it will be the new Atlantis

When I was a kid, my parents would always take me to this one Italian restaurant (once I outgrow my ‘throwing rice at strangers’ phase of life, that is). It’s called Frank’s Sunny Italy, and it’s located on Delaware Avenue for those of you acquainted with my city. The thing I remember most vividly about it is the placemats. It was a picture of Italy adorned with several of the country’s most famous landmarks. There was the leaning tower of Pisa on the west coast, the colosseum to the south, and the sinking city to the east: Venice.

Even at the age of five, the idea of a city where the roads were rivers thrilled me. And once I was in college, through the works of Venetian proto-feminist writers Veronica Franco and Moderata Fonte, I was even more intrigued by the city and its’ atypical history. Did you know Venice was the last Italian city-state to dissolve? It stayed intact until it surrendered to Napoleon in 1797 after a thousand years of independence. I didn’t until I came here, and I was impressed.

So, because of all the above, I knew even before I came to Italy that going to Venice was thing I refused to miss out on. And as luck would have it, my stay here coincided with one of Venice’s most famous events, the Carnival. From what I can gather, Carnival nowadays seems to me an extended Marti Gras party mixed with a classier version of Halloween, though the festival began at some point in the thirteenth century. Anyway, coming to Venice during the Carnival was definitely an experience. Yes, Venice is beautiful by its’ own right, but Carnival really seemed to coax the spirit of the city free. Which was good because it helped mask (no pun intended) several aspects of the city that I didn’t like so much.

Firstly, that everything in the city is outrageously expensive. We’re talking like, five euro a water bottle expensive. I skipped dinner because I couldn’t bring myself to actually buy it.

And secondly, the main island of Venice (I can’t speak for the others. The water bus was too expensive for me to head to another island) is very touristy. Now, I know Florence is a touristy city as well, but it really was nothing compared to Venice.

But despite the above, I’m really glad I went to Venice still and have no regrets about it! Here are the pictures I know you’ve wanted to see all along :P

My Carnival mask. It’s plain compared to a lot of the other ones, but I really like it for some reason. Probably because it reminds me of Phantom of the Opera. I think I need to have another masquerade party.

Even the dog had a costume!

Ultimate Belle dress. So epic.

This is St Mark’s zodiac clock, which I didn’t know existed until I saw it. Amazing. I’ve noticed the Italians seem to have a preoccupation with the zodiac. I see zodiac signs everywhere, stamped on leather notebooks, pressed into chocolates…

These next few pictures are of St Mark’s Basilica which is probably the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen. It’s constructed out of every colour of marble you can imagine, and every inch of it both inside and out is adorned with gorgeous images made of tiny coloured stones detailed with gold. They didn’t allow us to take pictures of the inside, but I hope the outside of it can give you an idea of what it’s like. What struck me most interestingly about the basilica was how all its colours and over the top beauty seemed to mirror the Carnival itself.

Bridge of Sighs. Being renovated, naturally.

A gondola. They seem much less romantic in real life, I must say. The 80 euro price tag might have a little to do with that!

Warning: Food Nerdery Ahead

Anyone who has known me for any length of time will be able to tell you thing. Firstly, that I love food, and that love is second only to cats (speaking of cats, no one seems to be a cat person in Florence. All I see are dogs. And I like dogs of course, but they are undeniably not cats).

But back to my main point.

I love food so much, it was one my deciding factors in choosing to study abroad in Italy in the first place. With the exception of France, no other country has the culinary reputation that Italy possesses. I could rhapsodize on about the wonders of food for days, but for now, I’m just going to focus on the one delicacy that is hands down my favourite thing to eat ever.

Chocolate. Cioccolato, as it is known here.

This being said, imagine my absolute shock and awe when exploring I found a chocolate festival right in the piazza of my neighbourhood! It was the best thing that happened here yet. And here I was worried that I would miss out on my plethora of Valentine’s Day treats.

While I know most of you probably would not go "ZOMG!!!!!" when you stumble upon a chocolate festival, I hope you enjoy the pictures anyway of my idea of paradise!



The church in the piazza Santa Santa Croce (Santa Croce is the section of the city I live in). This was where the festivities took place.

Sarah made us an approximation of this for Christmas! Except hers looked better, and I best it tasted better to. This was going for 6.50 euro apiece. There is a market waiting for her to conquer.

CHOCOLATE VOLTAIRES!!!!

White chocolate with rice. Delicious, and I'm not even a huge fan of white chocolate.

I was unreasonabley excited to find cats, even if they were made of chocolate.

I can only assume this is how they get kids to drink milk here. Obviously David drank this and that is why he is so awesome.


Candied clementine dipped in dark chocolate. They had almost every candied fruit imaginable covered in chocolate there; orange, pineapple, lime, lemon, cherry, papaya, kiwi. I also found a stand where the gentleman made milk chocolate infused with fruit flavouring, which was also interesting. I tried the peach one, and the flavours complemented each other surprisingly well.

This says 'frutto do cacao'. They're actual cacao beans, imported from Spain I think?

This was a dark chocolate square filled with red wine and a dried grape. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was delicious. The Italians (and Europe in general. There were a lot of international vendors there) love mixing chocolate with alcohol. I had some chocolate infused with rum there and it was divine.

Candied oranges in dark chocolate.

They're fond of white chocolate pistachio truffles here. I've never tried pistachio with white chocolate, but now I'm intrigued.




Hot chocolate. Except Italian hot chocolate is NOTHING like American hot chocolate. It's more like straight up melted chocolate... Think fudge consistency, without the overwhelming high fructose corn syrup sweetness. Absolutely amazing.

Happy early birthday Dad! Hot chocolate mix imported from Valencia, Spain