It’s been 9 years since I last visited the “floating city”.

While this was my fourth time in Venice, this was my first time visiting during the warmer months as I’ve always gone during fall or winter. This time around it was for a special occasion as Tommaso’s childhood friend was getting married. We spent three nights in this magical city and it went by so fast.

We walked around the entire city the first few days there and admired the stunning city of canals. Even though I’ve been here before, it’s still hard to believe that a city like this exists!

We even had a shiba sighting!

Venice is known for cicchetti, small snacks eaten with wine, similar to tapas. We tried two places on different days as midday snacks. The first one we tried was Vino Vero which happened to be very close to the hotel we were staying at.

The second spot we tried was All’Arco which was featured on the show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.

Both places were delicious and quite popular so you might have to wait if you go during prime hours.

Both of our dinners in Venice were also great. We dined at Local, a one Michelin star restaurant where you can read my review here and Osteria Oliva Nera where we dined 9 years ago.

Baccalà mantecato is a typical Venetian dish made from dried salt cod that’s rehydrated and whipped with oil until it’s a creamy texture. It’s quite mild in flavor and usually served with fried polenta.

Saor is another Venetian dish where the sardines are marinated in vinegar. There’s several ways to make this dish with various types of seafood and sometimes pine nuts are also added. The dish had a really pleasant balance of sweetness and acidity.

Fried artichokes are a crowd pleaser especially when served with homemade mayonnaise.

We shared two pastas and they gave each person their own portion of each. The bigoli, thick long noodles, were tossed in a Venetian sauce made with sweet onions and anchovies. The squid ink maccheroncini had bottarga and fresh tomatoes. Both pastas were sublime and I could have easily eaten more.

I love crème brûlée and I rarely ever eat it. So good with that silky custard and crunchy sugar topping.

This was a tasty semifreddo with amaretti cookies. It was light yet felt decadent at the same time.

Venice can be a tricky city when it comes to restaurants as people tend to complain that they didn’t enjoy the food there. The key is to do your research in advance and not be tricked into going to touristy traps that serve mediocre food.

The last day was wedding day! Of course we had to take some scenic photos before the wedding.

The ceremony was at a Spanish synagogue followed by an outdoor reception and then dinner inside a gorgeous banquet hall.

I know Tommaso was so happy to witness one of his oldest friends get married and to be present for her special day. Congratulations to Cecilia and Marco!