Ca' Amadi - Staying at Marco Polo's Place in Venice, Italy

During our trip to Italy in last July, we spent several busy and interesting days in Venice. Our base of operations was a very comfortable, large, air-conditioned room at Ca' Amadi (http://www.caamadi.it/en/), a bed and breakfast that was part of a palace that was Marco Polo's residence in the late 13th and early 14th Centuries. Our room overlooked a picturesque canal called the Rio Fontego dei Tedeschi. This B&B clearly deserves the many wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d275958-Reviews-Locanda_Ca_Amadi-Venice_Veneto.html). I highly recommend it.

Looking at Ca' Amadi from a Nearby Bridge

View from Our Room

Ca' Amadi is located an easy 5-10 minute walk from the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal. Of course, we had to make this walk with our luggage when we came from the vaporetto (water  bus) stop near the Rialto Bridge.

The staff of Ca' Amadi - the manager Valentina, Nicolo and Alberto at the front desk, and the breakfast cook were all very nice. Alberto was extremely helpful in answering questions about various activities.

One of Our Two Sets of Beds

The two large beds in our room for four were comfortable and the room was nicely outfitted. One of the large beds was two smaller ones pushed together.

The breakfast had a nice variety of fruits, juices, yogurts, cereal, cold cuts, coffees, breads and pastries, etc. The cook would make delicious bacon and eggs to order. The one complaint I had about the breads and pastries is that they were commercial and uninteresting, in contrast to nice bakery/homemade pastries I have had at similar B&Bs elsewhere in Italy.

Another complaint is that the WiFi signal in our room was often very weak and unusable. However, I could go out into the reception area and receive a strong signal there.

The price of our Family Room for Four with Canal View was €265.00 ($334 at the exchange rate then) for the first night, a Saturday night. The next two nights were €236.55 ($298) per night. The room tax was only €5 per night in contrast to a typical American hotel tax that would have been around 15%, This was also the height of the summer tourist season.

Rio Fontego dei Tedeschi, is an interesting name. It means, "Canal of the Warehouse of the Germans." It refers to a large building that is located at the intersection of that canal and the Grand Canal. The building was the HQ of German merchants in an earlier day. In the Venetian language, "Rio" is the word used to refer to canals other than the very large canals like the Grand Canal. (Many visitors do not realize that the Venetians have their own language (not dialect), that they speak in addition to standard Italian.)

One interesting experience we had was that the route of the gondola ride we took passed right under our hotel room. That offered us a very different perspective.

Several times, when sitting in our room with the windows open, we could hear passing gondoliers pointing to Ca' Amadi and mentioning it had been Marco Polo's home.

Anyone who is staying at Ca' Amadi and is interested in a close place to have delicious gelato should try L'Alta Gelateria on nearby Salizada Fontego dei Tedeschi. I loved the peach gelato.

Osteria da Alberto - Wonderful Dining in Venice, Italy

The best meal by far that we had in Venice last July was at Osteria da Alberto (http://www.osteriadaalberto.it/sito/en/index.html). The food was delicious, the menu included Venetian specialties, the atmosphere was warm, and the staff was very nice. It was decorated with lots of antiques.

While it is a bit off the beaten path, on Calle Giacinto Gallina at Cannaregio 5401, I noticed that it has 112 Trip Advisor reviews, of which 49 are in Italian, so it seems clear that a lot of people seek it out.

Before leaving our hotel to walk to the restaurant, I phoned (041-5238153) to make reservations. That was fortunate. When we entered the osteria, I saw that it was almost completely full.

Just inside the front door was a counter which displayed lots of good-looking food. We were quickly welcomed by Manuda, our waitress, who took us to a table near the rear. 

Two of us  had Tagliolini al Pesto for €9 each.

One of us had a green salad (Insalata Verde) for €3.80 and Gorgonzola Gnocchi with four cheeses (Gnocchi Gorgonzola ai Quattro Formaggi) for €9.

As usual, I went for local dishes. I started with Sarde in Saòr, the same sweet and sour sardine dish I'd had the previous evening, for €9. It was wonderful.

I noticed that there were two baccalà dishes on the menu. In most of Italy, baccalà means salted cod. However, in the Veneto region of Italy, where Venice is located, baccalà refers to stockfish (stoccafisso) - cod or other whitefish, which has been air dried. I had never had it before, and wanted to taste it.

One of the baccalà dishes was Baccalà alla Vicentina (Vicenza-style Baccalà). Vicenza is the name of a city and a province just west of Venice. The other dish was Baccalà Mantecato. I did not know where that was from. I asked the waitress, and she told me it was from Venice. When I told her I was not sure what to order, she told me that they could prepare a plate with half of one and half of the other. I decided to do that. I'm glad I did. Both were terrific. The cost was €14.

It turns out that Baccalà Mantecato is a signature Venetian dish. Like so many other recipes, this one has many variations. Among the ingredients are stockfish, cream or milk, olive oil, garlic, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper.

The ingredients in Baccalà Vicentina are stockfish, onion, milk, anchovies, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, flour, and parsley.

Two of us shared a bottle of 2009 Fabiano Valpolicello Ripasso for €30. This is a very nice type of red wine that is produced on the east side of Lake Garda, which is a short distance west of Venice.

For dessert, two of us had Tiramisu. one had Semifreddo Pistacchio, and I had Venetian cookies (Biscotti Veneziani). Semifreddo is a class of semi-frozen desserts like ice cream cakes. This one had three layers - chocolate, pistachio, and vanilla.

Semifreddo Pistacchio

Biscotti Veneziani

One of us had a cafe Americano for €1.80, and two of us had espresso for the same price.

We shared a large bottle of water for €3, and were charged a cover charge of €1.80 each.

Forget Ristorante Vittoria di Tonello Vania in Venice, Italy

While I had two delicious dishes at Ristorante Bar Vittoria di Tonello Vania in Venice, Italy, the rest of our party had mediocre food and the service was abominably and inexcusably slow.

The restaurant is beautifully situated on the waterfront on Riva degli Schiavoni, not far east of Piazza San Marco. It has nice outdoor tables overlooking the Riva and the water. However, the service there was the slowest during our 16 days in Italy. I had to call the waiter several times to ask him the status of two of our orders. He was completely unapologetic, saying it was not his fault.

The two dishes I had were superb, but the other meals were mediocre at best despite the fact that they were all simple dishes.

Additionally, the mineral water was very expensive - €6 for a large bottle.

I had two dishes:
1. Sarde in Saòr (sweet and sour sardines) for €9. This is a Venetian specialty that has sardines, raisins, pine nuts, white wine, white wine vinegar, olive oil, coriander, cloves, onions, salt and pepper. I loved it.
2. Grilled branzino fish, a popular northern Mediterranean fish for  €19.50. This was delicious.

The others in our party had the following dishes, which were mediocre:
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara for €11
- Gnocchi with four cheeses (Gnocchi ai Quattro Formaggi) for €11
- a cheeseburger for €7

The wine I had was nice - a half bottle of 2011 Cesari Valpolicella Classico for €14. Valpolicella is produced on the eastern side of Lake Garda, which is just east of Venice.

We were each charged a €2.50 cover charge.

Ristorante Terrazza Sommariva - Tourist Trap; Terrific Location

Ristorante Terrazza Sommariva in Venice, Italy has a great location on the Grand Canal, a few feet from the Rialto Bridge. While the food was passable - toward the low end of Italian food, the location was terrific. The food was also on the expensive side. We sat at an outdoor table under awning.

Three of us had Piazza Diavola, with tomato, mozzarella, and spicy salami for €10 each. (The following day, we had a better version of the same pizza at another location for €7.50 each.)

I had Pizza Sottobosco with tomato, mozzarella, brie, and mushrooms for €10.50.

We had small bottles of mineral water for €4.50 each. This was the most we paid anywhere in Italy in over 2 weeks of travel.

I had two glasses of Masi Frescaripa Bardolino Classico for €6 per glass. This decent wine is prouced near the town of Bardolino on the eastern side of Lake Garda, a short distance west of Venice.

The bottom line is that I would probably try one of the other waterfront restaurants in the same area.