Venice

Venice, in a funny way, reminded us of Disney World. We took a train over a body of water to get there, and once we were "in" we didn't see or need a car the entire time we were there. Getting back on the train after three days had that same feeling of bleak disappointment and "really?? I'm really leaving??? Oh..." Venice was awesome. It was really nice, as Andy put it "to have a clue" and have a context in which to understand a city, even if it only of the food. So many of the places we go we aren't entirely prepared for what to expect in any capacity. With Venice though, we were. For those of you who don't know, we both work(ed) in a Venetian wine and cicchetti bar in Providence (Marisa for 3 years, and Andy for several months).


On day one, we walked around the city aimlessly for a few hours, following the ubiquitous signs for the Rialto and San Marco, seeing where we would end up. Eventually, we check into the Hotel Canada (I know, I know...) The room was small, more than we wanted to pay, and the only electrical outlet was in the bathroom (which at one point was down the hall- we switched rooms after the first night), but it did come with a free breakfast. After stashing our bags, I decided it was time for a shower. Although we have had the occasional bathroom problem, up until this point it has always involved the toilet (generally how to flush, it is NOT always cut and dry, and sometimes it takes quite a while to figure out). I suppose the problem with my shower also involved the toilet though... The bathroom was about 4' X 4', including the shower. The head poked out of the wall in front of the toilet, without a curtain or sliding door to separate you from the rest of the bathroom. After strategizing for a few minutes, I emptied the room of toilet paper, bath towels, hand towels- everything except the bathing essentials. I undressed and tossed my clothes out the sliding door to the bedroom; there was nowhere inside where they wouldn't get soaked. At last I was prepared. I turned on the "hot" water and stood in the opposite corner, trying unsuccessfully to avoid the icy stream of cold water, while waiting for it to warm up. It took almost ten minutes. Hours later, everything was still soaked. Finally clean, we headed out for some delicious and cheap food.

In Venice, snacking is almost a way of life and the cuisine centers around very small restaurants or wine bars called osterias. These osterias serve cicchetti, which are small plates of food for a just a few euro a piece and small pours of wine, called ombras. Many bars also served a "spritz," white wine mixed with campari or aperol (liquors made from orange bitters), and finished off with soda water. We found them delicious and refreshing, the perfect start to a night. The cicchetti can be found behind a glass case, each item with a hand written label explaining (in Italian) what the dish is. Venetians stop to snack and socialize before and after meals. Locals and tourists who have caught on to this visit several osteria's in one night, standing near the bar or out on the street, eating their snack and enjoying a small glass of wine while chatting with the owner, the barkeep, or other patrons. There were some items that seemed to be staples in every restaurant, such as polpettes (fried meatballs), anchovies, baccala (salt-cured cod) and bruschetta, but most places we visited also had one or two specialty items that we didn't see anywhere else. A few times we couldn't figure out what it was that we were eating. That first night was a complete experiment, hopping from one to the next, probably visiting five or six in total. It seemed to be the case that they stayed open until the food ran out, which across the board, happened at 9:00. Because of this, all of our nights in Venice were early ones, but we were okay with that. Essentially, we did the same "osteria crawl" every night, but with different restaurants. The third night we went out of our way to find a few places that the owners of Bacaro specifiacally reccommended to us from their time in Venice. Going out for cicchetti became what we looked forward to the most each day, it was exciting. There are only so many photos one can snap of a different canal, and only so many windows one can peer into and visually shop in, before it gets tiring and boring. The gondolas were of course appealing, but at 80 euro for fifty minutes, we decided that it just wasn't worth it. Veniece is best enjoyed with your legs and your senses, not your tour map and camera. It felt great to just slow down and stroll, wandering and just letting our intuitions (read:stomachs) guide us.

It was always interesting passing the "rose guy" between wine bars, demonstrating his persistence to sell us a rose while we come up with inventive ways to keep saying "no." At one point he would get so insistent that he somehow managed to put them in my hands. We started getting annoyed after the third one "offered" us a rose and started getting snappy with our comebacks. "Sorry, I'm saving my money for McDonalds." "We're brother and sister." Or sometimes, we would just put the flowers on the ground. When it rained, the "rose guy" turned into the "umbrella guy." This was easier for us, as we already had umbrellas.

Breakfast at the Hotel Canada consisted of several different breads with several different spreads. Along with orange juice and choice of tea or coffee, we each had a croissant, two small rolls, and this strange pre-toasted white bread which we have come across a fewl times earlier on this trip. To accompany our carbohydrate overload, there was jam, butter, nutella, and a soft spreadable cheese. We attempted to use all of these things every morning. After breakfast we explored Venice. We checked out the Piazza San Marco, and all of the impressive structures surrounding it. We watched the gondoliers paddling down the canals. We avoided pigeons (and unfortunatly saw a few rats). Speaking of pigeons, although most people have our reaction (duck and cover) to these gross birds, I am disgusted and sorry to report that there is a small minority who are amused by them, calling them over to land on their hands, arm, or even HEAD, in order to get that "perfect Venetian pigeon shot." I could go on but I won't. We had heard many people talking about how dirty and stinky the city was in general, but we didn't really find that to be true. There was a very slight smell, but it was only really perceptible if you were standing on a canal at low tide, and even then, not bothersome. As for the rumor of overwhelming filth, the only thing I found to be dirty was the pigeons, and let's be honest, I don't like birds anyway. But I digress.... we did go into a few shops selling handmade Venetian masks used during Carnival, which was pretty cool. We also went to Harry's Bar, the restaurant made famous for their trademark drink, the Bellini (they supposedly created it - peach puree and Prosecco sparking wine) and Beef Carpaccio (which they also did for the first time). A backpackers budget does not really encompass many five star restaurants (even for lunch- a burger was 34 euro), but we had our Bellinis at the bar before moving on.

Our last day in Venice, it rained. Though not too hard, at high tide the canals along the lower lying streets spilled over and flooded entire streets and squares. Though not as badly as it surely has been at other times, it was fun to see everyone trudging around in their galoshes or tourists learning to watch their step the hard way. The day we arrived, a group of city workers were taking down the platforms that everyone walks on in San Marco Square when it floods badly. I thought it might be fun to get in on that business, but we were not headed in that direction on our last day It was, however, very interesting trying to walk down a skinny little alley when everyone has an umbrella. It goes something like this: lift! squat! duck! lift! tilt! lift! squat! duck! lift! lift! We both got a few umbrellas to the face.

We left feeling like we do in most places: sad to leave, but glowing with the experience we've just had and excited for the next one. Next came Florence.