Venice

Friday, July 29

We took the slow train from Naples to Venice. It was really comfy: AC, charging ports, etc., and it wasn’t even that slow! We left Naples at 9:30 and the train stopped at Rome and Florence before pulling into Venice central at 3pm. It was actually kinda nice having a train day to catch up on blog writing and reading our books, while glimpsing out at the pretty Italian scenery.

When we arrived and walked from Venice’s main train station down a main road to our Airbnb it was pretty crowded but not as bad as I had expected. Tourism numbers are still creeping back up and it seems they are not allowing cruise ships in yet so, in this way, tourism is capped to non day-trippers.

We walked north, to the neighborhood of Cannaregio. As we left the touristy block, the crowds thinned out and we found ourselves in a residential neighborhood walking with locals. Again (like Rome) we were staying near the old Jewish Ghetto and we saw signs for Kosher restaurants all around.

We had decided to rent a room in a shared apartment because 1) it was affordable and 2) it seemed like more responsible tourism, rather than kicking a resident out of their entire apartment. The other two rooms ended up being occupied by other tourists (?) but we felt better that we were at least sharing a tourist place.

We dropped our stuff off and set out to get some food. We ended up at a more touristy-type place but we spotted some tasty looking dishes on the tables so we went for it. We got tube pasta with citrus pesto and speck (thinly sliced pork belly) and it was very good despite being a little overpriced. We also randomly ordered a cicchetti sampler, a Venetian classic, which is like tapas of crostini toast or bread topped with different things like creamed cod, tomato cod, sardines with onions and raisins, etc. At the time we thought we were eating crab and thought it was good, later we learned it was creamed cod.

We wandered around the streets for a bit afterward, enjoying getting lost in a picture-perfect pedestrian paradise. We managed to find the grocery store and get some snacks and wine for later, and wandered back to the Airbnb to rest.

Saturday, July 30

We started the day with a walking tour of the southern part of Venice. We liked the tour because it included the not-so-popular areas like an old customs house that is across the grand canal from the most touristy area, St Marks square. The tour guide gave us a brief summary of the history of Venice and he told us some tips about traveling there. He also shared a guide with us that had more tips and a list of recommended restaurants.

After the tour we went to the closest recommended restaurant, Sudest 1401. Though it was under the list for typical Venetian food, it was not typical. It was a restaurant linked to some kind of art gallery and the menu was predictably bougie. We got a plate of grilled vegetables (eggplant, leek, and zucchini over mashed parsnip with garlic) and some lime spaghetti. Both were really good. We sat outside in a nice little garden next to a pond, listening to the cicadas roaring.

We figured we needed to see the main tourist highlights too, so we walked over to St Marks Square and to the basilica. There was about a 20 minute wait to get in and it cost 3 euro per person. We were already feeling a little ‘churched out’ so we didn’t think it was very special. The ceiling was covered in gold foil mosaics that depicted various bible scenes.

The best part may have been the floor which was covered in mosaic patterns of different colored stones. There was a sign that described how part of the floor had been completely underwater during a flood event in 2019 and they were still making repairs. We skipped the option to pay more to see the high altar or to see the museum. We considered getting tickets to the Doge’s (King’s) palace, but it seemed like the pricey ticket included other museums that we wouldn’t have time to see, so we skipped it.

Feeling tired, we stopped by a cafe for espressos. We successfully ordered in Italian and drank at the bar Italian style, and were rewarded by getting the Italian price, less than what was listed on the menu. We also felt really cool about it.

Feeling energized we walked over to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. Peggy moved to Venice in 1949 and bought a cute little house right on the canal. She collected art and displayed it in her house until she died and her house was turned into a modern art museum. We saw paintings by Picasso, Dalí, Max Ernst, Miro, and others.

There was also an exhibit about surrealist art that ended up being really cool. In particular I liked the paintings and sculptures from two female surrealists, Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. There were explanation placards in English for almost every painting so we ended up spending much more time in there than we expected. We had planned to go back to the Airbnb to chill, but we had evening plans nearby so we decided to stay out.

We strolled by a cute corner bar that had good looking cocktails and apps. With some maneuvering, we scored seats next to the bar (right in front of the menu on the wall that everyone was trying to read) and tried some new spritzes and cicchetti while people watching. We tried Cynar, which is herby and made from artichoke. We also tried Special spritz which was basically Campari.

Then we took our time strolling to the main event of the evening, a Baroque violin concert in a gorgeous old building. The building was the Scuola Grande Dei Carmini which google maps described as an ‘ornate 17th century brotherhood building’. We later saw posters advertising tours of the inside of the building. We arrived to the concert a few minutes early and were told we could explore the building ourselves before the show.

We walked up the elaborately decorated staircase into a main chapel-like room. There were wide rooms with dark wood paneling and intense sculptures and paintings in every direction.

We tiptoed back downstairs to the main hall just in time for the concert to start. A younger guy played the harpsichord and a woman played the violin. It was like a baroque jazz concert. I know nothing about harpsichord or violin but the musicians seemed like they were really good. We enjoyed listening to the music and taking the time to zone out and meditate in such a pretty space.

When the concert ended at about 8pm it was still light outside. We took our time meandering back to our place and happened upon the prettiest sunset. In Venice you get multiple opportunities to take sunset photos because even as you leave one bridge over a canal and turn left or right you find another bridge over a canal with a whole new background. Of course, even our IPhone cameras couldn’t do justice to just how pretty pink and purple the sky was.

Sunday, July 31

We joined a mini island-hopping tour to have a sampler platter of the islands around Venice. We boarded the boat around 9 and then stopped to pick up passengers in other parts of the city before setting off for Murano.

The main attraction in Murano is the glass blowing artists and their workshops. As part of the tour we were given a free glass blowing demonstration. They sat us on benches around a large warehouse room that had a furnace, a stool, and some tools in the middle. A woman spoke in Italian, French and English over a microphone while a man worked the glass.

She told us the man is 80 years old and is the oldest artist on the island who is still making glass every day. He put a hot stick in the fire and then demonstrated how to blow a vase. Then he got a lump and pulled at it to make a horse. Our jaws were dropping already and then be put a piece of newspaper on top of his newly made horse and the paper instantly went up in flames, demonstrating how freaking hot the glass still was. It was really cool and made the whole tour worth it.

Of course afterward they invited us to peruse the gift shop. I would’ve loved to buy something to support the cute, old, glass-blowing man, but everything in the shop was unfortunately really ugly. We had about 20 minutes before we had to get back on the boat and we realized that was just enough time to do nothing.

We walked along the waterfront and peeked into windows of all the glass making factories and shops. We found one with a bunch of people speaking loudly in Italian to a guy with a apron on- presumably the artist- and found some more fashionable jewelry so we decided to support their shop.

Then we got back on the boat and noted that the boat pushed off one minute ahead of time- good thing we weren’t late!

Then it was off to the island of Torcello. Again we were only given 45 minutes to explore the island. This was probably more than enough time because the place was teeny tiny but still, we felt rushed. It took us 10 minutes just to walk from the boat into the town square. Then I had to pee and they charged 1.50 (!!) Euro to use the toilet and I didn’t have the right coins. The attendant finally exchanged my two 20s and a 10 to give me a 50 cent, and let me in. But the clock was ticking.

We walked around the main square, opted to not go into the church and then strategized how to quickly get food. There was a snack stand near the square that didn’t look promising, but we had few other options. We got a ham and cheese sandwich and then headed back to the boat.

She had warmed up the sandwich. As we walked, I bit into it and tears of joy formed in my eyes. It was just a simple roll, with prosciutto and some kind of white cheese but it was so so good. Like, one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. And it was 4 euro in a tourist zone. Amazing.

We got back to the boat a little too early and cursed our timing as we stood around in the hot sun. But soon it was time to board again, leaving right on schedule, off to the next island.

The next island was Burano. Burano is known for its lace making and for its colorful houses. The boat guide explained that the houses were each painted a different color so that the fisherman would recognize their house after being away at sea. This seemed ridiculous to us, but the houses were really colorful and pretty.

We strolled around the island and took photos of the cute canals lined by pink, yellow, blue, and orange houses on either side. We didn’t see anyone making lace but there were many lace shops selling amazing looking patterns. We were so hot that we decided to get a granita- a slushy. I got Bellini and Carl got mango and we were as happy as little kids with ice cream.

We considered ditching our tour and staying in Burano longer, but we didn’t want to get stranded or pay more to get back to Venice, so we walked back to the boat on time.

Back in Venice we were the last to be dropped off again, in front of the train station. We considered getting lunch and then going to chill before our night tour, but the restaurant we wanted to go to was packed with people. So we walked home, snacked hard, and napped.

In the evening we emerged again, hoping for cooler temperatures. We went back to the restaurant, Trattoria Bar Pontini, and found it had calmed down. We were now early for dinner (6:30pm) so it was possible to get a table without a reservation.

The waiter was really enthusiastic and friendly and the wait staff seemed to be having fun with each other which always makes the dinner better. We got a platter of cicchetti sampler and a plate of spaghetti with cuttle fish and black squid ink sauce.

The squid ink pasta was really inky. As I was starting to get into it, our waiter came over and tied a cute paper bib to my neck, to protect my white shirt. The pasta was good but the cicchetti was even better. The creamed cod and the tomato cod tied for first place. We couldn’t resist getting tiramisu which came in a bowl.

We still had time to kill before our tour so we wandered toward the meeting point, stopping to get Aperol spritzes to go whenever we saw them. The first one was small, but only 2 Euro, and it was great. The second one was bigger, for 3.50 and we took our time sipping it as we made our way to the bridge that was the meeting spot.

We had booked a ghost, ghouls, and legends tour through Airbnb because the one in Rome had been fun, and it was a cool way to see the city. Our guide, Alex, was also a few minutes early so we talked to him as the rest of the group showed up.

We watched the sun set over the bay as the rest of the tour -9 total- arrived. Alex led off the tour with a ‘get to know you’ exercise and he had us vote to determine what kind of stories to tell. He explained that, in previous tours, people had been triggered or even walked away early because the stories were so gruesome. Our group was there for the scare and consistently chose the scary stories over cutesy ones.

We walked past the morgue and up to a church where the church’s sculptor witnessed a murder-suicide and etched a doodle into the church’s doorway. It was so badly drawn that we though Alex himself may have drawn it, but Alex defended the story saying it had been documented in numerous accounts. He told other stories that he claimed had been well documented but that ended with a spooky twist.

Alex pointed to a cement mound next to a bridge and asked us to guess what it was for. He told us it was designed to prevent people from hiding in dark corners and jumping out and robbing or stabbing people. Then we started seeing these mounds everywhere, especially near privately owned bridges.

The last story of the night included a full on Romanian blood-sucking monster. It was ridiculous but after we said goodbye to everyone and walked back through the dark alleys to our Airbnb I definitely had a chill of fear. It was midnight when we finally made it back. Grateful that no Venetian monsters had eaten us, we said ‘happy August’ and went to bed.

Monday, August 1

We had wanted to do a cooking class while in Italy, and our time to do it was running out. So we found one in Venice. It was overpriced, but they offered that we would make two types of pasta and tiramisu, my favorite.

We met our hosts in front of a church on the north east side of the city. Lin, who has been with the company for a few years and speaks fluent English, spotted us and introduced herself. Patrizia, whose house we would be cooking at, spoke no English at all. We told her we speak Spanish, if she wants to talk in Spanish, and she got so excited but then just kept talking to us in Italian.

We followed them back to Patrizia’s house. She lives with her partner on the top floor of a building that used to be an old convent. The old wooden beams still run throughout the apartment, with ‘modern’ (1980s) renovations intermixed. We met her partner, an adorable old man who sat on the couch the entire time and only stood up when it was time to say goodbye to us.

Lin led us to the kitchen where they had a table set up with a plastic table cloth on top. We started by making the tiramisu. Lin gave us instructions in English and Patrizia buzzed about and gave us a glass of Prosecco which she called ‘gasoline’ and insinuated that we needed it to help us cook.

When the tiramisu was put into the fridge to chill, we started on the pasta. Lin put flour right onto the tablecloth and had us pour water into the middle of our pile and begin to knead it all together to make dough. It was fun, a surprisingly easy clean up, and the noodles were great so we will be doing it this way from now on.

We made fettuccine using the pasta press and then she showed us how to make little spiral balls using a little wooden tool. She said they don’t make or sell the tool anymore, but we are determined to prove her wrong.

Then Lin escorted us upstairs to a wooden patio on the roof. It was then that we realized how close to St Mark’s Square we were – we could see the spires of the basilica right there! She had a great view of the surrounding area’s rooftops and there was just enough breeze that it was tolerable to be outside.

More prosecco was poured and we were given some stale bread as an appetizer. Then Patrizia brought up our little dumpling pasta that she had covered in a simple tomato sauce. We asked her what was in the sauce and she said tomato, onion, basil, marijuana, opium…So she purposefully did not show us how she made it. Even though the sauce was simple, it was tasty.

Then she brought the fettuccine. In the same sauce. This was a little disappointing but it did show off how good the noodles themselves were. I had drank too much prosecco, was too hot, and then was full of pasta. All I wanted to do was nap. Then they brought the tiramisu.

As we ate, Lin and Patrizia asked what we had seen in Italy and Venice so far. When we revealed that we had not been inside Doge’s palace yet, Patrizia seemed upset and ranted in Italian. Lin started laughing hysterically and asked if we had understood. I smiled and said ‘no’ and in my head said ‘why would we understand when we don’t speak Italian?!’ Lin translated that Patrizia said we must’ve spent too much time in the bedroom because we hadn’t been to the major tourist sites.

We laughed then, and told her we had made it to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. She shrugged, at first satisfied with this, and then said that if we wanted modern art we should’ve gone to New York, not Venice. Ok. This rant plus Patrizia’s insistence that Carl eat another bowl of pasta after he had already eaten two, made Patrizia our unofficial Italian grandmother.

Finally it was time to go and, as proof of how hot, drunk, and full of pasta I was, I forgot my purse. Carl went back to get his hat and got my purse for me. We stumbled back to our Airbnb and took a nap. On the way we took pictures of the Rialto bridge, which was fine.

I felt like I could’ve kept sleeping but it was our last full day in Italy so I roused myself awake for…more eating. We decided to go to one of the Jewish restaurants because we had been staying in the Jewish Ghetto and hadn’t tried their food yet. We went to a place called Gam Gam that was near us and that Lin had recommended.

We got the Gam Gam special appetizer that included lots of little dishes of chickpeas and sauces. We also got the fried artichoke which was real good (Carl’s favorite) and the eggplant in tomato sauce with chickpeas (my favorite). We got a 1/2 liter of the house white and savored it, knowing that we’d miss Italian restaurants and their cheap wine when we got back to CA. We ended the meal with a chocolate mousse that was recommended by the waiter. It was almost as good as the one we’d had in Buenos Aires, which made us reminisce.