We wake up to the sounds of boats passing by, taking their fresh produce off to market. We should head out ourselves, while there is still good stuff to buy. We have our first true Italian breakfast, standing up at the bar at a café, dark coffee and pastries. The lady gives me a weird look for asking for milk, and I try and come up with the words to ask "what type of pastries". Would it be "type", "flavor", "category", etc? Flavor seems to work best: mele, lampone, delicious. Even with fresh squeezed orange juice, the bill comes to under 5 euro. Take that Starbucks!!
We walk to the rialto bridge, past the tourists and shops. We have hard time finding the food market, so we give up and decide to visit the gastronomia for picnic supplies. Ciento grami of as many delicious things as I could think to ask for, and while it was nearly 20 euro, I can't imagine what it would have cost at Zingermans.
Time for a walk, time to get lost. We pop in and out of shops we fancy. Tom finally convinces me to let him buy a compass, which did come in handy. Luckily we found a cheap childrens toy version. We pick up some cheap wine for our picnic, then wander some more. Porcini for the parents, more wine, raboso is wine soda pop.
There are lots of dogs all over Venice, and pigeons with a lot of guts, there is no moving out of your way. They too live off the tourist trade. We wander through churches and alleyways, as a street performer sings "no woman no cry". We buy fresh bread for pennies, then work our way back to the Rialto while trying to avoid the pushy gondolier people. On the way we pass through an alley with tons of graffiti, "sorry for the tags".
Tom is more interested in the "water closet" than lunch. When he has to pay $1 to use the bathroom, he says it is so worth it. We loose each other trying to find the cicchetteria , Cantina do Mori. I go up to the counter and order one of every snack. Tom drops a meatball on the floor, but all else is good, except maybe for the sardine I got by accident. It's funny to see the wine shop use vacuvin on their wines, just like we do.
It feels good to sit as we sip on Raboso and Monzoni Biano. The red is raspberry and fizzy and the white is another soapy floral wine.
We accidentally happen upon the real Rialto market. Lots of seafood, fresh stingray and octopus. I get offered a chocolate covered cherry, and had to buy a bag. They are like mini Cellas, gooey delicious. We walk in search of La Fenice, and many wrong turns and wrong campos later we find it. We also find American tourists who can't pronounce "giglio" to save their life.
Our perspective dinner place is closed, and we start getting hounded by restaurateurs telling us about their delicious pizzas. So we run off to San Marco. Pigeons are everywhere, coo coo coo, chasing the children who squeal. We get a cheap thrill for 1 euro and cover ourselves in food. It's silly fun.
We eye a picnic spot on the water, out of site from pigeons and polizia, hidden benches. As we snack pigeons slowly start to join us, but we don't care. We are more concerned with hiding our wine as we drink. Everything is exciting flavors. Salami has a bit of cinnamon, olives are a little floral, stravecchio is fruity, and pecorino like violets. Strange bouquet is actually wonderful. We drink our wine, chew on our bubblegum parma and find a Venice to fall in love with.
San Marco is beautiful inside but no pictures. We see lots of American celebrities in ads, including Sawyer from LOST selling some cologne by swimming with his shirt off. We find the first unique Venetian masks that look like borg with computer chips and such.
We wake up from a nap to church bells ringing in 6 pm. We decide to hunt out an authentic osteria for dinner. We follow the Italian speakers to a less populated area. Da Alberto hits the spot. The gnocchi is melts in your mouth, but is filling. Eggplant is meaty, cheese, I love the way the skin crunches. We try and eat slower, but that means we drink faster. The olive oil (bardolino olearia del garda) is simple but flavorful.
The lights are too bright here in Italy too. Funny new thing is we have to pay "coperta" or cover charge to eat at a restaurant, never more than a euro or two. The squid ink with polenta looks dark and unappetizing, like motor oil, a deep black teeth stainer, but it is so tasty and creamy. The polenta is a little grainy but good. The Tocai is smooth and mild with a soapy pear flavor. The Prosecco is refreshing nutty lemon, like a Brut champagne.
We leave and wander abandoned part of Venice in search of a gelateria. Tiramisu, coffee, you can't go wrong with any flavor. We have one last stop at La Cantina for some wine. We seat on a barrel outside and drink something earthy. We talk about how long our vacation seems, and how we are only halfway.
Our conversation continues as we walk to the railway station… to walk off dinner and also to see how far it really is. I slip on the slick marble stairs. We pass many tired pizzas in the window. Avoiding eye contact gets rid of flower vendors. Spot and old couple making out, a young couple drinking wine on the bridge. Find a Pixar pillow from Cars, badly translated "Speed, I am Speed."
We find Dogado, a hip stylish bar pumping Giorgio on the street. This place feels out of place in Venice, but in a good way. We chill on a big read couch with prosecco and beer. The bar waiter has a ridiculous tie. Make the walk back.