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    Travel » Italy » Venice

    What it's like.

    Published: Sep 12, 2011 · Modified: Jun 12, 2018 by Marissa Stevens · 12 Comments

    We cross our little bridge because it’s 10am and we’re hungry.

    We’ve slipped easily into the pattern of life here. 8am, the church bells ring and we’re roused from sleep; we crawl out of bed and light the stove for coffee; time to check e-mail and browse the news, both personal and political; we shower, dress, and walk out the door toward breakfast; at lunch we stand at small bars and eat half sandwiches, there is a 2 euro charge to sit; we eat dinner now at 8:00pm or later, antipasti and one course with a half liter of wine, sometimes we split a dolce; we climb in to bed at midnight and slumber until the bells ring again.

    It’s our fourth morning in a row at Pasticceria Rizzardini, a bakery in San Polo. We have a routine now; two espressos with a touch of steamed milk and two pastries filled with vanilla custard, “Due Macchiati and due Crema, per favore.” Our repetition has earned us a warm welcome this morning, ”Buongiorno!”

    We catch the Vaporetto, at our usual San Toma stop. We nudge and squish our way to a spot near the open air. The boat is full. One, two, three; an American man to our left snaps a photo of his young daughter. Uno, due, tre; an Italian man snaps a photo of his beautiful girlfriend. Humidity paints shine on all of our cheeks and foreheads.

    venice-standing-on-vaporetto

    We look around at our fellow passengers; we can tell the ones who arrived today. They stare out in awe, their mouths gaping. Soon their faces will be buried in maps. We feel sympathy for them; now, we are lost only most of the time.

    Ca’ Rezzonico - it’s our stop. We’re headed to our fourth museum of the day – it's disappointing that most don’t allow photos. We pass a man selling produce from a boat: tomatoes, zucchini, chanterelle mushrooms, artichokes. We point at the artichokes, “Quanto costa, per favore?” He quotes a price, but we don’t understand. “Mi dispiace, non capisco”, we say. He repeats himself, now frustrated. He’s not interested in explaining. “Ciao!”, he says. We turn and disappear into the sea of nomads.

    Minds full and feet aching, we stop for a cold beer and a glass of Prosecco. It’s worth the charge to sit today. We sit and watch.

    venice-cold-beer-and-prosecco

    A little rest and it’s time to walk home. We’ve had our fill of pasta and pizza this week and plan to dine at home tonight; cantaloupe with prosciutto and Insalata Caprese: tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and a pinch of salt – two antipasti we see on every Italian menu.

    venice-courtyard

    Along the last narrow passage to our little red house, a man is singing. Embellished by ancient walls his voice soars, and we’re so happy that we came to Venice.

    Tonight we’re packing to leave; tomorrow we’ll travel by train to Bologna. A new adventure.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Sarah says

      September 17, 2011 at 9:27 am

      Oh and look out for the Polish cheese, there's only one producer in the slow food producers outside the tents, they have a great smoked cheese that is cooked like haloumi - yum!!

      Reply
      • marissa says

        September 17, 2011 at 9:37 am

        Polish cheese? Sounds interesting...we'll check it out.

        Reply
    2. Sarah says

      September 14, 2011 at 11:51 pm

      Love it!!! I will follow you for your next 50 odd days!
      Enjoy. And it was lovely to meet you both today.
      Sarah (Sydney, Australia)

      Reply
      • marissa says

        September 15, 2011 at 12:05 am

        So great to meet you too, Sarah. Thanks for all of your good advice...

        Reply
        • Sarah says

          September 17, 2011 at 9:15 am

          You guys will absolutely love 'Cheese'.....such a fabulous event. I have never eaten so much cheese in one sitting!!!! Look out for the guys from Oregon in the international tent, I told them you are coming!!! Have fun, Sarah.

          Reply
          • marissa says

            September 17, 2011 at 9:36 am

            We can hardly wait - headed there today. Wish we would see you there...

            Reply
    3. Erica says

      September 13, 2011 at 3:05 pm

      I've been following along and have loved your Venice posts. My husband and I are leaving Sunday for our honeymoon (two weeks in Italy), and we're starting with three days in Venice. I can't wait! Your posts have made me even more excited, if that's possible. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • marissa says

        September 13, 2011 at 7:01 pm

        Congratulations on your marriage Erica - is it still strange to type "my husband"? 🙂 You two will have a wonderful time in Venice...

        Reply
    4. Gordon says

      September 13, 2011 at 1:51 am

      This is going into my file of great quotations:

      "Now, we are lost only most of the time."

      How broadly might that apply?

      Reply
      • marissa says

        September 13, 2011 at 7:03 pm

        Sometimes more broadly than we'd like to admit. - thanks for sending the photos of those maps - incredible!

        Reply
    5. Jenn says

      September 12, 2011 at 7:33 pm

      We are happy you went to Venice. We lived vicariously through your pictures and found GREAT joy in each and every adventure. We are looking forward to Bologna as well!

      Reply
      • marissa says

        September 13, 2011 at 7:04 pm

        We wish you were actually here - we had so much fun travelling with you...

        Reply

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