K&R Italy: Oh Venice

Day Two: Venice: Vaporetti, Casanova, & Cicchetti

We packed everything up, got an Uber from our hotel in Milan to the train station and began our 2.5 hour train journey to Venice!

Venice, my friends, is a tale of two cities. One is over-crowded, full of tourists, scammers, smelly canals, kitschy shops, and long lines to see or do anything. The other, ah the other….is so full of unique charm that it’s surprisingly alluring.

Allow me a brief non-sequitor…

During the day (and especially the days when cruise ships are in port), Venice is ridiculously crowded. At least the main, central parts of the island, San Marco and San Palo, are ridiculously crowded. Every shop seems full of touristy crap, you get occasional wafts of sewage, the famous landmarks such as Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, & surrounding sights are unbearably crammed with tourists. Long lines to see St Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, & the feeling like you are packed into a can of sardines that crossing over Rialto will make even the happiest of travelers feel claustrophobic.

But then something happens when the cruise ships pull out and you’re left with only locals and over-nighters. The city settles down. The streets are nearly empty. The waters calm. The lights come on, illuminating the faces of the colorful buildings and spit their reflections on the shimmering surface below. Suddenly you find yourself in an almost magical setting. You feel like you’re somehow floating too. Venice during the quiet hours is downright charming and like no other place I’ve ever been. The buildings soar up out of the water 4 and 5 stories tall with no more than 20 feet between them making it insanely easy to get completely lost. And you know what? That’s okay. In fact….you SHOULD get lost. The best part of Venice is exploring all the side streets and just admiring the unique-ness that is this city. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually hit water somewhere and get your bearings back.

As soon as we arrived, we headed over to the info desk inside the train station and picked up a couple of Venice passes. We opted for the 2-day transit pass which includes unlimited Vaporetto access, and we also picked up a combo Museum pass for Doge’s palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. A lot of the passes are not worthwhile because the whole point of Venice is to NOT be stuck inside museums, but to experience the real attraction – the island itself. However, the base Museum pass was worth it for us because it was cheaper to get for the few touristy places we knew we wanted to see. And the Vaporetto pass is a no brainer. The canal is one of the best ways to get around and going by Vaporetto is the easiest thing in Venice. Getting a pass makes it that much more affordable, especially if you plan to visit any of the islands in the lagoon, like Murano or Burano.

So without further ado, welcome to Venezia

We gave ourselves two nights in Venice, which was more like a day and a half. It’s plenty of time, and also nowhere near enough. In the words of Truman Capote:

 “Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”

For our arrival, we hopped on the slow Vaporetto and listened to the first half of Rick Steves’ Grand Canal audio tour. Be sure you get on Line 1 because it’s the slow line that makes all of the stops. Sure you can pay for a half day Grand Canal tour, or you can let Rick Steves be your guide with his free audio tour (or just read his notes in his guidebook) and then you can enjoy the trip at your own pace.

Isn’t she cute with her lil’ earbuds?

We hopped off at Rialto and made our way to our B&B. There are no residences on the ground level due to seasonal flooding, so everyone’s living quarters are on the 2^nd story and our B&B was no different.

We stayed at Antico Mercato B&B. A very small, charming place with only three rooms run by a very friendly staff…..even if the asst. manager didn’t speak a word of English. Bring on the Google Translate. Our room was spacious with a wardrobe for hanging clothes and two large windows overlooking the alley Calle Prima de la Donzela. This was a fantastic location just down from the fish market and the Rialto Market ferry terminal, BUT the entrance is VERY inconspicuous and we walked past it about 5 times before we noticed the little sign on the door. If you’ve turned down the correct street and arrived at the fish market, then you’ve gone too far. The only negative of the location was the smell of fresh fish wafting down the alley every morning, but it disappeared the second you step inside. We were almost within spitting distance of Rialto Bridge, but far enough removed that it was quiet. The bathroom was a bit tight with a tiny shower, but the room was spotless.

After settling in and dropping our bags, we meandered back over Rialto bridge… (remember these pictures and these crowds when we post day 2 so you have something to compare to the very quiet, early morning Venice experience before the throngs of daytrippers arrive)

We were hungry so we made our way to Taverna al Remer (after a little Google Maps shuffle in the impenetrable high walls,and narrow alleys of Venice, and walking past the turn 500 times). A hidden away little gem off the beaten path (the understatement of the century) that was serving up fresh local fare.

This…is where our day drinking began. We each ordered a glass of house red for lunch.

Food in Venice is BIG on seafood. After all, it’s a staple of their economy.

A hodge-podge of antipasto showcasing local seafood was ordered per a suggestion from Rick Steves. He said to try the frutti di mare – mixed seafood platter. This plate was brimming with local specialties including baccala, fresh scallop, a couple of seafood salads, and some of it was actually pretty incredible. We also shared a big bowl of tagliolini neri (black noodles) with fresh crab and tomatoes. Now this was a proper Italian lunch. This little hidden gem is worth the find.

After lunch, we started heading back towards Rialto Square and HOLY CRAP was it even more crowded now!

Look at that street. This isn’t some back alley, this is a big, main street. Yeah, we were barely moving. Shuffling a few inches at a time like cattle. This experience was making us both feel…stabby.

After being herded like cattle, we made a quick stop at SuSo….

….For what was some of the best gelato we had on our entire trip. This cone holds a scoop of amarena pistachio on top and Opera (hazelnut with chocolate hazelnut gianduja) on bottom. So decadent!

Now that we were pressed for time, we took the quick Vaporetto on line 2 (i.e., it makes less stops), snagging a few more Grand Canal pictures along the way….

……to San Marco and were greeted with an ungodly amount of tourists.

 

A quick Google search later that evening would confirm that it was in fact, a cruise ship day….which explains the MASSIVE THRONG of people.

Since we picked up our passes back at the train station, we got to skip the line for Doge’s Palace and head on in. It was…a little intimidating. Massive, daunting, ornate, elaborate…

Oh, just me…’mirin the impressive ceilings.

In its heyday, it was THE place where all political dealings in Italy were done. Oh, and also a prison/torture chamber. Yeah. You heard me. You can pay extra for a behind the scenes tour and see the chamber where Casanova (yes that one) was held and tortured. In today’s standards, Casanova would be considered a playboy rockstar. Instead it landed him 5 years imprisonment (and without a trial too).

(Above: a typical prison cell viewed from the hallway) (Below: inside of a typical prison cell)

While touring Doge’s you also get the opportunity to walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs, the last view of the beautiful canals of Venice for many on their death march. A little eerie to say the least. (and seriously, look how PACKED it is)

After the palace, we made the decision to stand in the extremely long line for the tower soaring high above the square. It was touch and go there for a bit. We weren’t quite sure it would be worth the wait…it was a REALLY long line, and we were worried it would close before we got up to the front.

But what a payoff! You can truly get a feel for how much of a maze Venice really is. Also, it’s really pretty from up here, right? Tickets for St. Mark’s Campanile are 8 Euros per person and are generally not included in any pass. There seem to be options to purchase skip-the-line tickets online for around 13 Euro per person, but you have to make sure to plan your day out in advance to schedule a time. Honestly, this might be worthwhile to avoid waiting for upwards of an hour or more. The other really great thing about Venice’s famous bell tower? No stairs to climb. Nope. There is a single lift shuttling tourists up and down all day, hence the long wait. They pack around 12 people, like sardines, inside for each two minute ride.

We came back down and took this opportunity to snag some pictures of the good ol’ ‘Bridge of Sighs’ since it was nearby. You will exit St. Mark’s square toward the Grand Canal, take a left at Doge’s and it’s just past Doge’s palace. You can’t miss it. You will walk up and over a bridge, turn back toward Venice and Doge’s and there it will be, but the massive crowd clamoring for a photo will be a dead giveaway.

After waiting in the massive line to go up the tower and fighting the crowd to get the above picture at the Bridge of Sighs, we felt like we deserved another gelato. So we, shamelessly, swung by SuSo again on our way back to the B&B before dinner. What’s better than a pre-dinner treat? And when in Italy, do as the Italians do and enjoy your gelato in the afternoon.

The strawberry cheesecake flavor on the left was TO.DIE.FOR. The strawberry was so fresh. I love that even their cups are edible waffles.

For dinner, we eschewed the traditional mealtime and decided to live as the locals do. Venice is known for cicchetti…..basically a smorgasbord of appetizers that will be easy on your wallet at 1-2E each. They are mostly bruschetta topped with seafood or deep fried balls of mystery (usually cheese or sausage), but if you find a good spot you will get lucky with some interesting choices. In Venice, it’s common to hit up a few pubs, have a few drinks, and get your fill of cicchetti. Which…is exactly what we did. Our first stop was Cantina do Spade, one of the oldest restaurants in Venice since 1448. Just a block from our B&B, this tiny spot is where we actually found a lovely little meatball and lots of other interesting options and it was PACKED with locals. We ordered up a couple of Aperol Spritz, again like the locals and found a server who spoke English to help us pick out a platter of cicchetti. Full disclosure, we did not care for the Aperol Spritz, at least not the one we tried. Aperol is an almost sickeningly sweet liqueur that is lovingly sipped with a bubbly wine by everyone in Venezia…but not so lovingly by us. Tasted too much like cough syrup. But the fried balls of stuff were tasty and the little meatball with polenta was divine! We ate our food standing up in the alley with the other locals.

If that sounds terrible, then Venice may not be for you.

We then headed to Ostaria Ai Storti when the other bars on our list were closed for the day (it was Easter Monday after all) and should have known better when it was practically empty. The service was friendly, but the cicchetti was terrible. 🙁

After stuffing our bellies….we walked some more. Took an evening stroll over to San Marco Square, mostly to familiarize ourselves with the route since we’d be headed back in the morning to see the Basilica early.

The square was showing signs of life, but nowhere near the crowds it had earlier in the day.

We enjoyed a very casual stroll through a now quieter Venice, soaking in the atmosphere…

And….stopping off at the much less crowded Rialto Bridge to snag a nighttime shot before tucking in for the night.

We will post a recap of all of our tips for Venice, including restaurants, where to stay, what attractions to see in our next post – Venice Day 2! So stay tuned for more of our time in the famous floating city. And click on the below image to pin this post for later!