Weather report: even more hot and sweltering than Prague
Holy guacamole. It was terribly humid in Venice, the air felt so heavy! Which meant bad things for our sensitive little Canadian bodies. Luckily, we made a smart choice in accommodations: instead of staying in the actual labyrinth of Venice, we opted for a camping village just on the mainland. This camping village had a pool. We were very excited about this and spent a lot of time by the pool when we weren't wandering the labyrinth that is Venice!
Walking Tour: fun facts about Venice
Ever since our first walking tour in Berlin, we decided we want to do one for every city thereafter! It's a great way to learn some history from locals who are passionate about their city, and they work for tips which means that it HAS to be a good tour or else they won't get paid. Without further ado, here are some gems from the tour we did in Venice with 306tours:
1. Venice is built on mud isles and will be gone in 70 years of the city does nothing to combat the sinking AND rising sea levels.
2. Salt water is bad for brick, marble, and probably every other building material.
3. Venetian masks come from a tradition of protecting oneself from the plague, or Black Death. People wore masks and covered themselves from head to toe to do so. Eventually, masks would be worn to celebrate the "end" of plague in Venice (the plague hit Venice three times because it's a port city) and were to show equality between the classes (to quell unrest) because everyone was covered and you couldn't tell if someone was rich or poor from the way they looked. Masks used to be plain, but evolved to reflect personality traits as well.
4. The canals are nasty dirty; a lot of their sewage goes in there.
5. Under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 20% of canals were filled and street signs were created to make Venice more of a pedestrian city.
6. Street names are pretty much useless because when they named the streets, they just named them by what was on the street. There are 92 "Baker" streets! The best way to ask for directions is to ask where the "Campo" or square nearest to your destination is.
7. The word "ghetto" originates from the Italian word "gheto" and means "boundary". The oldest ghetto in the world (and the original) is in Venice and is 500 years old. Its inhabitants were Jewish, and when their population increased, they moved up instead of outwards. This resulted in what are called Venetian skyscrapers, buildings that are 6 or 7 storeys high instead of the typical 4.
A storm in a heatwave?
On the first evening we decided to spend in Venice, the sky looked a little scary. By the time we were in the city and had wandered towards where we were going to get food, dark clouds had rolled in ad we could see some lightning lighting up the sky. We thought it was so cool, as the noticeable drop in temperature wS welcome! The locals on the other hand, were running for the hills. This should have been our first clue. In no time at all, it was like the entire Mediterrannean was pouring from the sky! The rain came down so heavily and the wind was so strong that we dove for cover under a hotel's covered entrance. We were there for about 20 minutes before the rain let up and we could go on our way to dinner. It was an incredible sight! Immediately after the storm, the sky was bright and blue once again - very word. We learned the next morning that the storm had caused a tornado about 20 minutes away from where our campground was, still considered within the city of Venice I think. Knowing that is pretty scary, but I'm glad it didn't come anywhere near us!
Can't forget about the food!
Ahhhh, food. My greatest downfall. Luckily for me, Italy has some of the most delicious cuisine and I couldn't wait to get started. In all honesty, the pizza and pasta weren't that great, but the only place I ate those things was at the restaurant at the campground so it's not like I went to a good restaurant. Our tour guide told us that there is NO good pizza in Venice because the city banned wood-burning ovens because they cause too many fires and the city can't take that kind of damage! So, what in the world did we eat that was so gosh-diddily-darn good (sorry, Flanders escaped me for a second there)???
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT.
1. Lunch buffet at Taverna al Remer
We first heard of this restaurant from our walking tour guide. She actually recommended the "happy hour" or aperitivo deal, but we decided to go for the lunch buffet first. The place was a little difficult to find, as you must turn down a number of narrow alleys to get there. We walked in the door as soon as it opened for lunch at noon and were served by some of the nicest staff ever! The lunch buffet was as follows:
- Cost: €20/person
- Includes: water, 0,5 cL wine each, coffee, 1 pasta dish each, lunch buffet, AND dessert
- Lunch buffet: about 6 different kinds of salads including egg, caprese, and I think a sort of raw fish salad?; grilled zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers; steamed cauliflower; a sort of curried chicken; meatballs; and cured ham and other deli meats
- Dessert: the most delicious tiramisu and fruit salad
UMMMM. Can I get a "yes please"?! We haven't really eaten much fruits and veggies since we've been traveling, so both of us filled our plates FULL with all of the veggies and salads in front of us. There was so much food and it was all so delicious. Considering all of the food we ate, the air-conditioning, the cool atmosphere, and the awesome staff, it was well worth €20.
2. Cicchetti
Also a tip from our walking tour guide! Cicchetti is LIKE Spanish tapas, kind of. Basically it consists of a lot of delicious toppings on croustinis that cost between €1,20-€1,50 each. You choose which tasty morsels you want to eat, order up s glass of wine, and take your food away to eat standing up inside or outside of the establishment. You're supposed to eat standing up because it's traditionally a time for socializing and exchanging ideas, so you're being open to others (while sitting down is seen as being closed off). Meg and I ate at a little cicchetti bar called Cantinone già Schiavi and it was absolutely delicious. The staff were very nice and helpful, and one woman was behind the counter making new tasty morsels to replenish the ones tamest were being ordered, so we knew it had to be pretty fresh! Some of the pieces I chose had cuttlefish, smoked herring, and Brie on them while Meg had a couple with dried cod and one with pumpkin and "snow"! A very different experience for the both of us, but I loved it. We had two rounds of 3 each, along with a glass of wine and a drink called Spritz. We took our food outside along the canal and ate as we watched gondolas and boats pass by.
Cicchetti!
Venice, I was very pleasantly surprised by you and would love to visit again. A lot of people warn against going to Venice, thinking it to be dirty and smelly, but in my experience, it's no more dirty or smelly than any other major European city, such as London or Berlin or Prague, which both smelled similarly occasionally (London probably more so). I think that Venice, while full of tourists, has a history and culture that should be learned and engaged with, and if you do that I think you'll also see why I was very happy to have visited Venice at all. Take a free tour with Venice Free Walking Tour, intentionally get lost in the streets, and try to get a little taste of how the locals live. You won't regret it!
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