Italy: Venice Day Two, Part One
Sadly, based on a ton of recommendations we only booked two days in Venice. THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TIME!!! Yes, Venice is tiny, but there are tons of surrounding islands to explore, and since getting lost is part of the fun, you definitely spend a bunch of time wandering around back streets.
Since we enjoyed our food tour in Florence so much, we decided to book one in Venice at the last last minute. Since it's the offseason, we were the only ones on the tour (!). Because of that, we really got to customize our day and pick foods and drinks that we really wanted to try. Like Florence, we wanted a less touristy experience, so we decided to explore "the other side" of the canal.
After crossing the Ponte dell'Accademia, we feasted!
Here's what we ate:
Bar Foscarini
The day began at this local bar with caffè corretto, also known as a shot of espresso with a small amount of grappa. It woke us up to say the least.
Bar alla Toletta
We were told that these crustless half-sandwiches are a local specialty here. They were definitely tasty, but probably the least interesting thing that we ate all day.
Gia Schiavi
Besides being a local cooking celebrity, Gia Schiavi is a delightfully funny lady. She was there making her famous cicchetti for us in her legendary tavern with floor-to-ceiling bottles lining the walls.
Muro Frari
For the main course, we dined al fresco on local seafood like crab gnocchi, mussels, and shrimp. Everything was cooked to perfection, and the place was filled with gondoliers on their lunch break, which is apparently a good sign.
Il Doge Gelateria
After our giant lunch, we took a break from savory to try a sweet treat at a well-known gelateria. One of the highlights was the seasonal pear sorbet, which I devoured in about 5 seconds.
Pasticceria Rizzardini
What follows gelato best? More sweets, of course! We snacked on tiramisu, puff pastries, and candy at this delightful pasticceria.
Naranzaria
We ended our tour with a few Venetian spritzes by the Rialto Bridge with our tour guide. It was the perfect ending to a day of seriously delicious noms.
Throughout the tour, we also learned about the architecture of Venice and mask making, and we took a trip to the Rialto Market.
I'm breaking this day into two parts because the second half of the day was an adventure in and of itself, so stay tuned!
-Jen
