Venice
While staying in Bologna, we took a side trip to Venice for a few days. Venice was on my "must" list of places to visit during this trip, so I was excited. It did not disappoint! I'm truly grateful to have experienced such a unique, charming, and romantic city together with Jeff.
We were only there for two nights, so we hustled to make every moment count. Our feet were sore by the end of the trip - we walked 9 miles each day while exploring the city!
General Thoughts
Don’t wait to visit Venice! Not only is continuous sinking and rising sea levels from climate change a threat, but excessive growth in visitors from cruise ships and other waves of new tourists have led to significant overcrowding. The local population has dwindled, and Venice is considering measures to limit the number of tourists.
Venice is truly a destination ideal for couples. Not only is the city incredibly romantic, but it is not ideal for children or those with mobility challenges - there is A LOT of walking along narrow streets and over bridges with stairs - strollers and wheelchairs would be a challenge.
Venice is best enjoyed on foot! There’s two primary options for water transportation, and both are expensive: Vaporetto (essentially city busses on water), which run €7 per ride regardless of how many stops, and private water taxis (which looked so glamorous!), which are even more costly.
Our trip was an easy 1.5 hours by train from Bologna. Once we arrived at Santa Lucia station, we walked outside and were immediately greeted by the Grand Canal. I was in awe and full-blown excitement mode, making Jeff immediately take a cheesy photo of me in front of the canal.
Highlights
Cicchetti
Cicchetti are essentially Venetian tapas which are served in a bar (bacaro). We enjoyed a "cichetti crawl" one night, wandering from bar to bar enjoying little sandwiches on white bread (tramezzini) and crostini with different toppings, all paired with local wines from the Veneto region. These spots are all over Venice, but we really enjoyed Al Bottegon, Cantina Do Mori (oldest bacaro in Venice!), and Veno Veri during our visit.
Gondola Ride
As cheesy as it seems to some people (ie, Jeff), riding in a gondola in Venice has always been on my wishlist. It's the equivalent of riding a cable car in San Francisco.
Since it's a costly activity that doesn't last long, we were picky about our gondola selection. We wanted an authentic gondolier, and we wanted to pick up one on a side canal to enjoy a peaceful, romantic ride in solitude. After enjoying a glass of wine at Al Merca, we went on the search for the perfect gondolier. Finally, we spotted Hector from a canal bridge and went for it. He took us down quiet canals, which we loved. We didn’t encounter many other gondolas until the end of the trip when he took us on the Grand Canal, which turned out to be a perfect finale.
At the end of our gondola ride, we had the good fortune of pulling into a dock beside an art installation which was part of Art Biennale, called "Support" by artist Lorenzo Quinn.
Art Biennale
We were fortunate enough to be in Venice during the tail end of Art Biennale, an international art exhibit that takes place biannually during odd years. We spent an afternoon at the permanent exhibition grounds (Giardini) exploring the unique pavilions of different countries, each showcasing their best artists. Our favorite pavilions were Japan, Russia, and South Korea.
Piazza San Marco
When we arrived at the Piazza San Marco, we were both caught off guard. The Basilica di San Marco (“St. Mark’s”) was beautiful and striking, and unlike any of the other churches we had seen in Italy. It felt unique with its distinctive arches (ogee), which we had been noticing on other buildings in Venice.
Venetian Seafood
We have been immensely enjoying the hearty comfort food of Bologna and Tuscany, but we were excited to dive into seafood, something we've been missing! Though we struck out in trying to order seafood risotto, and we did have one disappointing meal with a grumpy old waiter, we were lucky enough to enjoy a couple delicious meals filled with tasty creatures from the Adriatic Sea.
Our first night, we had a great dinner at Osteria da Alberto. After putting our names in for a table, we walked to a nearby bar to grab a glass of wine and enjoyed it outside on a canal bridge. Back at Alberto, we enjoyed spaghetti al nero di seppia (squid ink pasta), spaghetti with clams, and a bottle of local Sauvignon.
On our last day, we had a delicious lunch at Osteria alla Staffa of black ravioli stuffed with seabass, seafood spaghetti, and a full plate of fresh grilled fish. We paired it all with a delicious Sauvignon from Veneto. The only odd thing was that they played Linkin Park’s music the entire time...
Fancy Beverages
While in Venice, we enjoyed a couple of very fancy, very delicious beverages at iconic spots.
Harry's Bar: This legendary bar is the birthplace of the Bellini. We stumbled upon Harry's on our way to Art Biennale, and were lucky enough to be the first ones to arrive. We had the entire bar to ourselves to enjoy a round of Bellinis while sitting in a corner booth that Ernest Hemingway once frequented.
Caffe Lavena: As we waltzed through Piazza San Marco one day, we were lured into a seat in front of the orchestra at Caffe Lavena. We sat in the sunshine and enjoyed an espresso cocktail, the best either of us ever had. Although the drink was pure dessert, they also served them with an array of cookies, which I was a huge fan of!
We also had our first glass of Amarone wine, which my dad had recommended trying while in Italy (thanks, Dad!).
Aimless Exploration
Wandering the streets and canals of Venice was a treat! Nearly every corner of Venice was charming, and it was pretty easy to sneak off and find vacant streets to enjoy by ourselves. Some little alleys led to dead ends, while others led straight into steps down into the canal.
We were a little bummed to leave Venice, realizing in hindsight an extra day or two would have been better. Although we did A LOT during our time in Venice, there wasn’t much downtime, and we still didn’t have a chance to do everything on our wishlist. In hindsight, 3-4 full days would have been ideal.
