The train ride from Bologna to Venice didn't take long so Sarah and I found ourselves in downtown by mid-day on Thursday. Sarah didn't want to miss an opportunity to have one more good meal from Bologna, so she snagged us some sandwiches to eat on the train from Eataly. Like their counterparts in NY (and local neighbors in Bologna), the staff at Eataly treated us to a delicious meal! We're especially happy we stopped in Bologna because our culinary experience in Venice was exactly the opposite of delicious...more on that later.
Once we settled into the hotel for a bit - and let the heat die down! - we set out to explore Venice's winding streets (a.k.a. canals).
Sarah loved this purple boat docked right in front of our hotel.
One of Venice's many beautiful canals.
The gondolas were everywhere! We hardly went a block without seeing one.
The busy Grand Canal. There are only three bridges to cross the Grand Canal by foot, which is why there is so much boat traffic.
We never did get a "clean" shot of Sarah here, but still a pretty good view of her checking out the view.
We knew St. Mark's Square would be crowded and filled with pigeons. We did not realize that people would be actually holding the pigeons in their hands for a photo op in front of the church (trust us, these pigeons are very comfortable around humans!). The whole scene was pretty gross and the crowds were overwhelming.
But the good thing about Venice is that once we walked a few blocks off the "main drag" we could find quiet canals like this with far fewer foreigners. (And of course, another leaning tower!)
A gondola parked in the canal.
Once we needed a break from walking around, we stopped at Ostaria da Simson for a drink and a snack. This place is definitely NOT on the route of any big tour groups - we felt very welcomed by the owner and he helped get us settled at a spot right on the canal, but we were definitely the only foreigners there. After munching on some tasty toasts and having a spritz, we made our way to another off-the-beaten-path place for dinner.
Alla Frasca fit all of the criteria Sarah normally uses to screen restaurants for us. It has 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor, it is far away from the most touristy sights and it has several reviews by locals. Unfortunately, we were let down by her method for this meal. The food was just gross - low quality ingredients prepared half-heartedly. Why anyone would love this place is a mystery to us. We headed home and vowed to seek out more casual places (like Simson) for the rest of our time here...if this meal is an indication of what the restaurants offer, we'd prefer to stick to bars! (To be fair, we did read that Venice is known to have generally lower quality food than the other big cities in Italy given its completely lopsided tourist-to-local ratio, but we didn't think it would be this bad...)
We had a leisurely start to Friday - the food from last night actually made us both a little sick - but we had ourselves sorted by mid-day and headed to MQ10 to grab a light lunch. This casual place is more of a bar than a restaurant, but the food we had was simple and fresh! A re-affirmation of our strategy from last night.
After lunch, we grabbed two-day ferry (or as they're called here, "water bus") passes and hopped on the first one that showed up. Turns out it was going in the direction we wanted and half an hour later we were on Murano, one of the islands surrounding Venice. Murano is known for its glass blowing - and there were certainly a large number of souvenir shops around to remind you of that! - but we decided to stroll around the canals at our own pace rather than joining a tour of the island (all of which included mandatory glass museum / shop stops).
The canals of Murano.
Definitely the tannest I've ever been in my life (Sarah is a little jealous, I think).
After a couple hours on Murano, we got on another ferry and headed back to St. Mark's Square. We knew what to expect this time and didn't spend any time in the square itself, but rather exploring some of the other sights nearby.
Santa Maria della Salute.
Gondolas in Venice with San Giorgio in the background.
By the time the sun was ready to set, we got on another ferry to get across to San Giorgio. We read that this church has a great view looking back on St. Mark's for sunset and we definitely agree - stop here for an hour at sunset if you ever visit Venice!
Sunset in Venice.
On Saturday morning we walked over to the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, one of the oldest in Europe. There was not a lot to see - we didn't think about it beforehand, but almost all businesses were closed for shabbat! - but it was still interesting to visit.
The Holocaust memorial to all the Jews of Venice.
For lunch, we stumbled upon La Cantina, a small wine bar not far from the Jewish Ghetto. When we first walked in, neither of us were even sure if they served food, but a very helpful bartender quickly explained that most of the menu changes daily depending on what is purchased at the market. So we had "off menu" buratta, pasta and a panini...all of which were fantastic. It was a slow dining experience, but well worth it (Sarah maintains this is one of our best meals in Venice and definitely a highlight in Italy overall)!
After lunch we caught another ferry, this time to Burano, an island further away than Murano but still accessible by boat in under an hour. While Murano is known for glass blowing, Burano is known for its brightly colored houses. (Locals also claim they are excellent lace makers, but really everyone comes for the houses). Like the Bo Kapp neighborhood in Cape Town or La Boca in Buenos Aires, the brightly colored houses were the standout for us and we spent several hours wandering around the canals before heading back to Venice.
A practically deserted canal in Burano.
Burano at its best.
Sarah loved these few houses in particular.
Beautiful Burano!
We took the ferry back and headed back to Simson for a snack and to listen to the live music they have every Saturday - again, only locals here, but very cool. Our final meal in Venice was at a place called Fresh Pasta To Go. The name basically says it all - they offer single serving take-away pasta and it is delicious (and again, casual and cheap!). We found a spot by a canal to sit and eat, then walked back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we're heading to Milan for the final stop on our three-week tour of Italy. Neither of us has spent any time there before so we'll see what the Fashion Capital of the World has in store for us.
Goodnight, Venice.