Ciao Venezia

So. Venice. One of the top tourist locations in Europe. Should you therefore not go? Should you leave its rich history and amazing architecture alone? Not wander on mild nights along the many canals or enjoy wine and nibbles in vibrant bars in such a unique setting.

Well, I thought I gotta do it once at least. And Rich agreed. October seemed a good time to go. Not in the height of tourist madness, but still warm and pleasant weather.

So after our week on Sicily we flew straight out to Venice on Monday morning.

Getting up at 5am was harder than we thought. Quick breakfast, bus to the airport, this time with plenty of time to spare! An eventless flight later we arrived in Marco Polo airport 10:10am. 

Got our luggage quickly, bought bus tickets at the public transport ticket counter right next to the arrivals exit and boarded a very nice coach shortly after. Gotta say, it was all very easy and organised. You could tell these guys are used to tourists and very efficient (unlike on Sicily where people seemed a lot more lazy and not-a-bother-in-the-world like).

It was busy at the bus station on the island that the Venice we all know is on. We started lugging or suitcase along the broad and smooth pavement and over bridge after bridge.
It was busy in this part, but doable. But we didn't want to imagine what it must be like in high season! Crammed like Bath Christmas market on a Saturday afternoon.

Arrived a bit early at the agreed meeting point for the keys to our apartment so we sat down in a modern café with a coffee and snack. Some of the prices we'd seen earlier stated EUR 4.50 for a cappuccino. Err, no thank you. Plus you can expect a service charge for up to another fiver just for sitting down.
Our coffees were reasonably priced though.. for Venice.

Met a friend of our host 12:30 at a square in the Jewish ghetto and she walked is the 5mins to the apartment. We were both very happy to find it was on the ground floor! Yay, no lugging the suitcase upstairs!
Lovely apartment once more! Very quiet in a cul-de-sac, fairly spacious and with everything we need. Settled in and after a lengthy nap went out for a wander.

Cannaregio is a lovely neighbourhood. Much quieter in general, but still with a pleasant vibe to it. There is a supermarket nearby and a few bars and restaurants.
We wandered generally East and soon met the thoroughfare with a steady slowly moving stream of tourists.
We didn't mind it too much and just swam along.

Weirdly enough the atmosphere was quite chilled and relaxed despite the many people. Again I think it's just much less this time of year. A lot of people looked very relaxed, were smiling and just enjoying themselves.

Lingered for a bit on the Rialto Bridge just watching the boat traffic on the canal.

Did a bit of window shopping as it was getting dark, bought some cheese and salami from a supermarket and made our way back.
Shared a pint of fresh strawberry and lime juice with a good splash of vodka in it and dropped off our bag at the apartment before heading out for food.

Lonely Planet had suggested Cantina Aziende Agricole about 5mins away. So we went and what a great suggestion. Small place with the usual cichetti (small snacks of all sorts) on display but also with some main meals on offer.

Super nice owner explained what they were to us and we both went for pasta. Mine was wild boar, which was gorgeous, Rich had tomato sauce and bacon, equally nice. Washed it down with some Venetian white (Lugana) and Rich had a beer.

For once we had room for cake and again got spoiled with superb quality. I had something called grandma cake which looked like cheesecake, but had a custard-like filling with lemon in it as well. Rich opted for chocolate cake. Wow. So good. Summed up to EUR 37 for the both of us. Ha! That was very reasonable!!! Might come back here during the week.

Back home we chilled with wine and beer and went to bed rather early.