We landed at around 7PM in Venice, so we just wanted to check into our hotel and grab a quick dinner before passing out for the night. Leaving the airport was relatively easy, and we were immediately greeted by a beautiful sight of the lights reflected on the water that illuminated the canals.
We wanted to get a quick bite at a touristy place right outside our hotel, but I couldn’t read Italian so I missed the “per gram” written by the fish. Dinner cost $160 for pasta and the biggest fish I’ve ever eaten.
We went to bed right after that. The hotel room was cold and clean, and smelled a bit damp, but was comfortable overall.
The next morning, we got up with no real plan and just started to explore the city. I felt like I was lost, and every turn in the streets and alleyways lead to a new and unprecedented scene. What really struck me about this place was that the beauty was doubled by the water, wherever you looked. It almost felt like the building was reality, and the reflection was the image of a dream world that rippled at every disturbance.
The city felt accidental, unplanned, and organic. It seemed that over time, buildings popped up where they were needed, not where they would most efficiently be placed. When you’re in the midst of the buildings, you can’t see the city layout, but you can feel it by way of a hint of old-world charm coming through the water, the stones, and the peeling paint.
We walked by outdoor cafes and small shops. Everything here was warm. The paint on the buildings ranged from faded pink hues to warm burnt oranges. We saw people enjoying the midday sun with their families at restaurants. Every shop owner greeted us happily. I felt like I could have spent forever walking through the city.
We came upon a beautiful hospital, but we thought it might have been a hotel, so we walked in. We sat in the courtyard for a while, and some of the cats living there came to us and sunned themselves in the grass.
After the hospital, we came to a church, and they were holding a service inside. We peeked inside. Seeing this really made an impression on me. In America, this church would be a tourist destination simply because of how old it was, and there would be intense security and preservation of the relics and building features. In Venice, this centuries-old building was being used exactly how they used it 500 years ago. There, the townspeople have had a long, continuous history of tradition and worship in the same location, just like their ancestors. It’s something precious, yet typical. Personally, it’s completely different from my world.
After passing by the church, we decided to check out the local supermarket, Co-op, to see what Venetians liked to eat. We saw rows and rows of cheeses and cured meats. I’d never seen such a large variety! But what really caught my attention was the inside. The building had been repurposed — it hadn’t been built as a grocery store. We were standing under a large ceiling mural. Even though I was surrounded by salami, I felt like I was in a spacious ballroom. It was awesome.
We passed by the extremely crowded Rialto bridge, and finally stumbled onto the main square, where the Doge’s palace and St. Mark’s Basilica were located. We came upon the crowds of tourists and performers. Taking a closer look, I saw small intricate frescoes and stonework, including small statues of figures adorning every curve of the roofline. Every possible surface was decorated to its fullest extent and I had never seen anything like it. This was my first time in Europe and it was everything I had read about in books before.
Then we visited another church. Inside, we saw musical instruments in a case, on the side of the church. The violins and violas were absolutely gorgeous, and in great condition for being 400+ years old.
After walking for hours, we went to Bacaro’s Jazz to grab a bite to eat. They’re known for a great happy hour, and a field of visitors’s bras hanging from the ceiling!
It was a distinctively quirky place, and the drinks were delicious.
Our next stop was Cantina do Spade, another aperitivo place. We didn’t want to eat any big meals, so that we could try many different dishes. We stepped down from street level into the brightly lit interior of the restaurant.
It was a very small space. The front area was the bar and community table, and standing room for people coming in for cicchetti. At the back were some more traditional two-seater tables, for people coming in for a full dinner. We each got a glass of wine, and chose a few snacks at the bar. We got crab croquettes, meatballs and polenta, fried shrimp, and herbed potatoes and sat down at the community table.
The space filled up quickly, and soon, there was barely even room to stand. No one minded, though. Three Italian gentlemen sat across from us, and they spoke great English. They were in Venice on a weekend getaway from the nearby coastal city of Padua. They were excited to talk to us and share their homeland with us. We talked about food and vacations and our language barrier and beautiful sceneries. All five of us lost track of time and it was pitch-black outside when we decided to leave. Well-fed and well-hydrated, we said our goodbyes to our new friends and we wished each other well on our travels.
The canals were gorgeous at any time of day, and the sidewalks were filled with people strolling and packed sidewalk cafes. To finish the night off, we stopped by the Co-op and grabbed two grocery store gelato cups and a bottle of wine and sat by the canals to eat, near the local teenagers hanging out in the streets.
