On Friday we headed out, planning to stop to do some souvenir/gift shopping at a mall in Bologna en route to Venice. Derek had been checking in with his office everyday and it turned out that he had an opportunity to meet with a potential business partner in nearby Modena, so we detoured there instead. Derek dropped us 3 at a shopping mall and went off for his meeting. Michael and I had made a very compressed pack on the trip here and had not used our allocation, so we could check one more bag on the trip home. We managed to pick up a new suitcase, some gifts, and a pair of pants for Michael while Marketa went off and did her own shopping. Derek rejoined us, and we all had a quick lunch at the mall and then off to Venice!
We took the toll highways which wasn’t cheap, about 20Euro, but still cheaper than the 407 in Toronto! Cars are not allowed in Venice, so we parked easily in the massive Tronchetto parking structure. The easiest affordable route to our accommodation was via water bus which dropped us at the Rialto bridge stop close to our BnB. The owner was lovely and gave us good info on where to eat. Cicchetti are a great way to go – small bites like tapas. After settling in to our rooms we headed out to the crowds – it is crazy here! And despite the multiple locks on the door, she assured us it was a safe neighbourhood.
We headed for the main drag in search for cicchetti. As it was Friday evening the streets were jam packed. We had a few bites as well as prosecco and I tried out a drink with Cynar. The Italian artichoke and herb liqueur had a very distinctive taste, quite herbal and bitter, which grew on me. It was difficult to get a table, or even food as much was sold out, so we decided to pick up a pizza and returned to have pizza and wine at our place. It may be mostly due to the weekend crowds, but boy is Venice busy…. can’t imagine what it is like during the peak season!!!
