5 Things to do in Venice

Today we have the third installment of five things to do in different Italian cities...and it's Venice!

1. Get lost. This will inevitably happen anyway and you just have to embrace it. Our favorite thing to do in Venice is to wander around, making our way through the tiny alleys to see what we see. It's how we've found some of our favorite bars and restaurants in Venice and how we stumbled on the best souvenirs.

2. Visit the fish market. It's right near the famous Rialto Bridge and it's definitely worth a wander through and a look (there's also a great vegetable market right nearby). Everyone shops here, from restaurant chefs to locals, to get the freshest fish of the day. Even if you're just visiting and aren't in the market for a giant branzino, it's a true Venetian experience worth having.

3. Take a boat ride. The best way to see Venice is from the water so make sure you get on a boat at least once during your trip. While gondola rides are great fun, they can often be pricey, so try the (much) less expensive vaporetto, which is sort of like a water bus.

4. Have a glass of wine at Do Mori. This is our favorite wine bar in all of Venice and it's been around for hundreds of years. They have a great wine list and a great cichetti (small snacks) selection to go with it. I don't think we've ever been to Venice without stopping here.

5. Eat spaghetti con vongole. This typical Venetian dish is my absolute favorite and, like visits to Do Mori, I've never been to Venice without having it at least once per trip (and usually more). It's good everywhere, but my personal favorite is at Trattoria da Bepi.

Are you traveling to Venice this summer? Here are our Venice favorites, with more bars, restaurants, hotels and sights to see....and our expat interview with Karen Henderson who is lucky enough to live in Venice full time!

Venice Favorites

We're lucky enough that Venice is only about two hours from Cortina which makes it the perfect getaway. We've been down many times over the past four years and by now we've got a good collection of favorite spots to sleep, eat and drink so we compiled a short list to share:

My favorite hotel is Locanda la Corte which is located in a quieter/less touristy part of Venice but is still an easy walk to San Marco (the square) and the Rialto Bridge. They have nice, big rooms and a great courtyard where it's fun to sit and have a cappuccino or a Spritz Aperol, Venice's signature drink.

If you want to get closer to the scene though, Locanda ai Bareteri is in a great spot, right between San Marco and the Rialto. The rooms are simple and clean and the location is perfect for anything (and the price is right, too).

Our favorite wine bar is Cantina do Mori which has been in existence since 1462. They have a great cicchetti selection (small bites like meatballs, grilled eggplant, sardines on toast) and it's fun to have a plate of those with a little glass of wine.

When we want to sit on the canal, we go to Bancogiro where you can sit outside and watch the boats go by while you have a glass of Prosecco.

For two traditional Venice experiences, try Caffe Florian and Harry's Bar. Caffe Florian claims to be the oldest cafe in Europe (since 1720) and a symbol of Venice (true). When it's warm you can sit outside in the square and have a coffee while people-watching. Harry's Bar is where Ernest Hemingway worked on his book "Over the River and Into the Trees." Try their famous "Bellini" cocktail which was named after Giovanni Bellini, a 15th century Venetian painter. Be prepared to spend in both of these places - I would say they're both worth one visit though.

We've had a few favorite restaurants in Venice over the years. Seafood is the way to go: Trattoria da Bepi is great for spaghetti con vongole (clams) and branzino, a white fish similar to sea bass. Osteria il Milion has wonderful shrimp and zucchini risotto. Ai Tre Spiedi has an amazing seafood antipasti plate. And Osteria al Portego is great for a few cicchetti followed by a plate of shrimp scampi.

Our favorite thing to do is wander around, winding our way through tiny alleys and ending up (many a time) at a dead end where the road ends at the canal. In Venice, it's easy to get lost but that's part of the fun. Remember to look up: there are signs on the sides of the buildings that will point you towards the Rialto Bridge, San Marco, the train station, etc.

Venice is a water city, so at some point you should be on a boat. I think it's fun to do a gondola ride at least once, but that can be touristy and over-priced. It's easy to buy a day ticket for the vaporetto (water bus) and you can hop on and off as you please or ride them in circles all day, if you want. (Remember when my friend Cori said that she does this all the time with her three small boys and it always provides endless entertainment?) It's important to see Venice from the water too, because really, that's the best view.

PS - One thing I've always wanted to try in Venice: a cicchetti tour. And here's our expat interview with Karen who lives in Venice now.

Expat Interview: Karen Henderson in Venice

For our second expat interview, I talked to Karen Henderson who moved to Venice from Baltimore, Maryland with her husband in 2008. Can you imagine living in Venice?! I've always wondered if people who live in Venice ever get lost (she said they don't anymore and they know almost every street very well from walking so much!). Here's what else she said:

"My husband and I moved to Italy in 2008 to escape our very hectic corporate American lives. We wanted to live a more simple life, centered on food, family and enjoying life with a more positive attitude. We loved the Italian lifestyle, so we decided to move there."

What was the most difficult thing to get used to?
Having to deal with all the bureaucratic issues of a foreign country, especially with no friends or family here at the time. And having very little knowledge of the Italian language.

How did you learn to speak Italian?
We're still learning. When we first moved, we didn't have any friends or family to help us learn, but we've taken private lessons with some great teachers over the years. Because my husband and I are both American, we aren't immersed in Italian at home so learning the language has been slower for us than we anticipated.
  
What do you love most about living in Italy?
I love the food. And I love the focus on family.

What do you miss the most from home?
Not much! Occasionally, I miss things like Hersey's Kisses or Tootsie Rolls. My friends and family send them to me every now and then though, to handle my craving.

What do you think is the hardest part of living in a different country?
Learning to adapt to totally different ways and a different culture that can be very foreign. The trick to surviving, I think, is not expecting Italy to be anything like the U.S. It's not and it never will be.

Was it easy to make friends in Venice?
Not making local friends easily has been one of our biggest disappointments. We do have expat friends who were easy to meet. There are local expat groups where we met people and we see them often. Venetians, though, aren't so easy to meet, especially if you're like we are: married to another expat. We didn't come to Venice to marry an Italian so we don't have an Italian family to be immersed in. Getting past those invisible walls to make good friends is tough here. I think in other Italian cities, it would have been easier. But Venice is such a tourist city with a fairly low resident population (56,000 and shrinking), and the Venetians stick to themselves. At least, this has been our experience. Only this past year, when I was adopted by the local rowing club, Pink Lionesses in Venice, did I begin to make local Venetian friends.

Have you adopted any Italian mannerisms or habits?
We do the afternoon passeggiata (walk) almost every afternoon. It's one of the best parts of the day now.

What's your favorite Italian meal?
Coming from an Italian family, I've always loved Italian food. Lasagna is and always will be my favorite.

Can you share a favorite spot or two in Venice?! We're always looking for new ideas...
Our favorite cafe is Imagina Cafe on Rio Tera Canal in Campo Santa Margherita. It's the best cafe/bar in town! Our favorite restaurant is Al Giardinetto in Castello, just off Ruga Giufa.

If friends or family back home ask you questions about what you're doing or when you're coming home, is there one that really bugs you?

Many people ask when we're moving back home rather than just coming for a visit. I just keep saying "not going to happen!"

Where is your favorite place to travel to in Italy?

We love exploring Venice, where we live, of course. But a second favorite would be Cinque Terre.

Favorite thing to do?
You know that Italian saying "la dolce per fare niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing)? My favorite thing is having a drink in an outside cafe, enjoying the weather and doing some people watching. That's a perfect example of la dolce per fare niente.

Thank you, Karen! You can check out Karen's blog here....and stay tuned for our third interview next month. (The first one is here.)

Venice + Florence

My parents are visiting now and when they arrived last Wednesday, we took a mini-trip to Venice and Florence. Here are a few pictures if you'd like to see:

We started in Venice and successfully navigated our way from the airport all the way in to the hotel which was a huge feat. I love to stay at Locanda la Corte in Venice because it's located in a quiet, less touristy area - but it's kind of tricky to find if you don't follow their specific instructions! They have a great courtyard where it's fun to eat breakfast in the spring and summer - it was too cold in January but it was still beautiful.

After a good night's sleep for the weary travelers, we went and saw the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in the morning. We took the vaporetto everywhere on this trip which is great because it gives you a completely different view of Venice.

Whenever I'm in Venice, all I eat is spaghetti con vongole (spaghetti with clams) - and this trip didn't disappoint. We tried two new restaurants - Osteria da Alberto and Osteria al Mascaron - and both spaghettis were to die for.

In the afternoon, we hopped on the train and headed to Florence. I love wandering around Florence because you're always stumbling on a beautiful square or church or fountain. Here's the Duomo, peeking out:

We had a busy morning in Florence, visiting the Uffizi Gallery, popping in to the Cathedral, walking over the Ponte Vecchio and wandering around Mercato Centrale, one of my favorite places of all time.

Then we hopped back on the train and headed up to Cortina for the weekend, just in time to see Ryan's game on Saturday night (a win!). Does anyone have any Venice or Florence tips? Restaurants, hotels, things to see? We're always popping down to Venice for an afternoon or night and we'd love to hear any suggestions!

Canals