ITALY TRIP IN THE FALL OF 2005
Italy again you say! (Fourth time in two years)
We flew Air Transat from Victoria-Vancouver-Gatwick
where we stayed overnight at Three Acres Bed &
Breakfast. It is an inexpensive, convenient, clean, forget-the-breakfast place that suited
our needs. The resident cat (a true farm cat) greeted us with a mouse in his mouth and the pub
5 minutes down the road (The Black Horse) was an authentic rural Britain style establishment.
We left very early the next morning (September 13) to catch our Easy
Jet flight to Venice.
On arrival at Marco Polo airport, we walked to the Vaporetto stop and headed toward the city.
What a way to enter the city. The weather was sunny and warm and our first glimpses of it were
a quick reminder of how much we love Venice.
Two minutes after docking at S.Zaccaria boat station on the lagoon near Piazza San Marco, we arrived (on foot) at the door of our hotel Albergo Doni in Castello - San Zaccaria, 4656 | Fondamenta del Vin, Venice 30122 Italy. We had stayed here a couple of years ago when we had briefly visited the city. It is one of those authentic, family-run places that we seek out and to which we are inclined to return. It is situated on a quiet side canal that is a short walk to the Grand Canal and to the Piazza San Marco. (aerial)
Despite the hordes of tourists walking along the Lagoon, a stroll along it is an enjoyable 'must' if even in small doses.
We tend to prefer it very early in the morning ... or late at night when the gondolas are still tied up and the tourists are scarce.
Piazza San Marco, in the daytime, is generally infested with both tourists and pigeons but, if one looks up, focusing on the architecture, it is difficult not to be struck by the magnificence of the setting. Generally we consider all of Venice to be a work of outdoor art; so we tend to stay outdoors – and look up a lot.
However, on this occasion, we did tour the Palazzo Ducale, the residence of the Doge and the Hall of the High Council where the sentences to be imposed upon the enemies of the Republic were decided. We found ourselves fascinated not only by the beauty but also by the sense of history; it felt good to know that we could cross the Bridge of Sighs to the adjoining prison AND return on the same day.
Most evenings we wandered back to our hotel through the Piazza, listening to the music being played by the musicians in the outdoor cafes – the most famous of which is Café Florian - the 19th century hang-out of people such as Proust and Byron. It’s easy to understand why Napoleon had once referred to the Piazza as the finest drawing room in Europe.
Venice is not only a city of art and history and culture; it is also a city without cars – and, oh, what a wonderful thing that is. In our five days there we spent most of our time walking and, aside from the inevitable sore feet, came to wish never to see a car again. We walked, as the photos below portray, along countless side canals – each exuding its own magic - and simply loved being in this city that is truly like no other city on earth.
Many of the shop windows in San Croce
and San Polo display mysterious masks and costumes from the period of the Serenissima Republic
now worn during the Venice Carnival in February each year.
There were two highlights (for us) on
this visit to Venice (aside from the artistic and
cultural wonders of this unique city that never cease to amaze us). 
One of these stems from our having read all (about 10, I think, to date) of
Donna Leon's great novels. Of American origin, Leon is an academic who decided 20 years ago
to live in Venice and still resides there; her murder mysteries feature a character we have come
to feel we know (and who keeps us feeling that we have come to know Venice.) Commissario Guido
Brunetti works (and, more importantly for us, lives) in Venice. So, this trip, we kept finding
spots such as the police headquarters that seemed familiar to us and that we associated with him
– the Questura (the police headquarters seems familiar to us because we’ve read about
it so often in Donna Leon's great mystery books. These books (and the good Commissario and his
wife and family) also put us in touch with the wonderful cuisine of the city. (Frequently, at
home, one or the other of us will read a passage about what his wife is cooking for lunch or dinner
and find ourselves trying to replicate it).
The food in Venice is the other highlight – especially for George. It held for him a culinary mystery – a memory of a dish he has been trying to replicate since first tasting it on a trip he took to Venice over two decades ago. This mystery was partially solved on our trip to Venice two years back when, on October 1, 2003, unable to recall the name of the tiny restaurant but determined to find it, he retraced his steps across the Rialto, through the fish market, and down a small lane to the spot. The restaurant (Antica Trattoria “AI TOSI”) was still there as was the owner who had served him decades ago. George excitedly described the meal he had so enjoyed to him (mostly in English) and eventually the man exclaimed: “Bigoli en salsa!” Unfortunately, it was not on the menu that day; so this time we went directly to the restaurant to confirm that Bigoli en salsa was on the menu – and after a double order of it, George confirmed that it was just the same. The restaurant owner – a very pleasant fellow, posed with George for a photo; we hope that he’ll still be there when we return again. (We came home from Venice this time with several packages (many, many pounds) of the Venetian pasta used to make Bigoli en salsa and a few ideas for variations on this traditional Venetian anchovy dish which George managed to order later in the trip on at least four more occasions. He has pretty much mastered cooking it at home but it will never taste quite the same as it does in Venice.)
Bigoli in Salsa - Traditional Venetian Pasta Dish
Two medium yellow onions – chopped fine
100 grams of anchovies drained and chopped
Jar of capers drained.
Olive oil – approx 4 tbs
Parmesan cheese grated
Black or white ground pepper
White wine
Bigoli – a whole wheat pasta
Fresh Parsley sprigs
Slow cook onions in oil until mushy – 30- 45 minutes
Add chopped anchovies and capers, and slow cook until it becomes a wet paste
Add pepper to taste
Add white wine +/or olive oil if needed to keep it moist/pourable
Cook pasta in salted and buttered water
Drain and toss in pot with Parmesan
Add anchovy paste and toss
Serve with parsley decoration.
Serves two.
In the evenings, we enjoyed late dinners at the outdoor restaurants in Cannaregio. – This is Venice's second largest sestiere (i.e. neighborhood,) stretching across the north west of the city from the station almost to the Rialto Bridge. It's one of the areas of the city where Venetians still live in great numbers; so, its restaurants offer some of the best cuisine available in Venice at very reasonable prices especially in and around the Foundamenta della Misericorda
On our last day, we took a water taxi over to the Lido thinking that we should see this famous
tourist spot. It was not at all to our liking; it had a modern feel and, to our horror, there
were cars. We walked to the beach (complete with its fancy but worn) resorts and deck chairs with
umbrellas. We caught the next boat back to the city happy to see the palace and tower getting
closer.
We left on the morning of what would have been our fifth day there (September 17), feeling sad to leave but knowing that we will return again.