How can you come to Venice and not go St. Mark’s Square to see if the Doge is home?
Spoiler alert: He was not!
Ludovico Manin(1726–1804) was the 120th and last Doge of Venice, ruling from 1789 until 1797. He abdicated on May 12, 1797, following Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion, which brought an end to the thousand-year-old Republic of Venice.
We did go up the tower to survey his domain, and for the spectacular views of Venice.
The Teatro Venizia is now a grocery store. The dichotomy inside is crazy!
Our first food tour of the trip is here in Venice.
We met the lady from the company Eating Europe at the agreed on meeting place and off we went. Time to explore the more than 3000 ‘streets’ and 150 canals.
We were very excited to hear more from a local – she was born in Venice! – and have small samples of food as we go.
Little did we know that in Venice the idea of ‘small sample’ does not exist.
At our first stop, Rizzo, we were going to ‘sample’ a unique Venetian version of Pizza with mortadella, buffalo cheese and pesto.
She came out with this giant slice piled about two inches high. Great, we are going to share that and we will be stuffed?
Nope. We EACH got a slice that big!
What a start to a tour.
At Osteria Why Not Bistro we got a great Prosecco – it is never too early! – and two cicchetti. One was polenta with pickled onions-and-shrimp, and the other is some kind of meatball.
One of only two bridges in the city with no railings.
There are about 178 churches here, and this is the one where Jeff Bezos decided to get married.
A rowing school for all ages!The gates of the Jewish Sector were locked every night.
Cantina Azienda Agricole delivered spectacularly with a risotto with fresh artichoke and smoked ricotta. Delightfully paired with a crisp white wine from the region.
A La Vecia Papussa’s surprise was a Spritz made with ‘Special’ which has a taste somewhere between Campari and Aperol.
For our nibbly bits they deliver eight cachetti! Eight! By now we were all so stuffed that the other two people barely ate any of it. We are not quitters and we finished everything, including their portions.
Our selection consisted of the following toppings: Cream of cod, Lard, Salami, Gorgonzola, Pumpkin&onion, Grilled vegetables, Tomato/cheese and Salmon.
The flag of Venice with the six stripes representing the six sistieri (neighborhoods?)
Our final stop mere seconds from an imminent food explosion was at one of the oldest bakeries in Venice to try their speciality: Tiramisu.
Are you going to eat that?
Final thought: We have a food tour in every city of this trip. Can we survive them all, including a seven day cruise, and still fit in our clothes on the flight back?
Stay tuned!
PS Kudos if you got the reference of the post’s title.
After nearly two years of planning and working on it, we are finally here. Today, in exactly one week, we leave for Pieter’s birthday trip. Not just any birthday, a big one.
He turns 60!
To celebrate this big number, he wanted to do what he does best: Eat. Drink. Travel. From there the idea of a culinary adventure through Europe took form.
Since it is a big birthday, we invited friends and friends-of-friends to join us for part of the journey. There will be a big group of people with us on the cruise to celebrate on the actual day.
A quick overview of our itinerary:
Paris
Milan
Venice
Florence
Rome
Cruise
Pisa
Livorno
Villefranche-sur-Mer (Monaco)
Marseille
Sète
Barcelona
Madrid
Valencia
Barcelona
Paris
In case you are wondering… in every city (except for one or two on the cruise) we have an organized food tour.
There is also twenty (already planned and booked) train journeys in there!
As always, expect some stories about adventures, praising delicious “nibbly-bits and drinky-poos” and lots of photos as we try our best to keep up this journal.
Three weeks in Europe in winter, with only carry-ons? Challenge accepted!
