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Winery Sage: Visiting Venice, Italy

The first day in Venice, we just walked around all day and got a feel for the city. There are over 400 bridges, each linking what was once an island to the next island. The Venetians slowly filled in the gaps between the islands so that only the canals remained.

We split up for lunch because Justin and Allison saw an open face sandwich that looked really good to them but, Karen, Danny and Ken ate across the small road at a general Italian restaurant. An ongoing theme of our Venice meals was Danny trying to order seafood risotto but all the restaurants only made it for two people due to the effort. Instead, the fish special looked good to him even though it was for two people (Danny likes to work out and as a consequence can eat for two).

 

Enter gullible tourist sucker practice number two: always ask the price of the special. In the U.S., you are usually safe about not being gouged. Apparently, not in Venice. Karen and Ken’s meals were pretty reasonable but, after checking the bill, imagine the surprise when it included a charge for 86 Euro for the fish special.

Do you know how many glasses of wine we could have in Italy for 86 Euro?

Sure, it was a good special but for that, the damn fish should have been able to produce gold bricks for us. Clearly it was prepared by an Italian masterchef, flown in especially from Rome on a chartered jet with a military escort just to prepare Danny’s fish. Who knew we were that special? Well, lesson learned but, damn — that was painful. A great pasta meal for diner followed (our first of many I assume), but Ken now knows just how pathetic his homemade ragu meat sauce is compared to the real stuff.  Damn… this trip is going to be tough on the ego.

The next day we had a four-hour tour with an American who has lived in Venice for 20-plus years who can give you more of the insiders scoop on how the city works and some of its history. It was pretty good. We had no plans for the rest of the day, so we found a small local bar and proceeded to watch a never-ending slew of overpriced gondoliers rowing their customers (perhaps victims is a better word, considering a gondola ride costs 80 Euro for 30 minutes).

Read the rest of the article here:

Venice – Our First Italian Stop

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Winery-Sage is an online Winery Encyclopedia designed to help you compare wines, wineries, and regions by using a unique database. Cross-reference varietals and the wineries that produce them, as well as discover events sponsored by wineries and associations. We’re not here to sell you anything or pass you off to paid advertisers, just share the love for wine. Discover the world of wine at Winery-Sage.com.

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