My travel day started with working a half day and then heading over to my parents house for a carpool to the airport. We got there a healthy three hours early and after learning that we had to check in at the British Airways desk itself we got through security in about 30 seconds. Our next stop was the British Airways lounge where we had cheese and little sandwiches and make your own gin-and-tonics. Next we went to the Centurion Lounge but it was way too busy so I ate some meatballs and met my parents for some Settlers. My mom won. Surprise.
We connected in Heathrow for our flight to Venice. Heathrow is way too big and has too many levels. Our connecting flight was delayed an hour because they messed up the baggage when they flew in from Amsterdam and had to return to the gate before taking off. Customs in the Venice airport was possibly the most pleasant experience I’ve had though. I just scanned my passport and waited in line for them to stamp it. We took a taxi to the hotel where I took a quick 26 minute shut-eye followed by a quick departure to the train station to Venice.
The first stop in Venice was to the train station coffee shop to stave off hangriness. We were successful. We then walked down a street and took a bunch of awesome pictures while waiting to meet our guide Lucia. We found that as soon as you walked like ten feet from the main road there wasn’t anyone there! Lucia was our guide for our food focused walking tour. The first stop was to the first Jewish Ghetto – named because of the copper mills located there! We got some yummy impadas – which are cookies inspired by empanadas. Except with almond mixed with butter instead of meats. The synagogues were all hidden within the Ghetto because the Jewish people couldn’t build more buildings. So now a couple can only be recognized from the fact that they have five windows. Which is related to the Torah somehow.
We walked through some back alleys and of Venice next and before making our first food stop. Here I got a Select Spritz (made with Venetian Select stuff). It was whelming, I think just the wine would’ve been better. The little cicchetti’s we got though we absolutely amazing! Except for the meatball which was just okay. We were relatively full after our first food stop… and we still had three more!
Next we walked a hundred meters or so to compact the food in our bellies and stop at a little hole in the wall restaurant. It was by far the best. It was being run by a brother and sister. They are famous for Geno the Pig – a roasted pig that they slowly cut pork from to serve. We also ate some truffle infused cured meats and some homemade salami. The wine we drank there was Roboso – a sparkling red wine! Me and mom thought it was absolutely fantastic, but pops disagreed even though he still finished his glass. We kept the excess meat and cheese from this restaurant to feed to Connor when he arrived.
We then stopped for some pasta, which I think Lucia told them to give us like half a portion because we had just the right amount. It was here that we learned about how Venetians get into their houses from their boats. There’s a little ledge that they shimmy over to the stairs on while grasping onto the window. Or you just climb through the window of the building. Also you can’t drive your boat to dinner or something like that. Because you own a single spot where you can moor your boat, so I guess you could just drop your stuff off. Also young lads and lasses do in fact sneak out by climbing out their windows and getting into boats.
By now we were ready to meander to our last stop – a place for gelato. Good gelato can be discerned by the color of the pistachio flavor – if it’s an earthy green/brown/grey combo then it’s good, if it’s a bright green it’s fake and bad. After gelato it was time to say goodbye to Lucia and we stressfully made our way back on the train to the hotel. By this time Connor and Allie had made their way there. After a little bit of catching up we went to bed because we had a 7 am departure for our next day’s activities. I had to sleep on the couch :/
We woke up bright and early and met our driver for the day – Miriam. We drove to the DOCG Prosecco region to meet our walking guide for the day – Paolo. We probably should’ve realized Paolo was a little more serious about walking than us when he offered us walking sticks. We didn’t take any, which was only really a problem when we were going down the super steep parts. We then walked across/through the Cartizze region which is where the best grapes for prosecco can be grown. The grape is a little bit sweeter because the hills get 24/7 sunlight and the soil is the best because it’s on top of a bunch of limestone and sand and small rocks. The walk took us through the vineyards, which are situated on very steep hills. I think overall we had about 1000-1500 ft of elevation gain, although most of it was all at the same time when we walked up to the old WWI trenches. Overall we walked about 5 1/2 miles and then finished at a winery. I believe I won the “Most Hydrated” award because I basically finished drinking all the water in my backpack – about 2.5 liters! It was really hot while we were hiking.
We (I) drank a good amount of prosecco at the first winery. It was here that we learned bottles of prosecco here in the region are way less expensive than in the united states. Like 8 euros for a bottle. We decided it was time to go when a bridal party showed up for “just one drink.” Our next stop was about fifty feet away where we bought some salami, cheese and bread and then walked up a small hill to some tables next to the prosecco vending machines. After carefully reading the instructions I purchased a bottle of prosecco from the vending machine. It was okay but definitely worth the experience. The meats/cheeses/breads that we bought and ate were absolutely fantastic though.
Miriam then drove us to our last stop – a little family owned winery on the other side of the valley. Here the prosecco was even cheaper (like 6.6 euros for a bottle!) and they had this absolutely amazing local cheese. We learned a little more about the process of how prosecco is made – it’s different from champagne because all of the carbonation takes place in a pressure vessel then the bottles are filled with the carbonated wine. We bought some wine and then headed to our final stop for the day, the hotel we’d be staying at for the next few days which was about a two/two and a half hour drive away.
