Day 27: we cichéti

Oh heavens, we are full. Our last day in Venice and I am pretty sure we are made of pasta and wine now. Our last day we spent local, enjoying a slow walk along the canal and the beauty of the cichéti culture. It started with a stop at a local bookstore + bistrot, where we enjoyed a slice of focaccia pizza and their family-made prosecco, before moving on to our favourite bacaros Mezzopieno and Vino Vero. 

Cichéti culture is great; like the pintxos of San Sebastian: you can eat lovely niblets on the cheap while getting your fill of vini. 

Back to London tomorrow - wish us luck on our morning water-taxi back to the airport!

Cheers,

Esssss 

Day 26: we gondola

I mean, we HAVE to. It's VENICE. Who cares if it's The Most Touristy Thing a Person Can Do and it costs an arm and a leg and your gondolier will be on WhatsApp the entire time? YOU'RE IN A BOAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AN ELFIN SHOE.

What's not to like?? 

Our gondolier was this charming chap, Marco, who regaled us with An Abridged History of Venice, whistled some jaunty tunes, and texted on his mobile phone during the duration of our canal cruise:

The boat ahead of us can't possibly be having as good of a time.

Then we headed home at the most beautiful time of day - twilight, aka 'The Gloaming.' Pink and orange and coral suffuses the air and it's just so . . . MAGICAL. 

We're staying in Cannaregio - which we chose because it's where the locals live and it's quiet/relatively tourist-free - but an unexpected side effect has been that the bacaros around here are hip AF, full of natural wine and genuinely good cichéti. Each night has consisted of a mini-crawl followed by pasta pasta pasta, and it's been lovely. 

Speaking of, we're about to head out! Big love and see you tomorrow,

Esss

Day 25: we island-hop

Twenty minutes before dinner youguys so let's DO this. Today we got a water-taxi pass and hopped all OVER the lagoon.

Check out our captain:

JK DOGS CAN'T DRIVE BOATS. Also, not the boat we actually took. A girl can dream, though.

Our first stop was Murano, the famous glass-blowing island. Every shop that lined the pavement was filled with glass figurines twinkling in the sunlight, full of exquisite - and kitsch - treasures.

Actual photo of the glass-blowing process, which looks . . . consensual. 

Then we headed to Burano, the lace-weaving island, famous for its . . . lace.

Also its colourful homes. And risotto. THE RISOTTO. GO HERE FOR THIS IF NOTHING ELSE.

We were thankful again today for the quietness of January. The first ten minutes after getting off the boat we were in a small crush of tourists, but once we all stopped taking the same photo off the same bridge, everyone disappeared into the nooks and crannies of the island (or the risotto restaurants). 

Me, running my album of ten-thousand-nearly-identical pics by Claire trying to decide which to post: 'What about this one?' 'UM YES, HIS SHIRT MATCHES THE BUILDING.' She's got an eye I appreciate.

The whole island honestly looks like a Disney film set. 

Even the tourists look like hired extras.

Nonna!

Our last stop before returning home was Cemetery Island, which was exactly as it sounds: a cemetery on an island.

We saw this is in Sicily, too, and I really like the style. There's something so bright about it.

We had to leave before the sun went down. Mostly because that's when it closed, but also because that's when the dead start to rise and wander. 

Why else would they close before dark? 

We're home now and recharging phones and bodies, because tonight . . . we trattoria!