Making peace with pigeons: part two (Venice)

See Venice pics here.

Last weekend I flew to Venice for two cents plus tax thanks to a 24-hour RyanAir sale. Thank you, low-cost European carriers! The weather was cold and slightly gloomy, but I'd never been to Venice before and, like Disneyland, you gotta go once.

And Venice did remind me of Disneyland, with its snaking lines, its slow, gentle boat rides and the fact that it is a GIANT FREAKING TOURIST TRAP. Well, parts of it, at least. I tried to steer clear of these areas, but every time I started wandering aimlessly I inevitably seemed to wind up back at the buzzing fannypack epicenter that is Piazza San Marco.

I have one fall coat, and I've worn it so much lately that the sight of it makes me a little nauseous. I finally bit the bullet and got it dry-cleaned for an exorbitant fee before I left Paris. Someone must have alerted the Venetian pigeons to the fact that I ate one of their brethren last week, because shortly after my arrival I became the victim of a vendetta in the form of a splat of bird shit on my freshly laundered jacket. Anybody who tries to tell me that this is good luck is a jerk.

The food in Venice was good. The gelato was better. I went to Alaska in Santa Croce, which had a reggae, hippie feel about it. The owner is known for making wildly experimental flavors, but on the day I went everything seemed fairly typical. He suggested pistachio, which he had just finished making, and I added a scoop of fig as well. The pistachio was nutty and rich, but the fig was a little too mild for my taste. Anyway, he was super friendly and seems content with his life as a delicious gelato fabricator.


I also tried straciatella and nocciole flavors at Igloo in San Marco after having lunch at Rosa Rossa down the street. Very, very creamy and smooth.


On this trip, I did something weird. I ate the same dish twice. I never do this; my rule of thumb while travelling is to try everything that I can, with a special emphasis on foods I've never heard of before. But bigoli en salsa captivated me so much the first night that I had to eat it again. Here's a recipe (note: I don't think the versions I had used tomato paste). You have to really, REALLY like stinky fish for this dish, since it's made with either sardines or anchovies and is quite salty and potent. Italian parsley is crucial to cut through the fishiness.

I also hit the Saturday morning market near the Rialto bridge. It was wonderful; similar to the markets in Paris except with a huge emphasis on seafood, and lots of short, stocky Italian grandmas shouting and elbowing to get served.




Food markets always help me regain my faith in humanity, and this one was no exception. But regaining my faith in pigeons...that's going to take awhile.