Cicchetti, Opera, and Lots of Wandering

In Venice, many of the bars serve the usual things like coffee, pastries, and drinks. But they also serve cicchetti. These are small snacks (kind of like tapas) that are pre-made and displayed in cases. You just point to what you want and it goes on your plate. It's a great lunch, and for the past two days, this has been what we've done. Most of the cicchetti are on bread but you can also get small servings of pasta, grilled veggies, or meatballs.

Yesterday's lunch

And today's.

It's reasonable too - most of the options are just 2 or 3 Euro each. Very fun way to have a quick, easy snack or lunch.

This morning we left the apartment early to make way for the plumbing crew. We took the vaporetto to the Rialto Market which is a huge, outdoor market with lots of fruits and vegetables plus a large fish market. There were lots of people there, most of them were like us and were there to see it but not to buy anything. The seafood is displayed beautifully - and the colors seem more vivid than in the States.

Next was a stop at the Opera House, La Fenice. This beautiful structure has been rebuilt twice due to fires, most recently reopening in 2003. Even though we knew it was new, it was a nice tour (with audioguides) of a stunning theater.

The rest of the day was simply spent wandering the city looking for interesting shops or fun photos to take. Here are a few...