The Pursuit of Groceries
So, with all the glorious tourist attractions here in Venice, some of my favorite days are spent just grocery shopping. And so we did that.
Starting off with coffee at Bar Cupido, we headed to the Rialto Market. Again, the lack of crowds is noteworthy. I have never seen it so empty in front of Al Merca:
We went to the stall that Elisa had suggested last visit and they had mostly good looking, local stuff, as well as smiling patient faces. I bought a bunch of bietola, a terrific green, like chard, that we never have in Tallahassee. From there we went to the well known Mascari shop. They were all out of my favorite oil from Lake Garda, but we did manage to buy a nice bottle of Franciacorta and a bit of candy. The grandson is now working there as the matriarch proudly pointed out.
Back over the bridge we paused to take in the views:
There was an incident in the news a few months ago where a woman had stolen a delivery boat and crashed it into the balustrade of the bridge. Tho orange fencing is still there:
We made a quick stop into Bisiol for some prosciutto. My Italian is so rusty, I ended up with twice as much as I wanted. Then we came home for a bit of a rest.
Hunger got the best of us and so we walked over the bridge to Bar Cupido for tramezzini. They put too much mayo in them for my taste, but it was still a nice quick lunch. We walked around the neighborhood behind the bar for a while–gotta get our steps in!
Then I stopped into the flower shop. Creature of habit, I got some lovely lilies not quite open yet. Photos to come. I ran the flowers up to the apartment and we went to the Coop for milk and a few other items.
We had a nice relaxing evening, cooking, watching the light out the windows and being on our devices.
The dinner, pasta with onions and chopped prosciutto, and the bietola on the side. And we drank the Franciacorta. My cooking sense becomes simpler and simpler here as I absorb the culture. A few delicious, fresh ingredients can make a fabulous meal.
We started the new Amazon show, Scarpetta with Nicole Kidman, which neither one of us liked very much. Oh well. The days are flying and this was another wonderful one.
I am so enjoying all of the comments on the blog! Thank you.
Cooking in Italy is so satisfying with the simple, fresh ingreients to be found. It makes all the difference.
My bias will now be revealed; I avoid anything with Nicole Kidman in it!
We also enjoy provisioning in Venice. Always torn between getting to Rialto very early, and going later despite the crowds so we can also pop into the chichetti bars for early lunch.
I rely so much on my oven at home for roasting, I always need to rethink things when staying at Elisa’s! I tend to pivot to soups, salads and simple seafood and veggie sautés there.
I love these days you have. They are the true riches of slow travel. It was a perfect day in my book too!
The Scarpetta books are great but I cannot see Kidman in the role.