With that in mind, and especially our own friends who have told us: "We saw the cicchetti, but weren't quite sure how it worked", we decided to open a series of video posts with an introduction to eating in a Venetian bacaro.

​Buon Appetito!  

This video was filmed at SALVMERIA: Bacaro Contemporaneo (Salumeria), in Via Garibadli.  We'd like to thank them for their time, space and food, but most especially for their warm Venetian-bacaro style welcome!

A Bacaro is a traditional Venetian snack bar where both local Venetians and tourists mingle over spritz, wine, snacks and cicchetti.  Visiting a bacaro, whether at lunch time or at cocktail hour can be one of the most fun, the most convenient, and also the least expensive ways to taste some of the best food available in Venice. 

Venetians from all walks of life and, as Giorgio, the owner of SALVMERIA, says it, "also tourists who appreciate the Venetian style ... those who want to know the Venetian style of how to drink, how to eat and how to live". 

"Because in a bacaro we have the best food at the best price and the atmosphere and the company are very friendly."

Someone among you has made a New Year's resolution to make the big move to Venice! Congratulations!  What do you need to know before you take the plunge? Surely, you already know that you absolutely can not ever actually take a plunge into the canals. And, if you're really considering moving to Venice, surely you can deal with a some unpredictability in the little things in life such as how, when and whether-or-not your mail is delivered. You probably get a little kick out of unpredictability, you have the patience to work through petty annoyances, and you enjoy a little challenge in your everyday life. So, lets not talk about the flexibility, patience and pivotability needed in order to survive the mysterious twists and turns of life in Italy. Lets focus instead, as OG Venice often does, on those aspects of everyday life in Venice that are so obvious that many people neglect to mention them.

“Humid” is far to weak a word to describe Venice' weather. We don't live “by the water”, “near the water”, nor “on the water”. We live in the lagoon. Here in the World Heritage Site of “Venice and The Lagoon”, water comes from everywhere. When it rains, it comes from above. When a winter high tide coincides with a full moon, it comes from below. When it's windy, it comes from the sides. When there's a storm, it comes from everywhere all at once. And, it comes for all of us. When the stucco walls in your stairway have become over-saturated by humidity, they will crumble at a thunder clap. I've seen it happen.

During the hottest days of summer, you will feel as though you've been locked inside of a sauna from which only God can release you. During the coldest days of winter, it will feel as though the fog is actually composed of an army bearing trillions of minuscule ice-spades capable of penetrating whatever armor you choose to don against them.

However, if you can manage the Venetian climate on its extremes, and you like a humid climate otherwise, Venice will reward you with some truly unique and beautiful lagoon weather phenomena. My favorite is “fog-from-the-sun”, when the blanket of fog sits so low over the city that, though one sees the surrounding buildings shrouded in fog, one also sees blue sky overhead and feels the warmth of the sun. Venice' fast moving summer storms can also be spectacularly beautiful when dark clouds race across the sky and their reflections chase them across the water. When such storms approach the city, the facebook pages of local people always abound with dramatic photos and warnings that we all need to run home and close our windows.

No matter what your origins, age, socio-economic status, personal interests, or opinion about your own sense of style, there are two pieces of basic equipment that absolutely everyone in Venice has: A wheeling cart and a pair of rubber boots. Sound unglamorous? They are! But, they are absolutely essential to comfortable living in Venice. 

Why the wheeling cart? Well, how much can you comfortably carry and how far can you carry it? The main island of Venice is the largest pedestrian-only urban center in Europe. The only interruptions to pedestrian streets, aside from canals, are the more than 400 bridges that we pedestrians must walk over in order to proceed with our walking. On a day-to-day basis, this means that transporting supplies from place to place can be rather physically demanding. A small wheeling cart takes a lot of weight off of the shoulders and, if you're super organized and very lucky, it might even help you get all your groceries home in one trip!   

Now, about those rubber boots...  

Before you scoff at these, remember that in some parts of the world they are considered fashionable foot ware. They are practical shoes popular with hunters, fishermen, Queen Elizabeth of England, and lots of other people who like to keep their feet dry. The difference here in Venice is that the need for wellies is not limited to sportsmen. The phenomenon of acqua alta – the high tides which occasionally rise up above street level in Venice – dictates that we all need rubber boots if we expect to go about our daily lives with dry feet. This is especially true during the winter months when the levels of the tide tend to be more extreme. ​​

So there you have your two, unglamorous, pieces of essential equipment for life in Venice. I will only add that it is highly inadvisable to place yourself in a situation where you need both of these things at the same time. It doesn't work that way. You can imagine why.

Moving to Venice?  Congratulations!  Your carbon footprint is about to virtually disappear!

“Slow living”, in Venice, is not a personal socio-environmental choice any more than it is a label on a plastic bag full of quinoa that's been shipped half-way around the world. Nor is it something that we here in town ever really discuss. It is far too obvious to mention. Choosing to live in the historic center of Venice means that you are choosing to live without regular access to a car. You are choosing to physically carry anything that you purchase for yourself. You are choosing to rely on your own two feet and public transportation for 90% of your transportation needs. And, you are choosing to consume primarily that which is made available to you locally, which will be largely locally and domestically produced. Meanwhile, any tendencies that you may have towards over-consumption of energy, shopping or even just collecting of anything will likely be curtailed by the simple fact that it takes a major commitment of time, energy and space to do such things in Venice.  

And, please also forget that saying you've heard about having a boat in Venice being the equivalent of having a car elsewhere in the world. I have yet to meet the Venetian who uses her/his boat to take the kids to school, stop bye the market, drop off the dry-cleaning and then run to the hardware store. There are no docks at the school, the market, the dry-cleaner or the hardware store. Here in Venice, boats are used for work and recreation.

Welcome to slow living! Grab your wheeling cart.  Start walking.

Moving to Venice on your own? Don't worry! Venice may be a labyrinth, but none of us is invisible within it. It may sound contradictory to the sophisticated image of the city that hosts the International Biennale D'Arte, but Venice is a very small town by number of residents and the community is highly interactive. Through the sea of tourists, even regular visitors who come once or twice per year are remembered. If you move here, everyone in your neighborhood will quickly come to recognize you.

When you leave the house in the morning, everyone who happens to be out at the time will greet you and expect a greeting in return. Everyone. The ladies in the bakery, the neighbor out walking dog, the guy who begs on the bridge, the workmen restoring the house on the corner, the guy who rents the storeroom downstairs, the lady who sells vintage Murano glass, even the neighbors' kids will mumble “Ciao” as they scurry past on their way to school.

This does not mean that you'll become bosom-buddies with everyone in town. Venetian's are human people who form friendships on the same basis as other human people. (Things like shared interests and experiences help a lot.) Nevertheless, because your newly adopted pedestrian lifestyle and the unique topography of Venice mean that you will encounter your neighbors often, and because as a new-comer you really never know with whom you might strike up a friendship, and because your neighbors know the answers to all of the questions that you will eventually have about Venice, it certainly behooves you to be pleasant in your interactions. Don't worry too much if you do not yet speak Venetian. In my experience, that will not stop anyone from trying to speak to you.

Venice is perfect for you because you just can't get enough baccala mantecato, gelato, spaghetti with clams, steamed squid, paper thin slices of prosciutto and artichokes so fresh and sweet that one can even eat them raw. Right? Let's hope so! Because, like every region of Italy, the Veneto has a deeply engrained and highly pervasive food culture.

​In every day life, you will run into chefs at the fish market, see the vegetable boats from Sant'Erasmo dropping off crates for your neighbors and your neighborhood trattoria, and smell the scent of fresh bread as a baker wheels bye with a cart full of deliveries for the bars and restaurants. There really isn't much not to like.  

There is only one real challenge when it comes to adapting to the Venetian food world of sea-foody-with-four-seasons-of-vegetables freshness and that is this: If you're moving to Venice from another urban center, you will have to say goodbye to having easy access to all other kinds of international cuisine. Here, you go out for Venetian, or you cook for yourself. We have a few decent international restaurants - the Middle Eastern and the Japanese are very good - but absolutely nothing approaching the variety you'd find in a big city overseas. As an expat, you will begin experimenting with cooking your favorite ethnic dishes, and comfort foods from home, in your own kitchen. (Fortunately, you'll be blessed with exceptional Italian produce to use as your base ingredients.) Meanwhile, like the rest of us, you will shop the back corner of Giacomo Rizzo, and you will treasure any international condiments that anyone is kind enough to smuggle into the country for you.

I get it! You're trying to fit in and you'll never learn Italian if no one ever lets you practice! Nevertheless, and this should probably be expat-in-Venice survival rule number one: Do not take it as an insult when people in Venice speak to you in foreign languages. Keep in mind that the very vast majority of their clients and visitors are, in fact, foreigners. Venetian's are constantly making an effort to communicate with people in foreign languages. It might even be as nerve-wracking for them to speak English to you as it is for you to speak Venetian with them. So, please consider that before feeling insulted that someone (correctly) assumed that you are from out of town. As an expat in Venice, you will certainly find more complicated issues to contend with.

Integrating into a foreign society will be challenging wherever you go. But, Venetian society, unique in all ways, may be especially challenging because it is a culturally, socially and environmentally endangered society whose woes are largely due to the city's unique appeal to foreigners. You are moving in, but the foreigners who bought the apartment upstairs, the one downstairs, the one on the corner and the one across the street did not. They did a quick renovation and immediately handed the house keys over to a rental agent. You care about the condition of the school, the maintenance of the bridges, the accessibility of the market, the cleanliness of the streets, the erosion of the mudflats in the lagoon, the over-crowding of the public boats etc... But, the other millions upon millions of foreigners who flood the city, however much they may admire Venice, do not care about those things at all. They strut around in the streets half-naked, act haughty and entitled, never try to speak Italian, and leave garbage behind everywhere they go. You're fed up with them too!

Once you break through that frustrating language barrier, you, as an expat and a new friend, will become a sounding board for all of the wrongs done against Venice by other foreigners. By far your biggest social and emotional challenge as an expat in Venice is to figure out how to listen attentively and act sensitively without internalizing all of the guilt for all of the wrongs that all of these other foreigners have done to your adopted home. I'm not going to lie, this is difficult. There are even frequent visitors who begin to wonder if they need to make the ultimate sacrifice, staying away, in order to avoid harming their beloved Venice.

Some encouraging things to remember when these emotional crises strike: 1. Venetians will only discuss these things with you if they believe that you are receptive and helpful. They are not blaming you. They are inviting you to empathize. 2. Frequent visitors are recognized, welcomed back and, incidentally, have the most positive impact on the street-level economy of any of the millions who visit each year. 3. Becoming "Venetian-by-choice" by moving to, and actually living in, Venice is a huge positive investment in the City.  

OK, “famous” may be too strong of a word. But, there is something about the fascination of Venice that makes even the dullest among us here fascinating as well. You, filling your water bottle at a public fountain, are so enchanting that someone will make a video of it. You carrying a shopping bag with some celery sticking out? Enthralling! You sitting alone reading the newspaper and sipping an espresso? Irresistible! You helping your grandmother off of the vaporetto? Heartwarming! The only way to avoid being photographed in Venice is to avoid being caught doing anything normal in public. The same goes for doing anything abnormal. So, either stay home or hitch up your wellies and say "cheese"!

If you live a quiet life, and do not run a business, do not volunteer, do not participate in group activities and do not work with the public at large, your fame may end there. But, probably not. Venice is universally fascinating and, because there are so few people living in the lagoon, sooner or later someone from the press, or a blog, or a publishing house, or a tv station will come around asking you too to comment about something to do with Venice and/or the lagoon and what you're doing in it. On these occasions, I'm sure that most people consider it an honor to be asked and then do their best to reflect well on their beloved Venice.  

While it's true that moving to Venice means that you yourself will no longer be a tourist, it does not mean that the other tourists are going to go away. On the contrary, in means that rather than meandering joyfully among or away from them, you will now have to contend with them and find ways to pass either through or around them on a daily basis. You will be frustrated by overstuffed vaporettos. You will stand in lines twenty-deep of people who are buying only one thing at the grocery store. You will begin to avoid all of the places that you once considered to be the "center" of Venice during their busiest hours of the day, days of the week, or months of the year. When you see a large tour group approaching across a bridge, you will rapidly recalculate your route in order to circumvent it. You will learn every alley, back and side street between your home and the places you visit most often.

​You too will begin to recognize not only your neighbors, but also the people who visit your neighborhood most often. And, you will be so glad to see those familiar faces in the midst of what, on the most crowded days of the year, sometimes looks and feels like a zombie invasion.  

The most encouraging words I can offer about living with the crowds are that, 1. It's behavior is highly predictable which makes it avoidable much of the time. 2. It is, though it won't always feel like it, actually composed of human people.  Most of those people will behave themselves and a precious few might even become friends.  

​One of them might even be you.

Many travelers come to Venice with an itinerary full of famous sites to see.  There's nothing wrong with that! Venice is, after all, an enormous World Heritage Site, the historic residence of the longest standing Republic in history and, rightly, bursting at the seams with art and architecture to admire.  It makes perfect sense that sightseeing is how most travelers choose to begin their experience of Venice.

While it's true that the main streets and "central" monuments of Venice can become overwhelmingly crowded with sightseers, it's also true that there's a very good reason that those crowds are flocking to those places.  They - places such as the Palazzo Ducale - are spectacular artistic and architectural achievements; Beautiful even from the outside and housing innumerable treasures within.  Though we strongly dislike crowds, we would never suggest that a first or even fifth time visitor to Venice avoid these places.  Seeing Venice absolutely does involve seeing the monuments for which Venice is most famous even if getting there can be a tad uncomfortable at times.  

Visitors to any city, residents too in fact, naturally flock towards the city "center" where they expect to find... everything!  Everything meaning food, drink, sights to see, public services, government offices, shopping, entertainment and whatnot.  If Venice had such a center, it would certainly be Rialto.  While again this area can sometimes become uncomfortably crowded with center-seeking travelers, it is also both a culturally important and often pleasant place to visit.  San Giacomo di Rialto, the oldest church in the city center and the sight of the founding of the Republic, is here.  The fish and produce markets, even for those not in a position to cook for themselves, are must-see sights of Venice.  Meanwhile, the area offers lots of excellent food shopping, restaurants and congenial nightlife.  It's no wonder that, even while the historic Rialto Bridge is under restoration, people continue to flock here.

People will tell you, and they are absolutely correct, that getting lost is the best and most rewarding experience that most visitors have in Venice.  They might even say, "If you didn't get lost, you didn't see Venice".  Or, even more bluntly, "If you didn't get lost, you 'did Venice' all wrong".  There are many reasons for these sayings. In the first place, the streets of Venice are laid out as a labyrinth with very little rhyme or reason.  Getting lost in such a place happens naturally.  In the second place, the residential areas, local artisan shops, best restaurants, and loveliest little canals all exist beyond the "center" of Venice.  One must get lost in order to find them.

Picky readers are going to notice what we said above, "If Venice had a center, it would be...".  One could start a big political debate with that line.  But in this case, we just want to point out to those who would like to wander off and explore Venice but may feel nervous about it, that no matter where you roam in Venice you will neither be lonely nor in want of services.  Just as Venice has many city squares beyond Piazza San Marco, so does the city also have a series of what We're going to call micro-centers; concentrations of shops,bars and restaurants in each neighborhood of the city.   One reason for this is historical. Venice always consisted of discreet neighborhoods and/or parishes each of which sustained its own populations.

There is a popular urban legend in Venice that, even today, one could happen upon an elderly resident who has never ventured out of his or her district.  This is amazing to imagine in a city that one - though only one who knows the way - can actually cross on foot within 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, there are wonders to discover - artisan workshops, lovely churches, galleries, family-run restaurants, secret gardens, quiet residential streets - and virtually nothing to fear, in every neighborhood of Venice. Wandering-off into the maze of Venice streets is an essential first step in seeing Venice.

A complete visit to Venice naturally includes visits to the historical urban islands of Murano and Burano. Interestingly, though your guide book might not tell you this, the settlements of both of these islands predate the settlement of the main island of Venice and the founding of the Republic. Murano has been a global center for glass arts since 1291 when the Doge ordered all of the glass working furnaces in Venice to relocate to the island.  It remains to the this day the center of the most historic and famous art of Venice: Murano glass.  Burano, now famous for both the delicate laces still made by hand on the island and for it's brightly colored houses was once, and remained for nearly a millennia, a prosperous fishing village.  An excursion to the islands is, therefore, not only a pleasant foray out into the lagoon, but also an important part of learning some Venetian history.  (A small percentage of visitors also make their way to the island of Torcello, the actual sight of the first settlement in the lagoon, once the most heavily populated island in Venice, and home of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta with her marvelous Byzantine mosaics.)

Before moving on, lets take a moment to congratulate everyone who did all of the above!  While many writers-about-Venice will bemoan this as a "superficial" visit to Venice - we do have the major problem of having not yet met a Venetian - there's no denying that sightseeing, center-seeking, getting lost and finding one's way to "the Islands" is both a lot to do and a decent introduction to Venice.  Good job!  But, there is much more to see and do in Venice Italy...

Venice is a remarkably diverse contemporary city with something to offer visitors of almost any interest, background, taste or budget. Once you've gotten a slight grasp of the topography and historical significance of the city center and most the famous islands - or even before for that matter - it is to every traveler's benefit to ask yourself what you like and look for opportunities to do those things in Venice. Doing what genuinely interests you in Venice will give you your best authentic experience of the city and also put you in contact with the Venetian community.  Among the many things to do here in Venice we have: Easy access to an amazing natural environment, gorgeous locally-produced artisan goods, an unfathomable number of artistic and cultural events happening throughout the year, divinely delicious local cuisine, and, though we may not be known for nightlife, we do have an aperitivo guaranteed to make your head spin.

Venice exists both in and because of a unique and beautiful natural environment:  The lagoon.  The Venetian Lagoon, the largest wetlands in the Mediterranean Basin, provided protection to the original settlers of Venice - Romans fleeing the fall of the Roman Empire and the Barbarian invasions of what is now Northern Italy - a wealth of natural resources (especially fish and salt) which enabled the settlements to thrive, and, of course, the perfect conditions for the building and growth of the Republic of Venice.  The UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for Venice includes both the main island of Venice and the lagoon.  Small wonder, not only because of its unique ecosystem, but also because the lagoon is the sight of many a submerged historic church, convent and settlement.  And, of course, one never knows when one might discover shipwrecks such as medieval galley and rascona excavated from the lagoon in the 1990's.

If you remember all that when you're out splashing around at the beach in Venice, you can justifiably say that you're both studying history and having a good time all at once!  But, what nature, beach, wetlands and watersports lovers really need to know is this:  Venice is a very compact city that offers remarkably quick and easy access to its surrounding natural environment.  No matter where you are in Venice, you can be out on a boat in fifteen minutes or less!  These islands - very different from one another and from central Venice - are easily accessible by public transportation and an absolutely joy to explore:

Those who's like to get even further out onto the water and have the most Venetian of experiences should consider going Fishing in Venice.

The Republic of Venice was both a great international trading power and a wealthy city which, particularly during the Renaissance, assigned great to value arts and artisan products.  Uniquely Venetian products, such as Murano Glass, were protected by special laws governing trade and trade secrets.  And, while Venetian products were most certainly promoted and sold abroad, they were also appreciated and acquired by the nobility within Venice.  Thus, during the long reign of the Republic, did Venice develop unique and long-standing artisan traditions and many types of high-quality handmade goods which are still made by Venetian master craftspeople today.  

Murano glass is the most famous artisan product of Venice, but there are many more historic artisan crafts still practiced in city.  There are the spectacular beaded designs of the impiraresse (such as that by Master Craftswoman Marisa Convento of Venetian Dreams shown above), there are mosaics large and small.  There is paper-making, printing and book-binding.  The hand-carved oar-stands unique to Venetian gondolas are made by Venetian master carpenters and are now also recognized and coveted as sculptures. Venetian luxury textiles remain in demand, not only for clothing and accessories, but also for home decor.  Meanwhile, Venice remains both a fashion-forward city and global center of the arts. We have a large selection of independent clothing designers, fine jewelry designers and producers, and myriad artist shops and galleries scattered throughout the city.

However, an important truth about shopping in Venice is that the best artisan shops of Venice can be very tricky for visitors to track down.  Retail space on the central streets and main thoroughfares of Venice is fairly equally divided between the international-brand shops homogenous to any major city, and cheap souvenir shops that specialize in imitation Venetian products. The true craftspeople, artists and artisans, are dispersed throughout the side streets, and can thus be challenging to find.  ​On a first-time un-guided visit, those who venture enough to get lost will find some of them, but very few others will.  For those interested in discovering real Venetian products, OG Venice recommends either taking an accompanied artisan shopping walk in Venice, or learning a bit about the artisans you'd like to visit or the types of products you'd like to see before taking to the streets.  Some of what you might choose to look for:

Italy is famous the world over for cuisine.  And, even beyond quality of food, Italy is famous for the warm and welcoming service that make food and drink establishments into both community staples and places to which even travelers insist upon returning again and again.  Venice, while not famous for it, also has a tasty, warm, welcoming and unique food culture.  In fact, though Venice is not yet famous for it, it is absolutely fair to say that a food culture that always existed within the local community of Venice is beginning to bubble to the surface of even the tourists' Venice.  The cicchetti wars - these actually began in earnest about two years ago - have local bacari struggling to outdo each other with their freshly prepared crostini, frittura and local vegetables.  They are also now seeing competition from many new openings specialized in regional wines and cuisine.  

Meanwhile, shops are even beginning to offer Venetian specialties in quantities and packaging suitable for visitors to bring home.  It is now possible to visit the farms and vineyards of Venice.  And, regional food and liquors have finally made their way into local arts and retail events happening throughout the year.  Do not wait until you leave Venice to start savoring Italian cuisine!  We are the prosecco and grappa capital of Italy!  We have 8 D.O.C. cheeses!  The fish in our market are still flopping their fins.  And, when it comes to ambiance, could there be a more beautiful place in the world in which to enjoy food and drink?

OG Venice travel guide includes a guide to Restaurants and Shopping for Food in Venice.  We're confident that those who follow it will eat and drink well and in good company while in Venice.  But, for those looking to experience even more of Venice through food, we also recommend:

Many people travel to Venice with a genuine interest in the art and architecture of the city and a desire to explore her famous monuments.  Others come for special events in the arts such as the biennale or the film festival.  But many, if not most, others come with a sense of obligation to see the famous sites of the World Heritage Site of Venice and little information beyond that about what to do in the city.  And, thus many people find themselves in stressful situations when it comes time to eat, drink or do anything beyond sightseeing in Venice.  That's where their relationship with the city become tricky.  Meanwhile...

Venetians, reputation to the contrary, absolutely do not hate tourists.  What they hate is that so many tourists seem not to love Venice.  It is understood, though perhaps unspoken, that one of the major reasons that so many tourists do not love Venice is because they have a superficial experience of the city during which they never touch upon the contemporary Venetian lifestyle and are thus unable to appreciate the genuine warmth of Venetian culture.  Venice, OG Venice Travel Guide included, is responding to this challenge with myriad offerings of fun, contemporary and authentic experiences that give visitors access to the contemporary life of Venice.  Many Venetians are offering to provide these experiences beyond the scope of their normal work because they have a genuine desire to show as many people as possible the best of Venice.

OG Venice would never accuse any traveller of having a "fake" or "inauthentic" experience of Venice. (Surely, whatever one does and whatever experience one has is really, their experience of Venice.)  But, like so many others we do want to create access to the contemporary life of Venice for those who choose to explore it.  What remains is for visitors to both understand that it is OK, even in an art and history packed World Heritage Site city, to ask yourself what you'd most like to do and to seek out those experiences in Venice.  So, we're asking you:  What's your​ Venice?  If you tell us, we'll do our best to make sure you get to see it!