Tuesday, November 26, 2013

(Europe trip, post 7 of 14) Last 1/2 day in Venice - Rialto Market

June 8, 2013

I decided to break this day into two posts since our visit to the Rialto Market warranted its very own post.  I've been to markets before - in Europe, Asia, and Central America.  Each one different, but I always love them - especially those that are geared for locals, not tourists.  So when I heard there was a produce market and fish market that would be running next to each other...not kitschy souvenir stuff, just the place where locals bought their seafood and produce...I was super excited (not that there weren't a fair share of tourists at this market...this is Venice).

So!  We packed our luggage, enjoyed our last tasty breakfast in our room (Thanks, Luciano!) and headed out to the market.

I'm going to include a zillion photos and then a few video clips from the market.  We really enjoyed our time here with all the sights and sounds.























Still moving.  Doesn't get any fresher.


 The little girl (with her grandparents?) has such a cute little voice.

Just one last clip of the fresh seafood, Venice's specialty...

Now onto the produce!









The guy in the previous 2 pictures cracked me up.  He was the only merchant who called out to get you to come purchase his product.  He had a very unique voice and would say something that sounded something like, "Barceloni!!"...most of the time with a cigarette bobbing around on his lips while he shuffled around his produce.  

You can see (and hear) that guy at the end of the following video.  The other things I love about this video Mark took of the produce is that he panned away to show that the market was right on the Grand Canal.  It's also right by a traghetto stop.  Traghetti are like cheap ferry gondolas that just take you to the other side of the canal at 7 predetermined locations along the canal.  You can see one heading across  in this clip...





Isn't all that produce beautiful?!  Alright, one last video clip of the stuff (note: you can hear "Barceloni" guy in the background again)...

After we finished up at the markets, we grabbed our luggage back and the hotel, took the vaporetto to the train station and hopped on a train to Florence!  And this is our lunch that we ate on the train!  Not too shabby.
By way of documentation...Mark bought a bunch of produce (some we ate at lunch) and dried tomatoes and we were so sad when we accidentally left them on the train.  Grrr.

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