But on this last trip to Venice, I discovered another great reason to travel. I found that one of the most enjoyable experiences to have when traveling can also be found in some of the most ordinary of things. For example, staying in an apartment I had to go out and buy groceries for myself. In Venice, there are no large food chain stores like Vons or Ralphs and there is certainly no Costco equivalent. So I found myself shopping for items at the local markets and food stalls located near my apartment and in some of the nearby campos or calles.
Instead of buying a bulk supply of items to last me two weeks, I just purchased two days worth of items at a time. This is unusual for me because I'm the sort of person who can walk into a Costco store needing a box of Kleenex and then walk out with a pack of 20! :)
In Venice, one of the markets I frequented was located on one end of the very popular Campo Santa Margherita in the Dorsoduro District. It was fun trying to figure out what brand of orange juice or bread to get. On one of my visits when I was buying some fruit, I had an apple in my hand. I looked down and noticed these plastic gloves in a box located above the fruit. I suddenly remembered a thread that was posted on the Slow Travel Community Board about the rules when purchasing fruit. When handling (or picking out fruit) we are required to put on these plastic gloves. I forgot about that rule and immediately put the apple in my basket. A few seconds later, I watched a lady walk up to the fruit, pick one up, looked at it then put it back down. I thought to myself . . . tourist. :)
Here is a photo of the market . . .
Hi Kathy, great post and I love your new photo of the month! It's so true that it's so much fun to do "ordinary" things in such a extraordinary city like Venice. And I love that Campo Santa Margherita is one of the "great public spaces" on that cool website you linked. And that's such a nice photo of the half of a campanile in that campo.
ReplyDeleteMakes me homesick for Venice. :)
Hi Annie, thanks for your comments. Red is my favorite color so this stall really jumped out at me. It seemed so cool how they displayed their items.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Venice is an extraordinary city. I dread going grocery shopping at home, but always looked forward to it while in Venice.
Campo Santa Margherita is so worthy of top 60 in the world. It really has such a down to earth, charming vibe to it. I miss it and I miss Venice too.
Have a great week!
I love your new photo too!
ReplyDeleteWe had a great time shopping at the Coop in Campo San Giacomo dall 'Orio. Which is very odd since I detest grocery shopping at home. I guess everything really IS fun in Italy!
Hi Anne, thanks for your comments. You are so right! Everything we do while in Italy seems so much more special and fun than doing them at home.
ReplyDeleteEven waiting in that "long" line at the check out stand seem fun and interesting. In fact, there was this one time after standing in this really long line at this market, the Italian checker gave all the customers a free treat just because. I don't ever remember being given a free treat after waiting in a long line by a checker here at home. Only in Italy! :) Just another reason in a very long list of why I love Italy.