Favorite Neighborhoods: Venice’s Cannaregio

Our lovely canal in Cannaregio

Venice is perhaps my favorite city in the world to visit. It is deeply, hauntingly beautiful, it seems like there might be a slightly sinister secret down every tiny stone corridor, and the preferred way of spending a day is to wander from the standing bar where you drink your espresso through the impossible-to-navigate streets until you happen upon a standing bar where you drink white wine and eat cicchetti. Since we all know calories don’t count if you’re standing, I think of visiting Venice as a preferable alternative to dieting. Or something like that.

I had been to Venice in December, but in August my husband and I were in the region and I couldn’t resist another stopover. I was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of showing him around. (When I describe Venice to people, I use a lot of hyperbole, like: “No but actually there are MILLIONS of bridges! I never realized that every bridge in the world is in Venice!”) But as our trip approached, I kept hearing terrible things about Venice in the summer—that it smelled like sewage, that everything would be closed, that the tourists would be shoulder to shoulder down all those shadowy passages—and I was secretly worried. I wanted him to love it as much as I did because HELLO! then I would get to return! *Ahem* I mean, I wanted him to love it because he is my husband and what brings him joy brings me joy. Right?

This is what happens when I try to get one of those cute "swing your hair around" photos

You guys. Venice in the summer is just as magical as Venice in the winter. In fact, it is perhaps more magical because you want to spend time outside, along the canals, or in the little back gardens of restaurants. I mean, YES, Plaza San Marco was jammed. But run through San Marco; blast through the streets around the Rialto Bridge. You’re not here to shop at Prada (I assume.) Let a thousand other people Instagram the Bridge of Sighs. Go to Cannaregio.

Cannaregio was the home of the Venetian Ghetto until the end of the 18^th century, and it still has sizable Orthodox Jewish population. It’s also becoming super hip, but in a very laid back and romantic Venetian way, and as evening falls, there are beautiful people that are way cooler than me relaxing and drinking spritzes on all the bridges. This combo of Orthodoxy and trendiness is not as incongruous as it sounds—it worked for Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and now it’s working for Venice.

Another major advantage to Cannaregio is that it’s easy to find. It’s about a ten minute walk from the train station, and after my experience of getting deeply, miserably, crying-to-waiters lost looking for our apartment in Castello on my last trip to town, I can’t tell you how much I appreciated Cannaregio’s proximity to everything.

Um, HELLO my little spritzy!

We dropped our bags and went in search of a spritz. I knew it was the moment of truth: were there going to be tourists around every corner? We ducked under a tiny passageway and crossed through some small squares, and Jared started laughing because there was no one around. Except one cat. We had canal-side cafes to ourselves, except for the Italians conversing animatedly on their boats as they sped past. I guess everyone else was at Prada.

Stay tuned in the coming days for a mini bar crawl through Cannaregio!

PS. Here is a video of a cat being scared by someone's giant pet iguana, which I took while eating fresh seafood pasta for lunch. I guess this is what they mean when they say Venice is crazy in the summer.

Are you Team Cat, Team Iguana, or Team Spritz?