This is the seventh in our series on Uniworld’s Gems of Northern Italy river cruise. Today's highlight was a visit to the Rialto market and what the chef pick out lunch and dinner. Click here to start at the beginning of the series.
We were up early to the Rialto marketplace to watch Chef Cezar pick out ingredients for today’s meals. Much of the produce is grown locally (it’s actually labeled in the market stands) and the fish is freshly caught. We sniff the rocket (arugula) and taste the tomatoes he has picked out. We move to the next stall which starts the fish market to sample some squid and octopus. Chef shows us how to look for fish with red gills and clear eyes to ensure freshness.
Our tour guide gives us the backstory on this “do as the locals do” tour. She also tours us around the local neighborhood, showing us the best places to buy balsamic vinegar (20 year aged) and other local specialties. Procure we did.
We opt out of the provided water taxi ride and instead find our way back to the ship. A bit of an adventure since the streets are convoluted but eventually, with the aid of Google Maps, we find our way. After 30 minutes of walking including a few stops in stores and the River Countess is within steps. It’s about 90 degrees with high humidity so we’re very happy to cool off.
Lunch was outstanding, especially the calamari and octopus salad. Chef even made gluten free calamari. How nice. Every meal has three different smoothies to try as well as many assortments of dishes.
The afternoon was spent cooling off, catching up on some reading and taking another walk into Venice. We ended up behind the Guggenheim museum and found some really interesting galleries and shops. There’s so many tourist places here that it’s nice to see the genuine stuff. We check out a hotel that we’ve recommended to people (it’s what travel agents do I guess) and it’s just as we thought.
The walk back included the obligatory mid afternoon gelato spot. Cooling but the sun is still hot on our backs. The ship is a welcome cool oasis.
Dinner conversation turned philosophical with a husband and wife team of lawyers we met on board. No matter - we soon got back to the here and now and it was a nice diversion. Civility reigned and by desert we were all on the same page. Maybe. We were the last ones to leave the dining room so the conversation was engaging at least.
The evening was spent packing and was uneventful. In our room was our luggage tags and information about when to leave the cabin as well as when pick up to the airport would be. Very nice and easy.
The next post will be the last and will provide a summary.