Venice

I am starting this post with a warning. After purchasing our train tickets for Venice, we made a dash for the train as we had only minutes to spare. We were offered help from a man to find our car and he “kindly” helped us with our luggage and in finding our seats. I KNEW better but forgot the warnings in our haste. I gave the man a tip and I do not know how he did it or if he had help but once the train started rolling, I discovered my wallet was missing. Warning #1: Do not accept help from anyone other than officials. I knew that but……. Warning #2: Do not put everything in one place. I knew that as well. I had a slash proof, pickpocket proof backpack (say that 5 times quickly) and a money belt but I did not use them as intended. Everything was in my wallet, passport, drivers licence, credit card, money etc. Thankfully, there was Wi-Fi on the train and I was able to contact the banks to cancel the cards. More on this ongoing story later.

We arrived in Venice 4 hours later and took a local bus to Chioggia, a quaint little town on a canal approximately 20 minutes from Venice. Our apartment was a comfortable loft right on the canal. The only drawback was the stairs, many, many stairs. Our landlords welcomed us with homemade goodies. They also helped me file a police report and made sure that I had everything I needed for my trip back to Rome to get my new passport. Because I had to go back to Rome to the Canadian Embassy, I could not spend a lot of time in this lovely town.

Fortunately, I was able to have a couple of meals at Osteria da Nicola, a little restaurant overlooking the canal. The owner/chef Nicola does an amazing job creating meals that has you wanting more. He is one talented chef. Well worth  checking this restaurant out.