INTRO
I’m not Anthony Bourdain. But if you like the way he traveled — curious, unpretentious, always at the counter instead of the white‑tablecloth table — then you’re in the right place.
Think of this guide as a window into my life. Food, art, long afternoons doing nothing in particular, and a few good glasses of wine. That's how I've gotten by in Venice — and honestly, it's worked out pretty well so far.
But here's the thing nobody puts in the brochure: Venice, like so many Italian cities, is quietly falling apart in the way that matters most. Not the buildings — those are being restored obsessively. I mean the life inside them. Locals are leaving. The neighborhoods that used to feel like actual neighborhoods are turning into open-air sets, perfectly dressed for tourists and emptied of everyone who gave them a soul. Mass tourism has a way of doing that — it spectacularizes a place until the place forgets what it actually was.
I’m not here to lecture you about overcrowding or to make you feel bad for being excited about Venice — I’m excited too, and I’m guilty of loving it too much to stay away. But I do think there’s a way to show up in a place and actually receive it — its contradictions, its less‑photogenic corners, its everyday rhythms — instead of just extracting content and leaving.
So feel lucky if you’re here now. Really. If things keep going the way they are, Venice might one day be the most beautiful swimming pool in the world. And feel a bit privileged too, because chances are you’re staying in a place that used to be a real home for local families who ended up pushed out by the very same forces that make your short‑stay rental possible. Respect that.
Oh, and about the Venetians — they’re not as instantaneously warm or easy as people down in Naples or Rome. They can come off a bit guarded, serious, sometimes even a little strange. But think about it: when you live in a city where huge amounts of money and alcohol flow through your streets every single day, and your home slowly turns into a never‑ending show, well… you’re allowed to be a bit on edge. Cut them some slack.
If you manage to get a real smile from a local, treat it like a small victory.
Anyway, welcome. This is Venice seen through my eyes — not the perfect postcard version, but the lived‑in one, with all its beauty and its mess.
Let’s go.