…and after tasting the beautiful local Redentor ‘Skia’ 5.8% hoppy ale and its darker ‘Sepa’ 4.8% stout brother (both ‘prawn’ and ‘octopus’ are highly recommended, regardless of why or who came up with their names), happened upon the daughter of a senator one night, saved her from some disaster, and received lifelong compensation (physical as well as monetary). So the story began. Back then, Venice had 200,000 residents – these days it only has 50,000, but 24 million visitors p.a…. and no prostitutes. Casanova travelled extensively as Venetian diplomat, and built upon his reputation by hiding a married lady in the Embassy in Spain. He controversially dated a female who played a castrato, before spending 10 years with a noble woman with superb contacts in the Parisian and European courts, where he invented the first ever national lottery. One likes to think that the lottery was to fund beers like Andrea Zanatta’s 5% Morgana beer from Treviso (available at La Cantina on Strada Nova, near the Irish Pub), but actually it was a legitimate way to fund wars, that made him very popular with the government.
The Morgana, by the way, is made all the more enjoyable when served by the owner with some cicchetti, which are Venetian tapas, and by far the cheapest way to eat out in an otherwise expensive city. I was grateful to our tour-guide, Andrea, recommending it to me – he went on to explain that Casanova latterly became a bankrupt, but when he fled Venice to spend his last days in a Czech region with an old Count friend of his, he penned some 4,000 autobiographical pages, and went LARGE on his epistles to his friends before he died… this is proof enough for me that doing 100’s posts per day online will lead me to fame and fortune. After he died, the same Count commissioned Mozart to write Don Giovanni – I wonder who inspired that? Anyway, back to the beer. I asked Mr Zanatta where to visit next, and was pointed to Il Santo Bevitore, one of the few places actually mentioned when you ‘google’ “craft beer Venice”…
…where Elisa poured me Elav’s 4.3% “punks do it bitter” which is a superb pale ale from the BAV (Birrificio Artigianale Veneziano), as explained to me by my friend and famous Italian journalist Maurizio Maestrelli, whose birragenda I recommend you follow on twitter. Great service, great beer, and more great cicchetti. What’s interesting about Venice at this time of the year is that there’s nothing to do here, so this is why in 1978 the Council hit upon the excellent idea of reincarnating the famous “Carnevale” – which means “removal of meat” as a purge before Lent…. instead of ‘pancake day’, I instead stopped for their seasonal Venetian speciality: frittelle – doughnuts to you and me, filled with various things from rum custard to raisins & spices. Carnival today is fascinating – loads of folk like you and me, all dressed up, being photographed in St Marks Square by 1,000 iPhone-wielding amateur paparazzi, being immediately published on FaceBook, famous for all eternity, but safely behind a mask, ID protected…. all very ‘panto’ in feel. I took my final beer for the night at Osteria da Filo next door to the flat.
The previous night I had tried the Antoniana draught red beer, which slipped down very nicely, and served up by Philip (Filo), the owner… it’s his caricature that one of the barmaids has skilfully drawn on the door as a logo. Emma, who is serving me tonight, has recommended some more BAV, but from the bottle – it’s last orders at 10.30 pm (due to some trouble some time back, the police were called, so they are unfortunately strict these days), but I have 30 minutes to drink up my 6.7% double malt Dolomiti nightcap…. double malt!! Worth repeating. I learn from Emma, who I disturb from her duties, that the Italian salutation “ciao” comes from “schiavo tuo” (meaning ‘your slave’)… makes sense. The next day, I wake up with a mild hangover, so take the hair-of-the-dog in Bacarro Jazz bar which bizarrely has bras hanging from the ceiling (to help people remember their visit – for the past 13 years) for Moretti’s La Rossa, which was nothing to write home about. Later, since Maurizio recommended Al Volto (the one in the rain below), we visited it – very nice bar – before the mandatory ‘when-in-Rome’ pizza, next door to our flat. An accidental find, they had their own branded-beer Venezia…
Venice unfortunately floods 200-250 times a year because it’s built on stilts in the sand. Gondoliers, as you know, steer their craft along the canals through Venice, at all times keeping to the left, unless overtaking, whilst – confusingly – all the other canal boats must weave their vessels at all times on the right, unless encountering a gondola, in which case they must cross to the left to pass each other. All very confusing. And during busy times like Carnival, every Venetian knows that as you walk the narrow streets of Venice, you must keep to the right – especially, in this day and age, when most tourists are following directions on the smart phones, and not looking where they’re going. Anyway, you can find the rest out for yourselves online or just visit Venice…. but if you fly out from the international airport, don’t forget stop off at the kiosk next to the bus station for a local San Marco beer, nor forget to ask Veronica C for one final Peroni craft beer as you wait for your 2-hour delayed EasyJet flight… reading all about Asahi buying Peroni.
When I get home, absolutely exhausted, all I have to look forward to is one bottle of Venezia’s other variety of beer, and a ‘welcome home’ local St Peter’s brew… ahhh, home, sweet home. We both look forward though to going back to the Venice Carnival next year. For the time being though, it’s Italian blonde v English dark…
back of the ferry 