Day 10: Bordeaux to Venice
It was tough sleeping the past two nights. The central air was not working properly and the only covering they had on the bed was the comforter. We forced ourselves to go for a jog in the morning. It was actually nice and cool outside. But remember here in Europe they don't have window screens...so bugs easily come in your place if you crack open the window or door.
Since check out was 11 am and we had a lunch reservation at 12, we searched for places that would be able to hold our luggage for a few hours. Nannybag is website that allows you to leave your bag with trusted local stores and businesses all over the world. Just look for the closest storage provider, book a time, pay online and then drop it off. There was a small wine store that charged 6 euros per bag a day. Very easy and convenient.
We had about an hour to kill before lunch. There was a cheese shop that we discovered through David Lebovitz's instagram stories called Maison Jean D'Alos. The store attendant was very helpful and she recommended 3 slices of cheeses...much more than we needed. We can't recall the exact names but we assigned each one by taste like brie, sharp or blue cheese. We don't remember the last time we ate so much dairy.
We arrived early for lunch at Le Bouchon Bordelaise. The menu is handwritten on a chalkboark because they are constantly changing plates depending on the availability of ingredients and the time of season. For starters, there was a carrot gazpacho soup with orange juice and cumin. We preferred the soup to be just a tiny bit less acidic but it was definitely the big bold flavor we have been looking for. There was also bruschetta topped with grilled eggplant and zucchini. It just needed a pinch of salt and pepper but otherwise delicious.
For the main course, we ordered white fish cakes and veal kidneys. We thought the fish with hints of lemongrass and curry was unique. It was our first time eating veal kidneys and let us tell you, it did not taste like chicken. It's an acquired taste similar to liver or pate. As a whole, we were satisfied with the meal. We have noticed as we travel more, our palates become more developed. We look for specific things in food like the balance of flavor, appealing presentation, interesting uses of spices, etc.
We probably won't be returning to Bordeaux any time soon, as there are so many other cities and places to explore. One important thing we can take away from this experience is that we have a little more knowledge on the variety of Bordeaux wines and the specific regions they come from.
There's a bus you can take from the city center to Merignac airport in about 45 minutes. It drops you off at hall a-b. Make sure you check which terminal your airplane is flying out of. Easyjet departures are at hall billi, about a 5 minute from the drop off location. Later on before boarding, our flight attendant was giving us some trouble with our bags. Apparantly they allow only one carry on and consider personal items a second bag unless you upgrade. They were going to charge us an additional 60 euros, however we somehow managed to stuff our little bags in our carry on. We didn't have any issue last summer, so it must be a new policy they implemented.
An hour and a half flight later, we landed at Marco Polo airport in Venice. We took the orange line, a 40 minute water ferry to the first stop called Madonna dell'Orto. The drop off location was very quiet and dark. Thank god for gps. We navigated through several narrow alleys and over bridges before reaching rio della misericordia, a street filled with bars and restaurants. It wasn't the easiest to find our airbnb because many places don't have clear numbers or labelled addresses by their door. But eventually we found Casa di Julia.
Our host was nice enough to wait for us late at night. In Italy they collect a tourist tax for visitors staying in hotels and even airbnbs. Just a heads up, it's about 4 euros each day per person. Many hosts only accept cash, so make sure you have some on you. We decided to skip dinner and just eat some fruit our host provided to us at the apartment. We have quite a number of things planned the next day. Hint hint, it involves a special kind of bar crawl and a gelato place featured in Somebody Feed Phil.