We've moved from Baltimore, Maryland USA to Venice, Italy in pursuit of living our dream!



Saturday, January 23, 2010

Campo Santa Margherita

If you have been reading my blogs, you know by now that we not only live close to Campo Santa Margherita, but also that it's become like a second home to us. This is where we buy our fish regularly from the fish vendors who have stalls here Tuesday thru Saturday. It's where we buy our vegetables and fruit when we don't have time to plan a trip to the Rialto Market, it's where we walk the dogs, it's where we hang our for coffee or a glass of Prosecco. We even have our weekly Italian lessons at a caffe in this campo.

In the heart of the Dorsoduro sestiere you will find Campo Santa Margherita, one of the largest campos in Venice. Campo, by the way, is the Italian word for field. The campos, for me, are like the heart of each little neighborhood. Santa Margherita also has the most lively night life, with caffes staying open till around 2am most nights. Just about everything else in Venice is closed up by 11 pm.

Right smack in the middle of the Campo Santa Margherita is this water fountain. There are water fountains throughout the city, in campo after campo, with the best fresh - and free- drinking water. I always carry a bottle with me and fill up when I am out walking. But only this one has the mermaid carved on it. I like to think the mermaid is on it as a symbol of our friendly fish mongers.

3 comments:

supriya dhar said...

Hi Karen.
I read your blog . i am an Indian originally , but living in UAE
It seems so intriguing.. your decision to move from USA to Italy.. but i guess its a great experience :-)
Karen , because you are living there i thought you would be the best person to take help from..
My family and i , a group of 5 people are planning to visit Venice last week of June ,this year.
Our plan is to Visit the Czech republic (Prague) , Austria , Italy and then France.
The only place that has confused me the most till now is Venice.
I don't know how to decide where to live..
Whether to live on Venice Port or the Venice Island?
As we are travelling 4 countries , its going to be too expensive a trip.. So we need to keep in mind our budget as well.. The hotels on venice island are too expensive..
In our budget hotels are on the venice port or Padua .. but i am not too sure then how good would it be to travel from there to Vicenza..Is the Venice island connected by road or train with the venice port or just the water taxis ?
If its possible for you , then please do try n reply to my mail.
I would be highly grateful
Thanks
Supriya

supriya dhar said...

Hi Karen.
I read your blog . i am an Indian originally , but living in UAE
It seems so intriguing.. your decision to move from USA to Italy.. but i guess its a great experience :-)
Karen , because you are living there i thought you would be the best person to take help from..
My family and i , a group of 5 people are planning to visit Venice last week of June ,this year.
Our plan is to Visit the Czech republic (Prague) , Austria , Italy and then France.
The only place that has confused me the most till now is Venice.
I don't know how to decide where to live..
Whether to live on Venice Port or the Venice Island?
As we are travelling 4 countries , its going to be too expensive a trip.. So we need to keep in mind our budget as well.. The hotels on venice island are too expensive..
In our budget hotels are on the venice port or Padua .. but i am not too sure then how good would it be to travel from there to Vicenza..Is the Venice island connected by road or train with the venice port or just the water taxis ?
If its possible for you , then please do try n reply to my mail.
I would be highly grateful
Thanks
Supriya

karen said...

Hi Supiyra,

Thanks for reading my blog! In my opinion, you should stay in Venice not outside of it if you want to really experience Venice. I know it is expensive. Maybe you could consider staying in a 3 star hotel instead of something more expensive? There are hundreds of smaller places, check on Trip Advisor. Also, an alternative might be to stay on the Lido island, the hotels on the Lido are a bit less expensive, and you are closer than having to come in by train every day from the mainland.
Hotels on the mainland at Mestre or Marghera are less expensive, but it's just not the same as being in Venice on the island. There is a main bridge that connects Venice to the mainland by bus, train or car. It might be easier to cut the budget in other countries and save some $$ for Venice. Sounds like you have a great trip planned. We were recently in Prague and several cities in Austria too!