Original subtitles

We're really lucky

to have so many great European cities right on our doorstep,

just waiting to be rediscovered.

I don't know anywhere else you can get this many different sounds,

colours and, of course, smells.

Look at that.

And a weekend escape...

Hey!

...is a brilliant and easy way to explore them.

I am loving this.

Feast your eyes on Venice.

So, I'm going to have loads of amazing food...

Go on, baby, sizzle, sizzle!

I may have found the best food in Amsterdam.

...see some amazing sights...

Colosseum!

This is the famous Checkpoint Charlie.

Wow. This is stunning.

...and check out the culture of each city.

You are the bravest people in Europe

and maybe the craziest.

Guys, I'm inside the fountain.

I'm part of the Trevi Fountain!

So, I'll be packing lots...

Ooh.

Come and have a look at this.

...into my three-day trips...

Oh, wow. We're up on the roof.

There is beer, there is wine,

there is sunshine, music and there are lots and lots of smiles.

...showing you how to get the most out of a weekend getaway.

I feel like Audrey Hepburn.

Just a two-hour flight from the UK

is probably the most opulent city in Europe.

Venice's iconic canals, world famous sights

and, of course, fantastic Italian food

make this a mecca for weekend breaks.

A short train ride from the airport

and I'm straight into the heart of the city,

early on my first day.

That's it, I'm here.

This is Venice,

without doubt one of the most spectacular cities in the world.

You've got the Piazza San Marco, the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal.

I mean, breathtaking sights everywhere.

However, Venice also has a reputation

for being eye-wateringly expensive and I know this to be true myself,

but only if you eat and drink in the tourist hot spots.

This weekend, I'm gonna attempt to do Venice in an affordable way.

I also want to get behind the ornate facades.

I'm hoping to see the Venice of the Venetians.

You can break the bank here

as Venice has some of the most luxurious hotels on the planet

and you pay extra for a canal view.

But there are some ways of bringing the bill down,

whilst still getting a slice of la dolce vita.

Nice. Very nice.

However, there is no reason to spend a lot of money

on a room with a view.

What you need to do is dump your bag

and head for the roof.

So, this is why I didn't bother getting a room with a view.

I mean, who needs to spend a lot of money on a room

when the hotel has got a terrace like this?

There you go.

Feast your eyes on Venice.

You see that over there?

That is the entrance to the famous Grand Canal

that flows through the middle of this island city.

It's there that all the grand palaces were built

between the 13th and the 18th century.

You had to be seriously rich to live here.

There are another 150 canals

which break this city down into even smaller islands

and they're connected by 400 bridges.

Well, there is no way, in a three-day trip,

that I'm gonna see all of them, but I am gonna give it a really good go.

But the first thing I've got to do -

and I'm gonna have to work hard on this -

is actually tearing myself away from here,

cos I could actually spend the whole weekend here,

just watching Venice go by.

Mwah!

Now, as you might know, I love something sweet,

so it only seems fair to start my holiday the right way.

Grazie.

I mean, Venice is beautiful, but, wherever you are in Italy,

you've got to start with a gelato, right?

Oh, get in, that is lovely.

And it gives me the perfect opportunity

to indulge in something you can definitely get for nothing.

I think the best thing about Venice are the views.

It's beautiful everywhere you turn and, of course, they're free.

It doesn't cost anything to look at the views.

But, have you ever wondered why there's a city here,

on these islands in the middle of the Adriatic?

Well, it's the end of the Roman Empire.

When you've got Germanic tribes

running all over the Italian peninsula,

the people from the north of Italy,

they came here to these islands for protection.

Then, they decided they wanted to stay here

and they had to make it more habitable,

so they got tree trunks and they piled those into the muddy ground,

then they built platforms across them,

and then their buildings on top of that.

Then, so they could move around easily, they dug canals.

Well, the canals are still here, there's still people here.

There's not barbaric hordes any more -

well, unless you count us, the tourists.

There are 26 miles of waterway in Venice,

all in a city less than a third the size of London.

And, of course, there are the famous gondolas.

However, at 80 euros for 30 minutes, gondolas are pricey,

so I've come to the quiet Cannaregio neighbourhood

to get a different look at the canals for less than half the price.

Mattia? Hi, hi, Gregg. Yes. Good to meet you. Nice to meet you.

So, we are gonna do a kayak tour of the backstreet canals.

Yes, of course. Tell me what to do.

OK, so, life jacket. That's for you.

OK.

Fits you perfect.

OK. Yes!

Come on. Kayak king. Let's go.

Once Mattia has joined me, we're ready to go water-level sightseeing.

OK. Let's go in this way.

So, what's it like, constantly living on the water

or next to the water?

Oh, it's really nice.

We feel very lucky, because we have the water every time close by us.

You know, here in Venice, we do not have a traffic light,

So, in order to know if the street is free or not,

before turning the corner, we say, "Oi-oi!"

Oi-oi? Exactly.

And, if nobody answer, it means that it is free

and so we can go.

Oi-oi!

HE CHUCKLES

Does everybody have a boat?

Almost everybody.

That one is what they call the teenager boat.

It's the boat that your parents give you, usually when you turn 18.

Does everything here come by boat?

Let's say you buy a new refrigerator.

Does it come by boat?

Yeah, you needed to call a boat like that one

that bring you the stuff in front of your house.

The police are in boats?

If you want to go to hospital, the ambulance is a boat?

We have everything by boat,

even the trash collector are by boat.

Yeah, we have everything completely different.

Venice is population has changed dramatically in the last century

as tourism has grown.

During the 19505, it peaked at 175,000,

but, nowadays, there's less than one third of that

and this is the perfect way to see how the locals live.

What is that?

Ah, that?

It's probably clothes, because, you see, in Venice,

we used to dry the clothes outside the window.

Someone's dropped their laundry in the... Hey!

GREGG LAUGHS

MATTIA SPEAKS ITALIAN

So, what do you do? You pick it up and she has to come and get it?

Yeah, sure.

HE LAUGHS

We've got your jumper!

This a thing that happens. Yeah, but hang on a minute,

she might drop a nice jacket.

Yeah. This was nice.

Is that a regular thing?

This happens when you dry the stuff outside,

it happens sometimes. Luckily, this time, there was us to pick that up.

Anyway, you have to wait for other boat to pick that up

or you just leave it there to the fishes.

I'm getting a bit hungry.

You wouldn't mind to take something to eat here?

I would love something to eat.

OK, let's do.

Oi-oi!

Oi-oi!

Hoy!

We're going there? Yes, definitely.

How do I get out of the boat?

We're Venetian now, so we can eat directly from the boat.

Really super in Venice, we do this all the time.

OK. We go to a bar, we take something to eat, we stay there.

Thank you so much.

Gregg? Hey.

Little snack. What is this?

This is baccala mantecato.

Salt cod. This is made the Venetian way. Mmm.

It's not fishy and it's quite creamy.

It's lovely. Thanks.

That's what you need after a tough day on the canals...

Mm, exactly. ..kayaking.

It was great, this, thank you very much,

It's really lovely to see the city like a Venetian.

You're welcome, Gregg. It's been a pleasure to have you here.

Shall we get another one?

Coming up, I enjoy a night out clone the Venetian way...

I am loving this.

ALL CHEERING

...and get stuck in to an iconic dish.

Oh, my word, it's absolutely, as they say, melting in the mouth.

I am on a long weekend in one of the world's top tourist destinations -

Venice.

While this place sees up to 30 million visitors a year,

at night, many of them head for cruise ships

or hotels on the mainland,

making it the perfect time for a wander.

Obviously Venice is famous for its canals,

but it's also got lots of little, windy streets.

In fact, it's quite easy to get lost.

But it doesn't matter, I don't think,

because you're never that far away from another bridge

or another square or a bar or a cafe.

Oh! Er, yeah. Dead end.

Come on. It's a canal!

At dinnertime, it's easy to get lured in by the bright lights

of restaurants on the main thoroughfares,

but I want to try something more authentic,

so I'm meeting up with some locals

who do foodie tours right across the city.

Hey, buonasera, good evening.

Good evening. Buonasera. I'm Gregg.

I'm Loris. I'm Giada. Loris...

Giada ancl Loris. And you're gonna teach me how to eat like a Venetian?

The Venetian lifestyle. The Venetian way. Perfect, perfect.

There are many, many, many restaurants in Venice,

but I don't imagine the Venetian people

eat in the restaurants every day, right?

Well, not every day, but we do a lot of this, actually.

Bacaro tour, we call it. It's basically the Venetian pub crawl.

What we do is we grab a little glass of wine, called ombra,

and we get a cicchetto.

Cicchetto is typical Venetian finger food.

It can be a meatball, like the one you're going to try. What is it?

Is it like tapas?

Don't call them tapas!

THEY LAUGH

Or we call the food police. Be careful.

But is it like tapas?

Similar concept. Is a similar concept. Right.

I understand the concept of little food. Yes.

Little bites. Good idea.

Why are we having a little glass?

Extremely typical.

This is called ombra, which is shadow, shade in Italian.

So, this was sold in St Mark's Square, actually,

around the bell tower of St Mark in the past,

during the Venetian Republic, there were wine shops

and the wine shops,

they followed the shade of the bell tower, to keep the wine cool.

So, the Venetians created an expression, let's take a shade.

That's a very nice idea.

Cheers. Cin-cin. Cin-cin.

Salute.

Cin-cin and salute and cheers.

Cheers. Cheers.

That's nice. That's almost sweet.

And now you have to try the food.

And this is a famous meatball? Yes. Yes.

Beef and potatoes, but the recipe is a secret,

so they won't tell you. And mortadella. A bit of mortadella.

Crunchy on the outside, really soft in the middle. Mm-hm.

It looks like it might be mincemeat, but it's not, it's softer than that.

Bit of garlic.

A lot of garlic. Mm-hm.

More than a shade of garlic.

Traditionally, cicchetti is eaten standing up,

as you eat and move on, and that's exactly how tonight is going

as we're already on our way to the second bar of the evening,

near the Rialto Bridge.

So, this is great.

We're not only having little glasses

and things to eat in different places,

we're walking around the city.

Cos if we were having dinner in a restaurant, we'd be in one place.

Exactly. It's a great way to explore all the districts of Venice.

This bar is known for putting a modern twist

on traditional cicchetti favourites.

Giada!

Wow.

Giada, my new best foodie friend.

What is that? That is bottom of artichoke,

also typical food of Venice.

Inside, it is amatriciana shrimps.

You have a spicy sauce inside of tomato

and cheese with the shrimps.

I thought that was some sort of unusual pastry,

but that's an artichoke and I love artichokes, so let's...

Mmm.

Oh, that's good.

That is rich with tomato, you're getting the chew of some seafood

and it's held in an artichoke heart, which is absolutely lovely.

It's probably one of the meatiest vegetables you can get.

Now, that one, I love. This is a great way to see the city.

I am loving this. Yay!

THEY CHEER

HE LAUGHS

I want to eat some more, I fancy another drink,

but we're not gonna do it here, right?

No. I'm learning. You're learning.

Take me to the next one. Let's go, let's go.

Straight ahead. Good man. I'm loving this. Loving this!

These bars, or bacari,

were originally created for locals to stop by

on their way home from work for a bite to eat and a drink

and were found on almost every back street.

Just round the corner is our final stop.

This is another one, right? This is the place.

Listen, listen, you go and get some drinks,

I'll find a place for us to stand. OK? Perfect.

Yes, yes, let's do it. OK.

Hey, ooh.

And, here we are, with more cicchetti.

Wow, they look... Hang on a minute.

They're not small drinks. That's not a shade.

That's a total eclipse.

THEY LAUGH

Right, what is that?

That is the most famous Venetian cocktail, that's the spritz.

Three different ones.

You said you like artichokes - this is an artichoke spritz.

All right, I'll have the artichoke. You go with that one. We knew that.

Listen, a lot of people where I live don't even eat artichokes,

let alone drink them.

They use the leaves in alcohol infusion with other herbs

to create this liquor.

It's got a feel like liquorice.

What is this one? This is cheese and walnuts.

Gorgonzola with mascarpone cheese, walnut, a bit of jam

and an almond. Now you're talking.

Now you're talking.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Creamy mascarpone and the sweetness of a little bit of jam.

That works. Mm-hm. That works.

This is a great way of seeing the city

and eating and drinking proper Venetian food

without spending lots of money.

It is. But, if I hadn't have met you,

how would I know where to look for these?

First of all, avoid the main streets, of course.

Yeah. Start going to the streets where nobody goes and you'll end up

in a place like this. Usually, you see a lot of Venetians outside.

So, if you see all Venetians in line,

waiting for drinks and cicchetti, you know it's a good place.

Do you know what,

you've introduced a whole new world of food and drink to me.

Of course. And it's fantastic.

Cheers. Cin-cin. Salute. Cheers. Salute.

Packing as much as possible into a weekend

means that Saturday calls for an early alarm.

And, to start the day the proper way,

I've headed round the corner to an affordable pasticceria,

to join the locals.

Can I have some bigne...

...and zaletti.

Ancl una tazza caffe americano, per favore.

In Italy, breakfast is a cup of coffee and something sweet,

but every single city or region in Italy has its own sweet things.

Its own sweet specialities.

Whoa!

Whoa!

Now, that's breakfast, right, look.

Actually, these bignes, they are not Italian at all.

They are Austrian, because the Austrians occupied Venice

at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. I mean, the Austrians are now gone,

but they left their cakes behind, which I think is very civil of them.

Now, if you like chocolate like I do, that is divine.

It's not too sweet. That choux pastry is so light it just dissolves

and you've got crispy chocolate on the top

and soft chocolate in the middle.

OK, it is a very sweet and very indulgent breakfast,

but I'm on holiday.

With no roads, you have to be up for walking in Venice.

But, fortunately, there's a view around every corner.

My first stop is a 15-minute wander across to Rialto Market.

Famed for its fresh produce, it can be busy in the mornings,

so I'm donning my visor.

This market has been here since the 11th century.

This makes it a thousand-year-old fresh food market.

Tourists take pictures here - I mean, it's beautiful colours -

but this is actually a fresh produce market

where the Venetians do their shopping.

It smells great, it looks great. We all want to learn about the food,

traditional food when we're in places.

I'm gonna meet up with a local chef called Michele.

I want to learn some more. Chef!

Michele offers visitors the chance to shop and cook like a local.

What a beautiful market.

Ah, you see. Beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

In Venice, you have fantastic fish.

Look, what a variety.

Do you think the people of Venice

eat more fish than the rest of Italy?

Absolutely, yes.

We eat fish four, five times per week.

We're buying wild sea bass for an iconic Venetian dish.

Grazie. Hey. Perfect.

Michele has offered to show me how to cook it back at his home.

Where do you live? Over there, the Grand Canal.

The other side? Yes, of course.

The other side. We must take the gondola.

Hang on, hang on, isn't it really, really expensive?

No, no, two euro for tourists and 70 cents for Venetians.

So, for two euro, I can do a gondola ride?

Only for two minutes. Yeah, but it's still a gondola ride.

Yes, it's still a gondola.

This is just a bus service. Yes.

Gondoliers give a day a week

to this public service dotted around the city

called the traghetto.

Grazie mille.

After hopping off, it's a short walk to Michele's spot in Castello,

a real locals neighbourhood.

What an amazing place to live!

Yes, it's so quiet here. It's a great part of Venice.

So, Gregg, welcome in my home.

Wow.

The ceilings are so high.

This is the kitchen. Very nice. This is the kitchen of a chef.

So, what are you going to do with that beautiful fish?

A typical Venetian recipe -

sea bass in salt crust.

It is one of the most representative dish of Venice.

Why pack it with salt? Why not just put it in the oven?

Because the oven is more than 200 degrees.

Under the salt, become very hard,

preserve and make the cooking slowly and delicate

and cook in its juice.

You don't need to add oil or butter, nothing.

Michele starts by beating some egg whites,

while I mix some table salt with coarse salt.

Then, it's time to combine the two.

Why not use the whole egg? Why just the egg white?

Because you have a crust pink. That's OK.

If you want, but I prefer white.

What does the fish think?

Yeah, yeah. He prefer white. He'd prefer white, yeah.

How did you know? He was only talking to me.

It's Venetian fish.

THEY LAUGH

After laying the sea bass on a bed of salt,

Michele adds to the belly basil, thyme and lemon,

before covering it with the salt mix

and putting it straight into the oven.

195-200 for 25, 30 minutes.

Venice has been selling salt from its shores

since the start of the city, back in the 6th century.

Eventually, they had a monopoly on its sale,

throughout the Mediterranean,

so this dish is more than just a local favourite,

its a celebration of Venetian history.

Ahh.

That is fabulous.

Look.

HE TAPS

This is the sound. It's like a stone. It's like a rock.

Now, for open, you need a knife like this.

And, so...

And now it's ready to open...

...like this. Mmm.

Michele is serving the fish

with some very simply steamed carrots, courgettes and potatoes.

Last touch, a good extra virgin oil.

Stop.

Oh, my friend.

Oh, my word.

Let me tell you, that flesh is so soft,

you don't even need to chew it.

It's absolutely, as they say, melting in the mouth.

That is the way to cook the fish.

What have you got there?

A great bottle of Prosecco.

You know, Prosecco is the wine of Venice.

The production is in Treviso.

So, Treviso is just up the road from Venice.

Come on, open it up. We open...

CORK POPS

How do you say cheers in Venetian? Salute?

Salute. Salute, Gregg.

Mmm.

This is lovely.

So, I've got a beautiful fish,

that's been cooked like this by the Venetians for centuries,

from a fish market that is a thousand years old,

with Prosecco that I didn't realise comes from down the road.

This is what they call a good day.

Coming up, I check out Venice's own version of the Sistine Chapel.

Come and have a look at this.

Ancl turn my hand to a bit of 14th century mask-making.

I'm gonna be Greggio Mascarero.

Venice is a byword for opulence and wealth

and nowhere is that more evident

than in the famous square at the heart of the city.

Piazza San Marco.

You are fabulous.

I have heard that St Mark's is the perfect place to understand

how these islands, settled by refugees back in the 6th century,

became so grand and important,

so, I've arranged a guide to show me around.

Frederica, right? Yes. I'm Gregg.

Good to meet you. You are my guide.

Yes, I am, nice to meet you. Are you good at history?

Because I need something explaining to me.

How did this small island in the north of Italy

become so rich, so powerful and so famous?

Look at this magnificent building.

This is one of the most important

Roman Catholic churches in the world.

Why is this important?

It's beautiful, but why is this important to the story of Venice?

Because here we have the body, the relics of St Mark.

Who? St Mark. How did Venice get the body of St Mark?

Look.

Can you see the first mosaic?

They went to Egypt when it was a Muslim country.

Venetians took the body of St Mark

and put him inside, into that basket,

hidden by pork meat,

because Egyptians, they do not like pork, because of their religion.

You see the reaction they had?

They were disgusted.

Can you see? They are doing like, "Ooh."

What am I watching on this? Am I watching a robbery?

No, no, no, no, no. We borrowed the body.

HE LAUGHS

When were you thinking of returning it?

Who knows?

THEY LAUGH

I love this story.

I love this story!

But I'm trying to understand

why the Venetians would go to all of that trouble.

Because we would like to give a religious foundation

to the new Republic of Venice.

They're saying, "Here we are, we are a big, important state,

"right here, in the middle of a lagoon."

That is a big, big statement.

Having the body of a saint

catapulted the city into the limelight,

with pilgrims travelling miles from all around

to be near St Mark's remains.

Following this, the Venetians built up their republic

into one of the richest and most powerful centres in the world.

What made Venice so big? What was it?

We were very good merchants and traders in the past.

Trading where?

All over the Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea,

up to the north of Europe.

We were controlling all that trade.

From one small city in the north of Italy?

No, Gregg, no, it was not simply a city.

It was a big state.

Croatia, Dalmatia, Greek islands, Cyprus and Crete -

they were part of the Republic of Venice in the past.

That's not a republic, that's an empire. Yes, it was.

This square is full of incredible palaces and churches you can visit,

but I've chosen to head high

and visit the tallest building in the city - the Campanile.

It was originally built back in the 12th century

to help the Venetians watch who was sailing in and out.

This one is a 20th century replacement

and the perfect spot to get a bird's eye view.

Whoa! Come on.

Look, Gregg, look how beautiful is this side of the city.

It's beautiful on every side. It is true.

Maybe you know, Gregg,

that Galileo Galilei came in the bath tub

in the same place where we are now.

Is this where Galileo gazed at the stars?

I mean, actually, he was showing his telescope

to the government of Venice.

Was he Venetian, Galileo?

No, he was not from Venice,

but he worked for the government of Venice.

If he wasn't Venetian,

what's he doing working for the Venetian government?

Because, here we had a very open mind.

We love exploration, we love stars,

we love giving people the possibility

to show their free thoughts.

And, so, he was actually saying something

against what the Church was saying.

The sun is in the middle of the universe

and the Earth is going around.

That was a new theory.

But he was a great man.

Sure, he was. Which is why Freddie Mercury said, "Galileo, magnifico."

Exactly. Brilliant. Exactly.

I understand completely.

Good.

I'm packing in tons of exploring by foot,

but, sometimes, it's nice to escape the heat of the afternoon sun.

A 20-minute walk from St Mark's Square, in the San Polo district,

is the perfect spot to get indoors and see some of Venice's grandeur.

One of the amazing things about Venice is the amount of fine art.

I mean, back in its heyday,

there were some seriously rich people here.

The wealthy and the powerful,

they loved to be patrons for the great artists of the day.

But, do you know, you don't need to go to a museum

or queue up to see some pieces.

There is beautiful art here everywhere. Come on.

This is the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

Back in the 16th century, it was set up as a lay fraternity.

That's a kind of religious club for really, really rich Venetians.

It's also home to something rather special.

Come and have a look at this.

Every single picture in this room was done by one man

and his name was Tintoretto,

one of the finest Venetian artists of the Renaissance period.

It took him 20 years to finish this room

and it's considered as his finest work.

It's a bit, I suppose, like Venice's Sistine Chapel.

But Tintoretto almost didn't get the job,

cos the people in charge, they asked local artists

to send in drawings of their plans, what they planned to do.

Tintoretto didn't send in any drawings at all.

Do you know what he did? Listen to this.

He broke in here at night

and he stuck one of his pictures up on the ceiling.

When the people came in in the morning,

liked the picture, gave him the job.

Now, how about that? That's gutsy.

Venice has hundreds of bridges,

built in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

But, here, in Dorsoduro, I've got a favourite.

Come and have a look at this bridge,

because it's not the most beautiful of bridges in Venice,

but I think it's got the best story.

This is the Ponte dei Pugni and it means the Bridge of Fists

and a story here that goes back to the 14th century.

There were lots of different gangs in Venice, OK.

Two of the biggest gangs were the guys who worked in the Navy

and the fishermen.

And, every year, they would have a massive fistfight on this bridge.

Now, it was organised.

It could be single combat or it could be a great big group brawl.

The idea was to knock your opponent out cold

and send him into the dirty cold water below.

That happened here, every single year.

Now, what I find amazing is we think of Venice as a sophisticated city

and, nowadays, it is, but its roots are most certainly working class.

Bridge of Fists. Big tear-up.

But, while some Venetians got their kicks in street brawls,

there was a slightly more appealing way of enjoying yourself,

back in the day.

Now, we're all used to wearing masks these days,

but in the 12th century, the reason for wearing them was very different.

Full facemasks were worn as disguises,

so social classes could mix together

and have fun while remaining anonymous.

And you can still buy those masks today at places like Ca' Macana.

They'll even let you have a go at making your own,

with designers like Eloisa.

OK, Gregg, we're gonna start by taking a paintbrush each.

We're gonna cover the whole of our mask with blue.

Have I chosen a specific? You actually have.

This mask comes from the commedia dell'arte,

which is the first professional theatre that was born in Europe,

back in the 15005.

This character is called The Captain.

What sort of character is he?

Does he have hair? Is he good-looking? Does he like food?

He doesn't have hair. He likes food.

He's one of those ones. Not far from you, actually.

Masks were worn in carnival celebrations

up until the 18th century, when Napoleon descended on Venice.

The festivities ceased to exist for nearly 200 years,

until it was finally brought back in 1979, to revive Venice's heritage.

That is really good. Thank you.

I'm really happy with that.

What is a mask-maker? What do you call a mask-maker in Venice?

Mascarero.

I'm gonna be Greggio Mascarero.

When masks became hugely popular in the 14005, mask-making became

a properly recognised profession in the community.

I do not recognise that machine at all.

L have never seen one.

It dries your hair!

THEY LAUGH

I remember, I kind of remember, maybe 50 years ago, I saw one.

OK, well... So, you dry...

That's it? Let me touch.

Yeah, fantastic.

Great.

Finally, we add a few silver details to finish off the mask.

What were people getting up to, wearing these masks?

So, nothing good, really. They were up to loads of illicit affairs,

like political con plots,

they would assassinate people,

no-one would know who you are behind it.

Loads of really strange stuff that you couldn't do

if you were recognisable.

What do you think of my decoration? Very nice.

Shh! It's me.

Under here is a bald bloke who likes puddings.

HE LAUGHS

# La, dah, la-da-da

# La-da, da-da-dee! #

Gonna do something illicit.

Coming up, out in Venice's Lagoon...

HE LAUGHS

...I discover that there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Come on, fishies, come on.

It's my final day in Venice

and I'm doing as the locals do here on the weekend

and heading out of the city by boat.

Venice is actually at the heart of a giant lagoon. It's 40 miles long.

80% of it is salt marshes and mudflats.

It's not just the city of Venice itself.

And it's also home to more than 70 islands

and I've heard these islands are a great place to relax,

so I'm heading to one now, to explore.

And you're invited!

Islands like glassblowing Murano,

or the Lido with its beach, are popular,

but I've chosen to head 45 minutes across the Lagoon

to the lesser-known fishing island, Burano.

Morning fog is not unusual here, but tradition says

that all the houses should be painted brightly-coloured,

so that I, like the fishermen, can see where I'm going.

This island, this very colourful island, has a particular cuisine,

so I've arranged to meet an expert guide

and she's promised to show me an iconic dish from start to finish.

Having inhabited the island since the 6th century,

natives, including my guide, Silvia, fondly call themselves Buranelli.

Ciao!

You're Silvia, right? It's me, hi, Gregg, how are you?

I'm happy, but I'm hungry. Are you taking me for lunch?

Of course. We're gonna eat some delicious seafood later,

but, first, there is a surprise.

You know that Burano is an island of fishermen,

so we're going out fishing.

We're catching the fish we're gonna eat later.

Really? Yes.

The boat is waiting for us.

OK, OK, come on, let's go. Let's go. Andiamo.

Whoa.

In this part of the Lagoon is another island, Torcello,

the first island to be settled here,

and a powerful trading centre, before Venice.

With the early settlers, this is what Venice looked like. Exactly.

Absolutely amazing to think that the Grand Canal,

all the beautiful houses, the Doge's Palace,

Piazza San Marco, is built on something like that.

Exactly.

Now we can fish, right? Yes. What fish do we want?

The go. Go. Exactly.

It's one of the most important fish we have in the Lagoon.

When the Buranelli fishermen were putting the nets outside,

to get bigger fish, they got tons of go.

But no-one wanted to buy them, because they were too skinny,

so there was no market for the go.

So, instead of letting them go, they would cook them on the boat

and prepare lunch for the fishermen.

The broth made with go is simply delicious. Right.

But it was invented by chance.

So, now it's time to go fishing

or go go fishing, rather.

Perfecto! Yes. Bravo.

Except it's not like any kind of fishing I've seen before.

We're using poles with nets at the bottom,

filling them with bait and shoving them into the mud.

Come on, fishies, come on.

Waiting for the fish to take the bait gives me some time

to appreciate the beauty of this unusual landscape.

I think this is a wonderful day to visit. It's very charming.

I think it shows the uniqueness of the Lagoon. It's very atmospheric.

Right, shall we bring our catch in?

Let's see. Let's go get the go, shall we?

Let's go get the go. Go, go, go, go, go.

HE STRAINS

Hey, hey, hey! Bravo.

Ohh! This is brilliant.

There you go, look. I've caught my lunch.

With our catch in tow, Silvia and I return to Burano

to make a traditional fish broth risotto, risotto di go,

at a local restaurant who supposedly make the best one around.

Hello. Come ti chiami? Paolo. Paolo? Mio nome Gregg. Boom!

OK. Buono risotto. Andiamo!

Is this brodo or riso? Brodo. Brodo.

So this is making the broth? Brodo, brodo.

And this is everything, because rice has no flavour.

So, the only flavour is the brodo.

The brodo, si.

So, soffritto, so that's chopped up vegetables.

Come si vede. Olio? Olio d'oliva.

Does he know that I caught that fish?

Sai che l'ha preso lui. L'ha preso lui?

Si, si, si, si.

Come on, come on.

OK. We have the brodo.

Si. My fish broth.

Now we make the risotto, with the riso?

Versiamo.

He puts the rice straight into the broth?

Exactly. This is the difference between Buranello risotto

and the rest of the world.

What are you doing?

It's like Vesuvio.

The rice is jumping. Whoa.

Me?

Al contrario.

Backwards.

Hey! Ohhh.

Oh, no.

Sorry. No more.

Finito. Oh, I'm sorry.

Hey, wonderful.

After all that catching and prepping,

it's finally time to eat the fruits of our labour.

Right.

After watching that, I am hungry.

Definitely.

It's so good, I can't wait to taste it.

So, it's not often that I actually catch the food

I'm gonna have for lunch and then cook it as well.

It's a special day today.

Grazie.

Hey.

Grazie. Grazie.

Right, shall we? Let's go.

That is stunning.

It's super tasty.

That is absolutely beautiful.

There was just a little bit of give in the rice

and that just tastes of the sea.

It's got a little bit of acidity, like wine,

but it's almost sweet from the sea.

That has got so much flavour.

Can you see Burano and taste Burano in this?

I can taste it, definitely.

That's lovely. So can I now, as well.

Actually, I can taste a little bit of me in it.

I was out there catching the fish.

Exactly, well done, Gregg.

As I travel back to Venice,

it gives me a chance to reflect on my time here,

before I head to the airport.

I've seen a side of Venice that I've never seen before

and it's taught me that it really is possible

to enjoy all the sights and splendour on a budget.

I've had a fabulous time here in Venice.

You know, I've eaten some great food and there is lots to see and do.

But, you know, if you go beyond the majestic facades

and the romantic canals, there's the other Venice,

the Venice of the Venetians.

And, let me tell you, it is a lot more affordable.

What do I think of the Venetians?

Really, I think they're a city of grafters.

I mean, they managed to eke out an existence

on some marshy islands in the middle of the sea

and they turned it into this,

the incredible, beautiful Venice we see today.

And, more than that, they know how to have a good time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media