Venice’s Rialto Market

There were lots of tomato shapes such as these that I had not seen before.

As we went to the market close to lunchtime, the crowds weren’t as crazy as they would have been earlier in the morning at the Rialto.

And there were lots and lots of peppers.

Fresh fruits, vegetables and fish have been sold for more than 700 years at Venice’s Rialto market. Located right on the Grand Canal, the markets house an enormous collection of goods. All the different shapes and sizes of just the tomatoes alone–including sundried–was enough to make me happy, but there was so much more to check out as well.

The plums were deep purple, red and yellow. Zucchini were perfectly round, a nice change from the long and skinny ones I see in Stockholm. And I absolutely loved all the gorgeous peppers, many marked as nostrane or homegrown.

The fresh catch from the Mediterranean.

The minimum lengths for fish sales.

We went to the markets late–close to lunchtime– so most of the fresh fish was gone. But there was still a fairly decent selection to choose from. And the marble plaques provided the rules for minimum fish lengths for market sale. I liked t0 think that the plaque had been there for centuries, but I don’t actually know if that’s true or not.

As I have a degree in English lit, I have to say that it was kind of a thrill just to be in a place that Shakespeare wrote a play about. But I suppose that’s a bit of a book nerd thing to admit!