 Durant
& Cheryl Imboden'sVenice for Visitors veniceforvisitors.com |
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Rialto Food MarketsFrom: Venice's Top 11 Free Sights
ABOVE: Porcini mushrooms are a fall specialty in the Erberia. The Rialto Food Markets are working markets where Venetian homemakers and restaurant owners do their shopping six days a week. There are two markets, both slightly to the north of the Rialto Bridge in San Polo:
Related article: Next page: Venetian Ghetto
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The
Erberia sells fruit and vegetables, with wholesalers arriving early and
retailers setting up their stalls by mid-morning. By noon, most of the action is
over, so arrive early for shopping and discreet picture-taking.
Just
beyond, in a building with arches that overlooks the Grand Canal, vendors in the
Pescheria or fish market sell fish, octopus, squid, clams, and other
aquatic edibles. 
Tourists
love the Pescheria (and the Erberia, for that matter), but before bellying up to
the crushed-ice trough to take a snapshot, remember that the guy you're elbowing
out of the way may be a chef who's trying to buy the sardines or cuttlefish that
you'll be eating for dinner.