After arriving in Venice, it became apparent that although it is beautiful, it is ultimately a giant tourist attraction. There were more tourists than Italians, and every restaurant was extremely expensive. My teacher warned me that I must carefully choose a restaurant far away from the tourists.

Oddly, the restaurant I chose was pretty close to the tourist area, and I chose it because of their advertisements. Mind you, we were starving. We had a full morning in Venice and every restaurant looked good to us. This restaurant, ironically called Snack Bar, featured a menu with a flat price and two courses. The cost was under fifteen euros, so we were sold.

We went to an Asian-owned restaurant that served up a great plate of spaghetti Bolognese. The sauce perfectly combined sweet and savory flavors. The noodles were cooked to perfection and I was left satisfied. However, I had to pace myself, as this was only the primo piatto (first plate) and I also ordered calamari.

I was a bit concerned about ordering seafood at a restaurant I was so unfamiliar with, but traveling requires taking chances and I’m really glad that I did. The calamari came out looking exactly like onion rings and battered tempura-style. The calamari was tender and perfectly cooked. While it was cut in very thick pieces, there was no elastic texture – a rarity for squid dishes.

Overall, the meal was a pleasant surprise. The restaurant didn’t appear special, nor was its name. But the meal is something I will remember when I think of my adventure in Venice.

Jessica Carr is a rising junior in Journalism and Electronic Media. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @jcarr_94.