The last day of voting at Big Blog Exchange

As you have probably noticed by now, there is a Big Blog Exchange competition going on at the moment. Actually it will end in just a few hours (12pm GMT), which means you still have a chance to vote for me.

I have to take this opportunity to thank you all for voting for me. Thanks to you - my trusty readers, it looks like I will be ranked within the top 100 bloggers from all over the World - I am at #64 at the moment.
Everyone from the top 100 will have a chance to actually become one of the lucky 16 travel bloggers and exchange countries for 10 days. It is all in the hands of organizers of the competition from here on - Hostelling International.

You still can help me get a better ranking in these last few hours of the competition. To give me your vote, you can find all the information in my post about the Big Blog Exchange competition. Thank you all, again!

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Chioggia by night

As I mentioned few posts ago, the cute little Italian port town of Chioggia might seem a bit empty and uneventful at the first glance. There is a very good chance you will also see it like that if you arrive directly from its usually overcrowded neighbor - Venice.

When I was there I started appreciating that relaxed feel to it soon enough. The pedestrian only town center (mainly Corso del Popolo) was quite busy even during early afternoon hours but other parts of town were pretty empty.

Moments after sunset I noticed an obvious change. Cars started queuing at the old city center entrance and everybody seemed to be heading for the streets. All cafes were full in a blink of an eye and everybody was waiting for a glass of obviously very popular Aperol Spritz. If you are not familiar with it Aperol is a bitter, bright orange alcoholic drink, somewhat similar to Campari. They mix it with prosecco (sweet) wine, champagne or sometimes even some soda to get a fresh sparkling effect. It is usually served with a couple of ice cubes and a slice of orange.

I could not figure out if this drink popularity was a seasonal thing or it had something to do with the Veneto region or perhaps it was just another trendy thing.

I can only wonder how late into night this thing lasted, but the crowd looked like it was still warming up when we left the scene. At first this seemed a bit strange since it was Sunday evening but then I remembered Monday in Italy is the day of the week when most of places stay closed or at least have a late start.

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Sunday market in Chioggia

There are a few reasons for visiting the cute little Italian fishing port of Chioggia on a Sunday.
The first one I already mentioned in one of my previous posts and has something to do with museum opening hours - the old clock tower with a clock museum is only opened on Sundays and holidays. The second reason is the flee market taking place on Corso del Popolo.

At the first look the flee market seemed like an unattractive pile of junk - many piles of junk to be exact. Since I am usually not interested in those kind of items, it took me a while to actually stop at one of the stands.
After a closer inspection I realized there were actually a few interesting items for sale. A potential buyer could browse among various coins, cheap jewelery, old LP records, African masks, wooden and ceramic decorations and much more.

Some vendors were offering local items but also many things on display were (probably) of eastern origin, like for instance some old Soviet Union army gas masks and helmets. Quite a few things had a cheap, made-in-China feel to them but obviously everything was not junk.
Either that, or people had no idea what they were looking at and buying. I must say people were showing quite some interest in the displayed goods.

It may come as a surprise to you but at the end of the day I walked away empty handed. I guess this was because I just could not decide between a miniature Vespa and a gilded wooden angel statue...
If you are thinking I should have simply bought both of them, you must definitely plan your visit on a Sunday and check out the market yourself.

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