Venice is a city without parallel. This essential companion will enrich anyone"s experience of the magical city of lagoons. The Cafe Life series takes you to its third Italian city-La Serenissima (the Most Serene Republic)-with Cafe Life Venice. Like predecessors Cafe Life Rome and Cafe Life Florence, it explores a select group of family-run establishments. However, because Venice moves to the stroke of its very own gondola paddle (voga), you"ll be drinking less coffee, eating less gelato-and sipping more wine. This may be good news to some of you. The Venetians do love their wine, and you"ll see them loving it at almost any time of day in one of the city"s many bacari. The bacaro, is a cross between a cafe and a wine bar, where you"ll find locals knocking back an ombra (Venetian for glass of wine) and eating cichetti (tapas-like snacks) as they stand at the bar. This wine that they quaff like mineral water is usually lower in alcohol content-around 11 percent. Bacari are a...