I wanted to write a post about Italian food rules—everything from the when to drink cappuccino to the correct way to eat your spaghetti (I’ll tell you now: no cutting!). However, I’m far from being an authority. So I went to a friend and fellow blogger, Paolo Rigiroli of Disgraces on the Menu, who is a bona fide italiano living in Canada. He had an even better idea.

You will be thinking of finding your way amongst the crowds when you come to Venice in August. Looking somewhere for refreshing shade and quiet. But even in the center of town, along those beaten paths, there are secret oases of verde rigoglioso – lush green private gardens. Not just the semi-private corti – courtyards of houses you can cross or look into. I mean the little gardens, off-limits, hiding behind the walls. Almost one-third of Venice consists of these little secluded, private gardens.

Venetian buildings, in what is called l’edilizia della Venezia minore, are rather structured, consisting of several levels on and above the ground. There are, for example, a first-floor terrace, in-between loggias and top-floor altanas. All are natural extensions of the inner courtyards, often used as gardens. Paved and terraced. Or covered with mossy lawns. Hiding behind red brick stone walls and facades painted in Venetian Red – the rosso…