That's how the Venetian's roll...

The lifestyle in Venice is very different to Australia and London and one thing I noticed in particular were the little coffee shops and bars, although they were not your usual bars.  In this case the shops were more take away food places where they cooked fabulous home made sandwiches and calzones, pizza's and pita's but they also stocked just about every spirit and liqueur you could imagine!  It is custom for locals to stop by, order a glass of something strong, enjoy it for 5 or 10 minutes and then be on their way.  I was in ordering a pita when I first noticed it, that and the older gentleman behind the counter was trying to coerce me in to drinking something!