While in Lido, Venice’s 12-km-long sandy beach stretch, where every September the Venice Film Festival is held, between spotting a movie star and another you might get hungry as well! And after so much red from the Red Carpet, you might want to grab some food in another red location… And yes, it is as exclusive as the well-known catwalk, since tourists haven’t found it out yet.

When you get to Lido (water bus number 6 from Piazzale Roma and 5.1 from the train station) walk all the way down to the beach along Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta. Then make the left and in 3 minutes you’ll see this stunning double decker bus on the left. A typically English red bus has turned into a food truck which actually never moves. For quite many years it has been serving a wide selection of 5-euro paninis and 3-euro bottled beers. Among local teenagers, who will be all over the place at any time of day, iced-tea is also popular.

To order your sandwich at El Pecador (in English “The Sinner”) you might need some local advice, as some of the most delicious paninis have Venetian dialect names: “Te Spiego”, let me explain you, “Sbrega”, something big, “Bombarda”, bomb… and so on. When the menu is not translated into many languages or even better is in the local language, it usually means that the business is mainly for local people and still unknown to tourists. Then prices will be low and quality really good, as, needless to say, Italians are really demanding with food.

After you’ve made your pick between vegetarian or regular paninis, climb the steps of the bus and take a seat on a wooden bench to enjoy the Adriatic Sea view from an English setting with some delicious Italian food. How could this be better?

So, our tip for the Venice Film Festival is… Eyes on the red carpet, butt on a red bus!

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