What would you do if you had the chance to visit Venice?

Most people would spend their sweet time exploring St. Marco Square, cruising the Grand Canal in a gondola, wandering the alleys of the old town or searching for the best gelato while watching other travelers doing the same.

I remember my first trip to Venice … many years ago … and while I did my fair share of exploring side streets and slurping creamy Venetian gelato, one experience above all has remained in the forefront of my mind and has beckoned me to return to that city.

Night fell and things began cooling down in what I’m convinced was the steamiest summer Venice has recorded in ages. Tourists, guide books in tow, rushed out to the nearest bar, looking for the after hours crowd and hoping to find a sense of authentic Venice among the mass of tourists that sat beside them. Rather than follow them into the highest-rated drinking hole-and hefty bill that was sure to follow-we headed out on our own.

Instead of popping into one of those expensive tourist-orientated fine-dining restaurants, we grabbed a couple of empty water bottles and went to a tiny wine shop near the Rialto Bridge- a traditional venetian wine shop that sold local red and white wines on draft.

There were only two barrels of wine in the shop-one filled with red wine and the other with white. We handed over our plastic bottles and asked for one of each.

We paid a whooping  €2 per bottle and were on the go.

We grabbed a seat at the canal side and started sipping our local wine, imagining for a moment what it would feel like to live there. Though it was far from premium, the flavor was fantastic and even now, ten years after this experience, it is one of the best wine-drinking sessions I’ve ever had.

Next week I’m returning to the bel paese-Icelandic ash not withstanding-and am hoping to recreate that magical wine-drinking experience from so long ago. I’ll be looking for that wine shop and will have a few empty bottles in my bag, just in case it is still there. And if you see me, sitting nearby with a plastic water bottle filled to the brim with homemade juice, stop by and say hi. This is one experience, I’m willing to share.

Cecil Lee is an avid traveler and travel blogger and photographer living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance and on his own travel photo blog, Travel Feeder.

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