Living in Venice is much better than going to the gym!!!
VENICE IN WINTER
"The winter light in this city! It has the extraordinary property of enhancing your eye's power of resolution to the point of microscopic precision [...] The sky is brisk blue; the sun, escaping its golden likeness beneath the foot of San Giorgio, sashays over the countless fish scales of the laguna's lapping ripples; [...]
It's a private light, the light of Giorgione or Bellini, not the light of Tiepolo or Tintoretto. And the city lingers in it, savoring its touch, the caress of the infinity whence it came."
(Watermark by Joseph Brodskij)
Visiting Venice in winter- grasping its atmosphere, lights, subdued colours, water splashing, smells, footsteps bouncing and echoing - in the only time of the year with few tourists, can make you discover and savour a different, more secret, true dimension. Then get lost in the labyrinthine alleys, take refuge in museums, galleries, palaces and churches, search for the lights of the great painters and experience these magical and intimate atmosphere. If fog swirls around or it's chilly and there is acqua alta, follow the smells of savoury cooked food, have a snack with a glass of wine or a coffee and take a rest.
...AND AGAIN IT'S HERE!!! WELCOME VENICE CARNIVAL 2020!!!
The 2020 edition of our Venice Carnival started on February 8th and will go on until February 25th. Game, Love and Folly is the theme of this year’s edition. One hundred and fifty events, 50 initiatives for kids, and many cultural events with the cooperation of over 300 artists. And welcome to some new wonderful events like the speciial night ball on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.
On Saturday, February 8th this 2020 Venice Carnival was officially opened, on the Rio di Cannaregio. The Festa Veneziana continued today on Sunday February 9th with the Water Parade of Venetian Rowing Associations, a parade of decorated boats along the Grand Canal, and food and drink stalls with traditional Venetian food. The Carnival will end on Mardi Gras, Tuesday 25th February, with the Svolo del León, a tribute to the winged Lion of Saint Mark in St Mark's Square.
There are plenty of events scheduled for the 18 days of celebration, spreading from the Venice historic city centre out to the whole metropolitan area. Considered one of the most exciting events of the Carnival, the Flight of the Angel, on Sunday 16th February, this will be the official opening of the celebrations in St. Mark's Square.
Not to be missed no matter what are the frìtole, the well-known Venetian sweet fritters, symbol of the Carnival along with the galàni (also known as chiacchiere, frappe, bugie, crostoli or cenci in other areas of Italy).
Book here our shared experiences for this very special event!!!
THE INTRIGUING CARNIVAL OF CASANOVA
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CARNIVAL PUB CRAWL
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CARNIVAL EXTRAVAGANZA
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COTILLON AT PALAZZO
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LOOKING FOR MARCO POLO
Seven centuries after Marco Polo’s death, in January 1324, you can still take a walk around Venice looking for traces of the legendary merchant and explorer who travelled to China along the Silk Road.
• Not far from the Church of San Giovanni Grisostomo and from Rialto, where there is now the Malibran Theatre, once stood the thirteenth-century house of the Polo family, which burned down in the late sixteenth century. The theatre was later inaugurated in 1678. During its restoration (in 1998), archaeologists found many important objects belonged to the Polo family, that testify that the house was buitl exactly under the walls of the Malibran. A small portion of the houses in this ancient area of Venice has been preserved as it was at the time of Marco Polo, and you can see passing under the arches that lead into the Corte seconda del Milion, a courtyard that take its name from Polo’s travel book, Il Milione, one of the world’s first bestsellers. In the English-speaking world, the book is often known as the Travels of Marco Polo. On the rear facade of the Malibran, a plaque recalls that "Here were the houses of Marco Polo who traveled to the most distant regions of Asia and described them".
• The Marciana National Library, in Piazzetta San Marco, holds the testament of the world-famous explorer, a manuscript on sheep parchment dated 1323, according to the calendar then in force in the Serenissima Republic (i.e. 1324). But among the most precious memorabilia of the Library there is also the famous Map of the World created by the Camaldolese monk Fra Mauro around 1450. Considered the greatest medieval map in the world, the Fra Mauro features over 3,000 inscriptions drawn from the voyaging and discoveries of Marco Polo.
• Unfortunately, we don't have any faithful portrait of Marco Polo. However, among the ancient, rare and precious finds of the Correr Museum collections you will find a Chinese-made wooden sculpture, a nineteenth-century copy of t
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK...WAIT...AND THE MAGIC WILL START....
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK...WAIT...AND THE MAGIC WILL START....
This exclusive evening walking tour will provide you access to Saint Mark’s Basilica, one of the most spectacular cathedrals in the world, after closing time with no crowds! Enter this Byzantine treasure trove with just your guide and the church custodian, out of hours. Leave the crowds outside, while you discover the peace and serenity of this spiritual location, what was once the private chapel of the Doge of Venice.
Starting in Saint Mark’s Square, our specialized guide will introduce you to another side of Venice and its origins. Enjoy fantastic tales of tyranny and embrace the dynamic history of Venice, whilst discovering the history of the most dramatic and awe-inspiring building in Venice, Saint Mark’s Basilica.
Without the need to skip the queues or wait behind hundreds of other sightseers you will enter this sumptuous building, when all of the other tourists have long gone.
The clink of the custodian's key as he opens the doors for your group will be the start of this very special and moving experience.
Without the buzz of a thousand tourists, relish in the glorious golden mosaics, all 43,000 square feet, illuminated just for this tour. Your passionate and expert guide will explain the intricate works and history of the ornate decoration found throughout this architectural masterpiece. Witness the Pala d’Oro, one of Italy’s most refined and accomplished examples of Byzantine enamel, decorated in gold and with over 1,900 gems.
As the Basilica, has been opened just for this intimate tour, we will also visit areas that otherwise are not open to the masses, such as the crypt, where the relics of Saint Mark are said to be laid and the main altar.
Our personally selected guide will ensure your small group can embrace the art and history of this sacred location.
There will be no more than 6 groups at a time in the Basilica, and therefore, ensuring this one-and-a-half-hour tour is a once-in-a li
FESTA DELLE MARIE
If on February 3rd you enjoyed the spectacular view of 12 Venetian girls wearing Renaissance dresses walking from San Pietro di Castello to Piazza San Marco, it was the parade of the Festa delle Marie.�Since the beginning of the ninth century, every year on February 2nd – the Day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary – the twelve most beautiful Venetian young ladies from poorer families received, together with their spouses, the nuptial blessing in the Church of San Pietro di Castello.
Today, a procession of beautiful young Venetian girls evokes the kidnapping and rescue of twelve brides, which took place at the time of the Doge Pietro Candiano III. (1039)
The winner of the Festa delle Marie, dressed in a magnificent costume created for the occasion, will be declared and crowned “Maria of the year” in St. Mark’s Square by the Doge, at the end of a water procession leaving from San Giacomo dell’Orio.
VENETIAN CHIMNEYS
"The magnificent, trumpetlike chimneys resembling medieval turrets in the backdrop of every Madonna and Crucifixion idle and gradually crumble away from the local skyline" (Iosif Brodskij, "Fondamenta degli incurabili")
Strolling around Venice with your nose in the air, you will see a large number of chimneys of different shapes. They’re part of Venice’s fascinating minor architectural heritage, they are structural elements, with a specific function, important part of its landscape.
Venice counts about 7,000 chimneys, evidence of the gradual historic-architectural stratification of the city.
You will see dozens of different shapes: bell-shaped,on the roof of Palazzo Dario; double or triple fork shape, in Fondamenta della Misericordia. You can recognize a truncated cone shape chimney from the Bridge of Pugni in San Barnaba; a cylindrical or cubic shield, covered by Istria stone, in campo Sant'Agostino; a truncated pyramid shape from Ponte Pasqualigo in campo Santa Maria Formosa; a dado shape on the San Stae canal; a cusp-shaped in marble, like that of Zecca, in Piazza San Marco, by Jacopo Sansovino; a bell tower shape in campo San Fantin.
In the paintings of great painters like Carpaccio, Bellini, Canaletto we find the Renaissance Venice in these unique artifacts, an outstanding example of Venetian art of chimney construction.
