Venice is a unique special city. It’s small and very fragile. It has a history that is mind blowing for most, a former life style that we can hardly imagine and a facade that remains timeless.
As tourists I want my groups to understand the soul of this beautiful city, the spirit of the city and why we all want to visit and fall in love with it. To appreciate that real people live, work, study and grow old here. It’s a fun exclusive city whose population has diminished from 150,000 to 50,000. But, we need to understand that Venice is not a beach. It is an important, fragile city that is suffering. Not only though climate change, deterioration and maintenance of its infrastructure but the global desire to visit cities like this. Thousands of people each day say they have seen Venice by visiting St Marks Square. They are fed by the many enormous, mountainous cruise ships that for some reason are allowed to enter along the narrow Guidecca Canal and disgorge their passengers 365 days a year.
Am I sad about this – well ‘yes’. Does it provide jobs for guides, restaurants , retailers, gondoliers etc – well ‘yes’. Has the likes of St Marks and the Rialto been turned into a mass of telephone camera weilding tourists that don’t ‘get’ the ambience of Venice – well ‘yes’
My love of Venice comes from the fact everything is on show and it glows on the the outside. All you have to do is open your eyes and absorb what you see. The moody light makes colours almost pale and soft. The narrow water ways show reflections of brick walls full of character and doorways with big brass knockers and modern answer systems hide beautifully decorated typical Venetian homes.
Once again I have my dear friend Cristina to guide us for three days. We start by walking beside quiet little canals, drink coffee and taste a few tasty morsels at local cafes, visit special places with few tourists and learn so much from an insider who was bought up in Venice itself.
Day 2 – We travel into the Veneto countryside. Taste superior Prosecco over looking the rolling hills of Valdobiadene and for the 7th year enjoy the exquisite lunch provided by Elena and her team and Albergo Al Sole in the heavenly village of Asolo.
Day 3 – Once again this our Lagoon Day in a private large water taxi. Passing the famous entrance to Venice and the Doge’s Palace under the bow of a huge floating monster was very scary. But, seeing the Bienalle exhibit ‘Building Bridges’ by Lorenzo Quinn – depicting six of humanity’s universal values of Friendship, Faith, Wisdom, Love, Hope and Help was very exciting. Symbolised by human hands coming together to overcome differences and build a better world.
Starting at Murano – famous for glass, then Burano famous for lace making and ending at Torchello famous for the first church on the lagoon and its breathtaking mosaics and our delicious long lunch at Osteria Diavolo. Murano has a new installation which was a colourful Christmas tree made of blown glass – almost as colourful as …. the owner of the notoriously fabulous seafood restaurant Busa Alla Torre, actually I thought he looked I bit like Santa Claus himself.
There is special place in my heart for Venice and I love showing my tour groups the real Venice, full of tradition, delicious typical dishes, classic drinks like Aperol Spritz and through Cristina making Venice shine bright. Our accommodation in an old Pallazo – which has been in the owner Slyvia’s family for 600 years, it is not a generic flashy hotel and doesnt have a lift, our meals are at local trattorias which don’t even open until 7pm and we walk. This is Venice, it does do flashy at a cost, it does have crowds of tourists but, it also has a real life with real locals and we get to see their home town at its best .
