Life on the water

One of the striking things about a visit to Venice is seeing how the city operates without a road network. Some of this is pretty obvious as a tourist, such as the network of water buses and the water taxis plying their trade up and down the canals. Other elements become apparent as you spend more time in the city.

If you had told me before the trip that I could spend ten minutes watching a supermarket delivery being unloaded and then head off I would have said you were crackers, but somehow the choreography of this by water proves to be surprisingly fascinating.

Supermarket deliveries arrive by lorry… on a boat

Unloading to the quayside

Other sights on the waterways included bright yellow DHL canal boats scooting along the waterways laden with parcels for delivery; empty beer barrels being collected by a canal boat with a mechanical grabber and a rope hoist; canal boats stopping off at waterside petrol/gas stations; rapid ambulance boats with lights flashing heading towards the waterside A&E arrivals shed; and boats getting serviced while lifted into the air at waterside garages.

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Nine highlights from Venice

Our trip gave us three full days to explore the city (somehow not getting lost once) and see some of the wonderful sights that draw around 30 million tourists a year. Throughout the summer museums have gradually been re-opening. Many were only open for restricted hours at the weekends, ruling them out for us. The Basilica di San Marco was also closed for restoration following the devastating damage from the acqua alta of 2019.

I can offer no great insights about Venice that have not already been covered by the many travel writers and bloggers that have come before me, nor any photos that have not been taken again and again by better photographers under more favourable conditions. However, these are my personal highlights from the week.

Squero di San Trovaso

The Squero di San Trovaso doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of Venice and is all the more remarkable for it. This is the oldest working shipyard in Venice in 1612, one of only a handful still left in operation. The styling of the buildings on the site have the look of mountain huts, so I was not surprised to learn that they were built by carpenters from the alpine region of Cadore using materials they brought with them.

Squero di San Trovaso

The best view of the squero is available from the opposite side of the canal, where we could see five gondoliers in the yard and one tied up in the water. A few men were working on the gondoliers, which are still worked entirely by hands with the methods of centuries past. The squero’s website mentions that guided tours can be arranged but we were quite happy to watch the activity from the waterside.

Palazzo Grimani

The palatial residence of the Grimani family for four centuries is one of the newer sights on the tourist circuit. The original medieval structure was enhanced by the addition of two new wings with loggias in the 1560s and the creation of some spectacular interiors. All of this fell into a terrible state of decay in the twentieth century. The Italian state purchased the property in 1981 and re-opened it in 2008 after extensive restoration.

The highlight of any visit comes when you step inside the Tribune or Chamber of Antiquities, a space that was specially designed to showcase the Grimani collection of statues and impress visitors. The impact of this space was reduced by subsequent modifications (the additional of a large window and second doorway) and the transfer of the statuary to the vestibule of the Biblioteca Marciana.

Ganymede kidnapped by Zeus at the Palazzzo Grimani

The restoration of the roof and ceiling of the vestibule at the Biblioteca Marciana created an opportunity to return the collection to the Tribune after a gap of 420 years. The re-installation included a cover-up of the new doorway and window with two temporary niches. The effect is simply stunning. You step inside and see statues and busts everywhere you look, with Ganymede kidnapped by Zeus hanging over everything. I had seen pictures of this but nothing matches standing in the centre of the room and seeing all of this in three dimensions.

However, the Palazzo Grimani has much more to surprise and delight visitors. The ceiling of the foliage room, painted in the 1560s by Camillo Mantovano, presents an astonishing thicket of bushes, fruit trees and tall grasses inhabited by animals and birds. At its centre we see a heron and a peregrine falcon locked in fight, symbolising the battle between good and evil. The imagery includes symbols that allude to Giovanni Grimani’s trial for heresy in 1563. There is so much to absorb here that you can’t help but linger to take it all in.

A section of the foliage room ceiling

The exhibition Domus Grimani 1594-2019: The collection of classical sculptures in the palace after four centuries runs at the Palazzo Grimani from 7th May 2019 until 30th May 2021. The story of how the exhibition came about was covered in the article Stepping back in time at Palazzo Grimani in Venice in Apollo magazine.

I Tre Mercanti

The gourmet food store I Tre Mercanti has proven to be a popular stop for many tourists with a taste for tiramisu. The shop serves up a range of interesting flavour variations that change every day. In the time that we were in Venice this included pistachio; coconut and rum; banana and caramel; cherry; and triple chocolate. I had only intended to visit the once, but became absurdly excited to see what flavours were on offer each day. I could get used to having it for lunch each day so just as well as I only there for a week.

Church of St Pantaleon

The austere and unfinished facade of the Church of St Pantaleon gives little hint of the splendours that can be found inside. The ceiling of the church is covered by a massive oil painting of The martyrdom of St Pantaleon that creates the illusion of a much higher building open to the heavens. It reminded me of the astonishing ceiling at Sant’Ignazio in Rome.

The stunning ceiling in the church of St Pantaleon

The painting is actually the combination of 40 separate canvases which together measure 443 square metres, making it the largest work of its type in the world.

The painting was the creation of Giovanni Antonio Fumiani whose specialization in theatrical sets really comes across here. The work was created over 24 years, from 1680 to 1704, taking us from the sentence of death imposed by emperor Galerius to the triumphal arrival of St Pantaleon in heaven, flanked by a multitude of angels. It is said that Fumiani fells to his death from the scaffolding in St Pantaleon on the completion of his masterpiece.

There is no charge for admission to the church, but a charge is levied for photography (without flash) and you can also pay a euro to switch on lights to illuminate the ceiling for a better picture. It’s worth paying for one of the short guides to the many other artistic delights in the church and its chapels.

The opening hours of the church were shorter than usual when we visited, only open for a few hours in the morning during the week, so it is worth double checking the times before planning a visit.

Ai Mercanti

In our preparations for the trip we were advised that Venice was not the place to seek out good food. I’m not sure how true that is, but we were absolutely astounded by the superb quality of the dishes on offer at Ai Mercanti, a family run restaurant located in a warren of streets at the heart of San Marco.

The restaurant offers a superb choice of contemporary dishes with a distinctive Venetian take, such as a colourful and incredibly tasty starter of mackerel, peaches, goats cheese and almonds. This was more than matched by a main course of octopus with potatoes, beans and basil pesto and a surprisingly moreish dessert of panna cotta with green peppercorns and apricot on a salt butter biscuit base.

We made a booking for one night before we set off from the UK but on the strength of our meal we booked for the next night as well, eager to sample more from their menu. It would not be excessive to say that we had the best meals of the year here. The year is far from over but it is hard to see this being bettered. On top of that service was spot on and the whole place had a really friendly vibe.

Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

The gothic Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is one of the most important Franciscan sites in Italy. The church was consecrated in 1492 and in the centuries that followed it was endowed with an astonishing collection of grandiose monuments. Any one of these would seem an extraordinary addition to a church so to find so many in one place leaves you wondering where to look next. If this wasn’t enough there are masterpieces by Titian and Bellini to gawp at.

Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

The basilica has re-opened with its regular opening hours but there are limits on the number of visitors who can step into the side chapels to ensure a covid-safe experience. I thought the colossal monument to Titian and the Foscari monument were quite incredible additions, grander than anything I have seen in a church before.

The most unusual monument is probably the neo-classical marble pyramid created for Canova’s tomb (following an unrealised design prepared for Titian). The pyramid is only partially visible at the moment due to restoration works to counter rising damp that has been attacking the marble.

Our visit, at the start of the day, gave us the place to ourselves for the best part of an hour. Admission is very reasonably priced at 3 euros for an adult which seems a small price to pay to help contribute to the maintenance of this incredible building.

San Giorgio Maggiore

A short hop over to the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore on the waterbus allowed us to make a visit to the quietly beautiful church, take in the views from the campanile and take a closer look at the two lighthouses. There were no queues to take the lift up to the top of the campanile, unlike that of San Marco. The view across to Santa Maria della Salute and the Doge’s Palace was simply breathtaking, especially in the perfect light of early afternoon.

The view from the belltower at San Giorgio Maggiore

Our original plan was simply to visit the church and belltower then cross back over the water, so it was a wonderful surprise to stumble across a newly opened exhibition on Venice and American Studio Glass spread over two sites on the island whicj kept us occupied for much longer.

I have always loved the glasswork of Chihuly, whose works are displayed here in the first site, but this exhibition opened my eyes to some of the astonishing works being created by other artists. This included thrilling pieces of glass artistry such as the cane mural Guiding star (2017) by Dan Dailey, the beautifully streamlined Land Speed Record cars (2017) by Richard Marquis and the extraordinary Tropical Fish (2017) of Pino Signoretto.

The exhibition continues until 10th January 2021 and entry is free. For a chance find, it was quite incredible. Highly recommended.

Palazzo Ducale

The Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) was a must-visit sight for us as first time visitors and one that we allowed plenty of time for. Our visit started with a Secret itineraries tour that takes you behind the glamour of the palace. There are some changes for the covid-era which have seen the number of participants in this tour reduced from 25 to 8, which I thought was positive as it was hard to imagine a larger group crammed into some of these narrow spaces.

The tour takes you round the prison cells lapped by water, the humble office of the administrator, the old archives, the torture chamber and the attic prison cells. It also gives you a glimpse of the ship’s keel style roof above the paintings that everyone admires in the public spaces of the palace (so long as you don’t visit in July-August when it is too sauna-like for tours to venture to this part). Finally, we came out in room where judges made their decisions, through a concealed doorway. All absolutely fascinating and superbly explained.

Attic prison cells at the Palazzo Ducale

After the tour we made our way round on a self guided visit of the palace interior – a series of grand rooms with increasingly stunning paintings on a truly grand scale, especially the huge naval battle scenes and Tintoretto’s massive painting Il Paradiso (one of the largest in the world) which features 500 figures. I guess we should all be glad that Casanova’s digging (if believed) in the attic cells didn’t succeed as it would have created a massive hole in one of the extraordinary ceiling paintings.

The palace is open throughout the week and didn’t appear to have a queue throughout our stay, which I don’t imagine is normal. At the time of our visit some of the less significant rooms were closed which I assumed was in related to the covid crisis in some way. On the whole covid precautions here were good – temperature checks at the entrance, one way systems, staggered entry for social distancing, plenty of hand sanitizer and good compliance with mask wearing.

San Marco Museum

As the Basilica di San Marco is currently closed for restoration our only opportunity to view the interior would come from a visit to the museum, accessed from a staircase at the front of the basilica. As well as offering some close up views of the mosaics the museum also includes the original roman horses (quadriga) that stood in front of the basilica until the 1980s. The ancient horses are well traveled, having originally graced the hippodrome in Constantinople and later topped the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris.

In the museum there are more remarkable and exquisite mosaic fragments on display, somewhat gruesome tapestries (such as one with angels catching Christ’s blood) and the occasional oddity such as a depiction of the last supper where it looked for all the world like they were dining on roast frog! You can also step out onto the balcony to get a better look at the exterior mosaics and the square beyond. I thought it was terrific value at just 5 euros.

Besides all of this, I enjoyed visits to St Maria della Salute, the Scuola Grande San Rocca, the Scuola Grande San Marco, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the Chiesa San Zaccaria with it’s flooded crypt, the Campanile San Marco and the Ocean Space exhibition in the shell of the old church of San Lorenzo. Our wanders also took us past the Banksy in Dorsoduro showing a migrant child in a lifejacket holding a pink flare.

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A quieter Venice

In a study a few years ago Venice was named as one of the three most overtouristed cities in Europe. On some days, the city centre had seen 60,000 visitors, easily exceeding the local population of 55,000. Pictures of heavily packed squares, crowds jostling in narrow alleyways and quaysides dominated by huge cruise ships left me in no doubt that this was one place to strike off my wish list.

The devastating coronavirus pandemic has forced a re-set with reports from July indicating tourists numbers down to 20% of their normal levels despite the re-opening of most hotels. One forecast predicts that tourist numbers for the year will have decreased by around 57% compared to 2019. Since then, many tourists have been drawn to a quieter city. I thought I would give it a go…

Flying over Paris en route to Venice

The changes to the normal experience began with the extra paperwork required to fly (one self-declaration form handed out at check-in and a second form handed out on the flight). The now familiar requirement to wear masks on board were bolstered by some additional measures required by the Italian authorities (no clothing to be placed in overhead bins and no changes to booked seats).

On arrival we gleaned that Marco Polo airport was running a reduced operation, with one floor taken out of operation and only one person in the airport able to operate the air bridge to our plane (thankfully only a 20-30 minute wait). Having said that, there were plenty of desks open at passport control and we were through fairly quickly.

It is hard for me to say how much less busy the city is, having no baseline to compare this to. The outbound flight was pretty full, as was the waterbus from the airport to the city, but I didn’t see many queues in the city (only short socially distanced queues for the Basilica Museum and the Campanile di San Marco). There was no queue at all for the Doge’s Palace throughout my week in the city.

The Palazzo Ducale and Campanile di San Marco as seen from San Giorgio Maggiore

Tour groups have been resized to help with social distancing (the Secret itineraries tour of the Doge’s Palace has been reduced from 25 to 8 per tour). Masks are obligatory in indoor spaces and on public transport, with much better compliance than I have seen in the UK. Hand sanitizer stations are impossible to ignore wherever you go, particularly at the entry points to museums. Most tourist sights require a temperature check too.

Overall, it felt like a safe trip – with the caveat that it’s mostly down to you to socially distance with many folk having abandoned this. It is inevitably somewhat strange being on holiday at this time. If it doesn’t feel entirely right it was nevertheless good to be able to spend money with some of the family restaurants and small shops that are facing a struggle to survive.