The Café Florian Quintet plays Strauss’s famous Waltz in St Mark’s Square, Venice After a vigorous rendition of Ravel’s “Bolero”, the small, five-piece orchestra on the stage outside the famous Café”Florian” in Piazza San Marco strike up the opening bars of Strauss’s “Blue Danube” waltz, much to the delight of the still sizeable audience sitting […]
Venice in Acqua Alta: Live From Piazza San Marco
High Water at High Noon: Keep Your Balance Acqua Alta is Italian for “High Water“, and when a big tide comes into Venice’s lagoon, that’s exactly what you get in Piazza San Marco and many pedestrian streets. Fortunately, it usually only happens from autumn to spring, and the city fathers set up a network of […]
Venice: Live aboard a Gondola through the Hidden Canals
Hidden waterways, live music, gondola drag racing, Armani spotting and general mayhem Escaping from the Grand Canal, the gondolas explore the hidden canals running through the back blocks of Venice, winding their way along the narrow waterways towards Piazza San Marco. Inaccessible if the tide is high, these Venetian “side streets” provide a glimpse into […]
Venice: Live from Gondolas on the Grand Canal
Six gondolas, live musical accompaniment, and a lot of “Prosecco” – beware, tourists! Six gondolas abreast down the Grand Canal? Tony and Helen Page brave a slightly out-of-control shared gondola cruise (maybe the prosecco had something to do with it) that starts off at the Rialto Bridge and parties on down the famous Venetian waterway. […]
Ponte dei Pugni – A Venice Bridge Known for its Fistfights
Ponte dei Pugni – Where The Ancient Tradition of Fistfights Took Place: There are hundreds of bridges criss-crossing the back canals of Venice, but one that is quite well-known is the Ponte dei Pugni. Located near Campo St Barnaba in Dorsoduro, Ponte dei Pugni is a famous Venice bridge that tells of an ancient tradition […]
Libreria Acqua Alta – A Hidden Gem in Venice
Libreria Acqua Alta is a Unique Second-hand Bookshop with an Eccentric Owner: Wandering around Castello, we came across the Libreria Acqua Alta, a bookshop whose welcome sign says that it is “the most beautiful Bookshop in the World”. To me, that was like waving a red flag to a bull as I thought that I […]
Sightseeing in Style and Comfort on the Vaporetto dell’Arte
The Vaporetto dell’Arte Connects Visitors to Art Galleries and Other Venice Attractions: [Service Suspended] – It was thanks to a very persuasive ticket seller that I found myself buying tickets for the Vaporetto dell’Arte. At the San Marco vaporetto stop, I had five minutes to buy our vaporetto tickets before our waterbus for Piazzale Roma […]
Gliding the Canals of Venice in an Iconic Gondola
No Trip to Venice is Complete Without a Gondola Ride: It’s been decades since I took my last gondola ride and it came as a surprise to me to see the large number of gondolas gliding on the canals of Venice filled with willing customers. Some may say that gondola rides are touristy or tacky, […]
Acqua Alta floods Piazza San Marco…but the music plays on
Experiencing Venice During Acqua Alta: As our water taxi navigates the back canals to the Splendid Hotel in San Marco, we notice that the canal water level is almost at street level. Are we about to experience Venice’s famous acqua alta (high waters) I wonder, or is the high water level in the process of […]
Chiesa di San Lio – Castello
Chiesa di San Lio – Enjoy Art and Music in this Venice Church: If you love art and happen to be in the district of Castello, pop into the Chiesa di San Lio and you’ll be treated to works by some Venetian masters. Like many of the churches in Venice, Chiesa di San Lio (Church […]
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