Venice, Venice, Venice. How much do we love Venice? It is one of our favourite cities around the world, so much so that we are giving it its own page here on TravelSampler.world. The canals, the bridges, the gondolas, the piazzas are all there and are an immediately obvious part of the magic of Venice. More subtle though is the light and the way it changes with the weather. Winter days can be cold, clear, and sparkling, just as they can be foggy and mysterious with mist rising off the canals and lagoon as in some of the images here on TravelSampler.world.
Past St Mark’s Square (read about the Basilica here on Wikipedia), past the Arsenal is another side of Venice. This one much more local and ‘real’. Via Guiseppe Garibaldi is a wide boulevard flanked by restaurants and coffee shops alongside stores selling much more prosaic needs like fruit and vegetables. In this area you will see washing strung out to dry between buildings providing a strangely creative glimpse of day-to-day Venetian life. Nearby the Giardini della Biennale runs along the lagoon and is a welcome green space and a peaceful haven in the midst of this intense and dense city.
What’s not to love about Venice? We suspect the summer crowds. Venice is many small streets, alleyways, waterways, and bridges. With millions of visitors a year summer has to be uncomfortably crowded when it’s teeming with tourists and cruise ships. Add heat and the sheer intensity of Venice could be suffocating. That may well be true of events such as Carnivale too. It’s why a ‘tourist tax’ has been introduced to try to help control number of visitors and raise funds for the city.
Our visits to Venice have been during the very low season in late January. We’ve loved the freedom to roam the streets, walk-in to restaurants when we want to, being able to wander around museums and palazzos with all the time in the world. We’ve been able to immerse ourselves in the history and spirit of Venice, letting it wash over us and enjoy the moment. Go prepared to dress warmly and walk the streets and Venice in winter will be an experience that calls you back again and again.
This is how the other half live. The Museum is set in the private residence of the late Peggy Guggenheim. The same family Spain’s famous Guggenheim Museum is named after the same family ‘the Guggenheim’ in New York is named after. Peggy Guggenheim came to Venice in 1947 and by all accounts lived an ‘avant garde’ and outrageous life in the arts world until her death in 1979. During that time, she amassed a personal art and sculpture collection worth millions, apparently including works she acquired in Paris to stop them falling into Nazi hands.
Equally inspiring is the setting of the Museum. It looks out directly onto the Grand Canal with an outdoor terrace fronting it. Here modern sculptures are juxtaposed against the historic face of Venice. Don’t be distracted by the gondola’s floating past – the stillness of the museum creates a quite contemplative space to appreciate some extraordinary artworks.
More about how the Guggenheim family collected art here.
One of Venice’s lesser-known museums, this is worth a visit for anyone interested in design. The name is a slight misnomer. The grand title suggests a comprehensive collection that records the long social, cultural, and trading history of Venice. It underwent significant renovations in 2013 to live up to this name.
There are elaborately embroidered and tailored dresses here, put together with extraordinary craftsmanship from beautiful glowing silks. Men appear in finery that speaks of an age where appearance was much more socially important than today. In one room there is an exhibition of over 50 vests worn by men. These are highly decorated and the embroidery exquisitely executed and coloured. Gorgeous.
The Centre has extended its remit to capture the history and role of perfume in Venice. Venice was a major trading hub for goods from the East, from whence came many of the essential oils and essences that Perfumiers learned to distil into the fragrances Venetians demanded. Today France is recognised as the ‘home’ of perfume – the display at the History of Textiles and Costumes museum suggests Venice was an important original European source.
The Centre offers reference materials for people researching textiles and costumes. We didn’t access this closed collection so can’t comment on it. The Palazzo that houses the museum provides a layer of design inspiration in its own right with highly decorated ceilings and much of furnishing belonging to it. Overall, worth a visit.
Venice is at the centre of the many islands located in the lagoon. Venture out to sample Murano, famous for its glass making. A demonstration of glassmaking is easily organised, or perhaps visit the Glass Museum. Burano is charming, with its colourful buildings and history of lace-making.
‘All visitors of Burano remain intrigued by the many colours and the colorful houses that are reflected into the green waters of channels, by the leaning bell tower, by the tranquility and the calmness with which the elderly ladies embroider original Burano lace by their tombolo (or lace pillow), while they are laughing and chatting in squares among them…’
Both an interesting day trip.
There’s so much to love in Venice, we can’t say this is more than a very small sample for fellow travellers.
Let us know what you loved, and send us a high quality photo at ideas@travelsampler.world. Do you share our love of Venice?
Check out our Book Collection for a simple guidebook, and a more extensive title about the Art and Architecture of Venice, both under the Italy heading.
