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36 hours in Venice

Since Venice’s population fell below 60,000, the city has had a wake-up call. Lisa Gerard-Sharp reports on the drive to prevent it from becoming a museum

POPULATION 58,126,212| CURRENCY EURO| GDP €21,800| DIALLING CODE

Venice is being bold again, with a new bridge over the Grand Canal, a revamped Art Biennale and a contemporary art museum facing Piazza San Marco. But it’s a delicate juggling act: many visitors come here specifically for the gondolas, the gothic palaces and the sense of being marooned in a Disneyland for grownups. For every cool new café, there’s a decadent dowager hotel or time-warp piano bar. But whether elegantly wasted or truly tacky, Venice revels in its dark side – and so should we.

Most visitors are too blinded by Piazza San Marco to wander much further. But stray off the square into Palazzo Ducale, or the Doge’s Palace, and take a behind-the-scenes tour of designer dens and rough-and-ready inns. The traditional cicchetti bars are more riotous around Rialto, while over the water Dorsoduro is less maiden aunt and more arty trustafarian.

Day one

09:00 Wake up with the fish in Rialto
market and admire the gothic portico and clock of San Giacomo di Rialto (Ruga degli Orefici). This is the oldest church in the city and a setting that inspired The Merchant of Venice. Grab a coffee with latter-day merchants at Al Bancogiro (Campo San Giacometto), where Europe’s public banking system was born. Then hop on the no.1 vaporetto towards San Marco to exchange the writhing seafood and teeming masses for the opulence of La Serenissima. Gliding past the palaces along the Grand Canal is the best way to get a feel of the republican grandeur.

10:00 Get off at Ca’ Rezzonico (3136 Dorsoduro, museiciviciveneziani.it) to visit the grand but often overlooked waterside palace, a rococo museum of 18th-century San Giacomo di Rialto Venetian life designed for fans of trompe-l’œil frescoes rather than furniture freaks. Then rejoin the no.1 vaporetto to San Marco.

11:00 Take the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doge’s Palace (Piazzetta San Marco, museiciviciveneziani.it). This leads you through a murky maze into such gruesome delights as the torture chambers and prisons Casanova escaped from. After a surfeit of secret rooms, explore this grand seat of Venetian government on your own.

13:30 Head by the opera house Teatro La Fenice via Calle San Larga, ignoring the glitzy boutiques in favour of Il Prato (Calle delle Ostreghe), a Venetian gem for handcrafted paper and Murano glassware. Have lunch at Vino Vino (Calle delle Veste, ) to rub shoulders with gondoliers over tasty cicchetti (Venetian tapas), from sweet-and-sour sardines to salt cod and polenta. Good food, gruff service and gondoliers generally go together.

14:30 Walk through Campo Santa Maria del Giglio to take a traghetto (cheap public gondola) from Giglio. Stand up – it’s considered feebly foreign to sit down. Admire the grandiose baroque Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (known simply as La Salute) on the other side, built in thanksgiving for the city’s survival of the plague. On the point is Punta della Dogana (palazzograssi.it), the new flagship of the arty Dorsoduro district. The former customs house showcases a superb collection of contemporary art belonging to French fashion tycoon François Pinault. The exhibition Mapping the Studio traces the relationship between collectors and artists, and includes works by Jeff Koons and the Chapman brothers.

16:00 Take to the Zattere, the locals’ favourite stroll. Follow the promenade, flanked by cafés, churches and boathouses, to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (704 Dorsoduro, guggenheim-venice.it), with its new waterfront façade and gothic-style art installation. After coffee in the café, take in the museum’s celebration of futurism.

18:00 Continue along the Zattere, stopping at Gelateria Nico (922 Zattere ai Gesuiti). Enjoy the last of the ice-cream weather with a sinful gianduiotto, a death-bychocolate concoction topped with hazelnuts and whipped cream.

20:00 Head for dinner at Linea d’Ombra
(Ponte dell’Umilta, ) and
sit on the pontoon terrace with a prosecco. This
restaurant solves the age-old Venetian dilemma
– it has dreamy views and dreamy food.

20:00 Head for dinner at Linea d’Ombra (Ponte dell’Umilta, ) and sit on the pontoon terrace with a prosecco. This restaurant solves the age-old Venetian dilemma – it has dreamy views and dreamy food.

Day two

09:00 Today is about the Art Biennale (labiennale.org) in Castello. Walk along Riva degli Schiavoni to Arsenale, the site of the medieval shipyards, and explore the naval museum before seeing the Biennale, which occupies part of the Arsenale and the Giardini.

10:00 Make your first arty foray with the Arsenal sites, which include a tribute to Italian futurism at Corderie dell’Arsenale (the former ropeworks) and the main Making Worlds exhibition at the Italian Pavilion.

13:00 Escape from sensory overload with a lunch of lasagne and tiramisu at the homely Garanghelo (1621 Via Garibaldi, ).

15:00 Explore the pavilions in the adjoining Giardini, especially the Venice Pavilion, which showcases Murano’s ancient glass-working tradition with masterpieces by Barovier and Venini, as well as sculpture by Dale Chihuly.

18:00 Take the vaporetto back to Piazza San Marco. It’s been a tasteful day, but Venice has its tacky side. Succumb to cocktails at the new Hard Rock Café (Bacino Orseolo) overlooking the gondola boatyard.

19:30 Restore your cool credentials at Sangal (Campo San Gallo, Bacino Orseolo, ), with its cuttingedge design. Chill out under conical lamps, and tuck into seafood risotto and lagoon artichokes.

21:00 Take the ferry across to Giudecca (Palanca stop) and toast your stay with Japanese raspberry vodka cocktails at Skyline Rooftop Bar at the Hilton Molino Stucky (810 Molino Stucky). Suspended above the lagoon, this is the city’s Lost in Translation moment and is quintessentially new Venice.

Where to stay

San Clemente Palace Hotel & Resort (1 Isola di San Clemente, , sanclementepalacevenice.com, rooms from €215) is geographically close to Piazza San Marco (there’s a complimentary shuttle boat) but spiritually on another planet. Shun the crowds for t’ai chi in the grounds before dining on swordfish roulade and Venetian tiramisu.

Instead of a dated dowager hotel, choose between several trendy or timew apartments near San Marco and the Rialto with Centrale Apartments ( , centrale lounge.com, from €120). Also look at Venetian Apartments (tel. , venice-rentals.com, from €895 for four nights), which has Caminetto, an aristocratic bolthole. Rates are comparable with mid-range hotels. Charming House DD724 (724 Dorsoduro, , thecharminghouse.com, rooms from €155) is a discreet designer den overlooking the Guggenheim. This is an art curator’s paradise, for when froufrou brocaded beds get too much.

FR 36 heures à Venise

Comment éviter que Venise, ‘La Sérénissime’, ne sombre dans l’image d’une ville-musée ? Lisa Gerard- Sharp s’écarte des chemins tracés.

Un tout nouveau pont qui passe audessus du Grand Canal, la dernière édition de la Biennale d’Art contemporain ou un musée d’art percutant face à Saint-Marc…Venise possède de nombreux attraits. Et pour les visiteurs qui viennent pour les gondoles et les palais gothiques, le charme est également au rendezvous. Mais Venise possède aussi une face cachée. Avec ses ruines élégantes voire ses quartiers réellement délaissés, la ville se délecte de son côté obscur – un plaisir qui ne nous a pas échappé.

Jour 1

09:00 Prenez votre premier café à Al Bancogiro (Campo San Giacometto), sautez ensuite dans le vaporetto numéro 1 en direction de Saint-Marc.

10:00 Descendez à Ca’ Rezzonico (3136 Dorsoduro) pour visiter le plus grand palais du canal.

11:00 Réservez une visite guidée des ‘Itinéraires Secrets’ du Palais des Doges (Piazzetta San Marco).

13:30 Pour le lunch, optez pour des tapas vénitiennes au Vino Vino (Calle delle Veste)

14:30 Prenez le traghetto (ferry) plus loin que La Salute jusqu’à l’extrême Punta della Dogana dans le quartier des arts du Dorsoduro.

16:00 Suivez le Zattere (quai) jusqu’au Guggenheim (704 Dorsoduro)

18:00 Faites une pause à la Gelateria Nico (922 Zattere ai Gesuiti) et laissez-vous aller à la gourmandise avec un gianduiotto.

20:00 Dînez chez Linea d’Ombra (Ponte dell’Umilta), un restaurant ravissant, où le design prédomine avec des vues de rêve.

22:00 Arrêtez-vous au Centrale Lounge (Piscina Frezzeria), un bar avec une clientèle de célébrités.

Jour 2

09:00 Aujourd’hui, la journée est réservée à la Biennale d’Art contemporain (labiennale.org); marchez le long de Riva degli Schiavoni en bordure de mer jusqu’à l’Arsenale, le lieu où tout se passe.

10:00 Découvrez l’exposition en hommage au futurisme italien à la Corderie et l’exposition Making Worlds dans le Pavillon italien.

13:00 Commandez une lasagne pour le déjeuner au restaurant accueillant le Garanghelo (1621 Via Garibaldi)

15:00 Explorez les pavillons dans les Giardini, et plus particulièrement le Pavillon de Venise.

18:00 Retour vers Saint-Marc pour un cocktail au Hard Rock Café (Bacino Orseolo).

19:30 Régalez-vous d’un risotto aux fruits de mer chez Sangal (Bacino Orseolo).

21:00 Essayez le mélange vodkaframboise au Skyline (810 Molino Stucky).

NL 36 uur in Venetië

Lisa Gerard-Sharp brengt verslag uit over de drang om te voorkomen dat ‘La Serenissima’ wegzinkt in museumdom

Venetië heeft een nieuwe brug over het Grote Kanaal, de Biennale di Venezia kreeg nieuw leven ingeblazen en er is een gloednieuw kunstmuseum tegenover het San Marcoplein. Maar de bezoekers komen ook voor de gondola’s en de gotische paleizen. Noem het ‘stijlvol wegkwijnen’ of ‘smakeloos goedkoop’ maar één ding is zeker: Venetië omarmt vol overgave zijn donkere kant – en wij doen best hetzelfde.

Dag 1

09:00 Drink een kop koffie in Al Bancogiro (Campo San Giacometto) en spring op de nummer 1 vaporetto richting San Marco.

10:00 Stap af aan Ca’ Rezzonico (3136 Dorsoduro) om het grootste paleis aan het water te bewonderen.

11:00 Neem deel aan de ‘Secret Itinerary’-rondleiding in het Dogenpaleis (Piazzetta San Marco).

13:30 Smul van Venetiaanse tapa’s als lunch bij Vino Vino (Calle delle Veste).

14:30 Neem de traghetto voorbij La Salute naar de Punta della Dogana in het kunstzinnige district Dorsoduro.

16:00 Volg de Zattere tot aan het Guggenheim (704 Dorsoduro).

18:00 Hou halt in Gelateria Nico (922 Zattere ai Gesuiti) voor een heerlijk zondige gianduiotto.

20:00 Geniet in Linea d’Ombra (Ponte dell’Umilta) van een diner in het sexy, design-bewuste restaurant met dromerige vergezichten.

22:00 Sluit de dag af in Centrale Lounge (Piscina Frezzeria), een bar waar vaak beroemdheden over de vloer komen.

Dag 2

09:00 Vandaag staat in het teken van de Biennale di Venezia (www.labiennale.org); wandel langs de waterkant Riva degli Schiavoni naar het Arsenale, waar het allemaal plaatsvindt.

10:00 Bekijk het eerbetoon aan Italiaans futurisme in de Corderie en de hoofdtentoonstelling Making Worlds in het Italiaanse Paviljoen.

13:00 Werk een lekkere lasagne naar binnen in het huiselijke Garanghelo (1621 Via Garibaldi).

15:00 Ga de paviljoenen verkennen in de Giardini, vooral het Venetiëpaviljoen is een bezoekje waard.

18:00 Keer terug naar San Marco voor cocktails in het Hard Rock Café (Bacino Orseolo).

19:30 Smul van zeevruchtenrisotto bij Sangal (Bacino Orseolo).

21:00 Bestel een wodkaframbozencocktail in Skyline (810 Molino Stucky).

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