march-2013

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venice
italy
61,261,254
Euro (EUR)
Twice daily
+39 8°C
Roderick Conway Morris
March brings soft breezes and sunny days
to the glittering city of canals
SANTA MARIA FORMOSA
The ancient church that forms
the centre of this fascinating
neighourhood, just a few minutes’
walk from St Mark’s Square,
owes its existence to a seventhcentury
bishop’s vision of a
beautiful (formosa) Virgin Mary.
SLEEP The restored 16th-century
palazzo on the district’s central square
is now the splendid Ruzzini Palace
Hotel (Campo Santa Maria Formosa
5866, (0)41 241 0447, ruzzinipalace.
com, rooms from €270). The staff are
welcoming, 10 rooms have views over
the square and the royal suite’s ceilings
are adorned with baroque frescoes.
EAT An intimate locale with friendly
service, Testiere (Calle del Mondo
Nuovo 5801, (0)41 522 7220) is tiny;
book to secure a table. It specialises
in fish dishes, made from the freshest
ingredients and given imaginative
new twists with the subtle use of
herbs and spices.
CULTURE Giovanni Grimani, a
16th-century collector of ancient and
contemporary works, spent a large
part of his long life turning Palazzo
Grimani (Ramo Grimani 4858) into a
palace of art. Its marvellous frescoed,
marbled, stuccoed and gilded interiors
are now at last open to the public again.
SHOP Pick up beautiful clothes and
bags made from silks, brocades,
damasks and velvets at Banco.no.10
FLY TO venice twice daily. brusselsairlines.com
INFO
Venice Marco Polo
airport is located
on the northern
edge of the lagoon.
Taxi
A taxi to Piazzale
Roma costs about
€40. A water taxi
costs around €100.
Bus
ACTV no.5 to
Piazzale Roma,
takes about 20
minutes and costs
€6. The ATVO
shuttle takes 15-20
minutes for the
same price.
Boat
The Alilaguna ferries
run from the dock
500m from arrivals,
6.10am-12.10am
to San Marco;
8.45am-6.45pm
as far as Zattere.
Tickets cost €15,
alilaguna.it.
Tourist info
Piazza San Marco
71/F, (0)41 529 8711,
turismovenezia.it
(Salizada Sant’ Antonin 3478), all
made at the atelier in the women’s
prison on Giudecca.
TIP You can avoid the crowds even
in St Mark’s Square. The Secret
Itineraries Tour, for small groups,
takes you behind the scenes in
the Doge’s Palace (palazzoducale.
visitmuve.it), through hidden warrens
of antique offices, prisons and even into
the roof above the ‘suspended ceiling’
of the vast Great Council Chamber.
CAMPO SANTA
MARGHERITA & AROUND
The heart of the Dorsoduro district,
this spacious square with its
colourful food stalls is a meeting
place for locals and a children’s
playground during the day. After
dark, it becomes one of the city’s
liveliest nightspots.
EAT Just off Campo San Barnaba, a
neighbouring square, are two small
restaurants next door to one another,
one specialising in fish and the other,
meat. Quatro Feri (Calle Lunga San
Barnaba 2754/A, (0)41 520 6978)
offers traditional Venetian starters such
as bacalà mantecato (whipped salt cod)
and pasta dishes, including spaghetti
alle vongole with carpet-shell clams.
The bistrot-style La Bitta (Calle Lunga
San Barnaba 2753/A, (0)41 523 0531)
serves pasta and gnocchi and succulent
steaks, and has a little walled garden.
The ceremonial staircase
at the Palazzo Grimani
SHOP Signor Blum (Campo San
Barnaba 2840) makes hand-crafted
wooden toys, mobiles, clocks and
panels with charming Venice and
lagoon scenes.
LATER Great for people watching,
corner café Margaret Duchamp
(Campo Santa Margherita 3019) is
one of the most popular rendezvous
for a drink or a snack.
ZATTERE
The long stretch of south-facing
quay along the wide Giudecca
Canal takes its name from the
rafts (zattere) of timber that
were floated downriver from the
Alps to supply the boatbuilders’
yards that once lined the shore.
SLEEP Victorian art historian John
Ruskin, who described himself as ‘a
foster child of Venice’, lodged at La
Calcina (Fondamenta Zattere 780,
(0)41 520 6466, rooms from €150),
with its panoramic view over the
Giudecca Canal. Now a comfortable
modern hotel, it also has a good
restaurant, La Piscina.
EAT Just off the Zattere, at the
ever-popular Ai Schiavi (Fondamenta
Priuli 992), Sandra Gastaldi offers an
enticing array of fresh Venetian cichetti
(tapas-like snacks), while her three
sons dispense wines sourced from all
over Italy. Wine can also be purchased
by the bottle to take home as a gift.
march 2013 83