Venice. Things to do .

BIENNALE.

I ordered a taxi and told the girl at the desk of my problems with taxis and she assured me this one would be there. I had to catch a bus that would take an hour to get to the airport for the cheap flights so I couldn’t be late. It was another hotel with no one in attendance at night and I waited patiently out in the street for fifteen minutes, panicked, rang an Uber and then out of the blue, the girl at the desk arrived at 6.45 am in the morning, worried that about my taxi. She called another one and within minutes, they had arrived. I am so lucky and so touched by the kindness of people.

It’s been cold here, I’ve worn jumpers and coats and I arrive in Venice to 26 degrees. I am boiling and have one dress with long sleeves in my suitcase. That will have to get me through. I’m meeting a girl whom I met In Sicily three years ago whilst doing a language course. We kept in touch especially through the pandemic when she was as worried as I was, or more so. She lives in New York and she remembers the sirens going throughout the nights and the refrigerated morgue trucks parked everywhere. We bond over anxiety and also she’s a fantastic photographer.

I meet her in the Cannaregio area of Venice where there are great cicchetti bars and it’s a away from the tourist places. We had beautiful little cichetti and talked and talked by the canal. Having a cichetti session is one of the best things to do in Venice. Then we walked and found the Biennale locations accidentally. One in an abandoned art school, full of canvases painted by kids around the world. Then another in a beautiful old church with a wooden roof painted with stars on a blue background. This was about touch and how people perceive it. I’m not much of a person for touch so it resonated. It was stunning, with drooping strings and coloured cushions to sit and watch the video.

Then we went for dinner on the other side of the island, overlooking the Island of the dead. Looking up, we saw a full moon rising, coral coloured, striped blue with cloud. A stunning evening and an eerie long walk back to my hotel but with a moon guiding me.

Next morning, we met at Florians for an expensive coffee and to admire the beauty of the place and I noticed they're putting up the wooden walkways, they must be expecting a high tide, the acqua alta. Ps Go early to avoid the crowds, it's one of the best things to do in Venice.

What to do in Venice for a day - go to Florians.

And then another walk through back streets on the other side of the Grand Canal, stopping for a Montenegro liqueur because, at 11 am in the morning that’s what the Italians were doing. I loved way this old cafe, La Rivista, has kept the art deco look with the new signs on the toilet!

No Venice day trip without just wandering the back streets.

After that we found more biennale sights, an Anglican church that had had a service that morning we are told. This one strangely had tarot cards on huge aluminium panels, shined to look like glass with paintings of old masters for each of the cards. Then we were told to choose a jigsaw panel at the entrance and it would light up a card for us in the church and when we stood in front of it, the meaning for us would be projected onto the wall. Which it did.

Then another fascinating exhibition by a Korean artist in an old palazzo on the Grand Canal. He had made tiny triangular boxes out of mulberry bark with Korean writing on them and created three dimensional sculptures throughout the palace. We were blown away by this one. Hundreds of people must have been involved. And the palaces where the exhibitions took place are incredible.

I hadn’t been on this side of Venice for maybe thirty years and it made me realise the huge scale of this city. We take photo after photo of washing on lines and reflections. My friend is a photographer also, we are always stopping but with different views in our lens.

That evening we went back to my favourite quieter area of the Cannereggio and I had a Cynar (artichoke liquor, good for the digestion of course) spritz and Fritto Misto as the moon arose in a ghostly haze behind the buildings until it was over the canal, shining a wiggle of light onto the water.

Things to do in Venice - eat the fritto misto if you're a fish fan.

My friend left the next morning and I had a few hours before my bus. Across the road from my hotel, I discovered a museum and shop of beadwork. It was incredible. There were pieces dating back to the early 1800’s when it was a career for women.

Having purchased a lobster brooch for the daughter (have I mentioned she’s a lobster fanatic?), I head across the bridge near the station and discover another part of Venice that I’ve never been too. I have a stand up coffee with the locals and just take in Venetian life.

When I leave I take photos of well dressed Venetians, (a world apart from the badly dressed tourists) and end up at the Rialto, the vegetable and seafood market where I buy myself a floral-like bunch of mixed chillies and photograph beautiful vegetable displays. It’s also mushroom season, there are boxes full and tiny coloured autumnal gourds.

I breakfast on a couple of cicchetti - a truffle ricotta one and gorgonzola and anchovy.

Then it's back across the bridge and heading towards home with a few more photos on the way.

Where to stay in Venice.

I stayed at the Hotel Orsaria via Booking.com which is close to the station. Clean and neat with breakfast included.