Venice is always in celerbrating something. Although the city is particularly busy in the flourishing months of spring, especially around Easter. Accommodations is one of the most difficult things to find around that time , as well as around Christmas, New Year, and festival Carnevale in February. Like Italy ’s other great tourist areas, Venice is not at its worst in summer. Although it’s crowded, there are many other special activities on offer.

 The most extraodinary of year to visit is late March into May, with clear spring days and fewer crowds. September is also extraordinary in terms of weather, but October is quieter. Flooding occurs in November and December, and winter can be unpleasantly cold - although seeing Venice under a layer of snow can cast the aura of a fairy tale. 

For the period of Easter ( 20th - 27th March), we can offer you three charming apartments, for reserv this apartments you can to compile the form booking of the web site: www.venice-holidays.com

PINK HOUSE APARTMENT
This exclusive and refined apartment is situated on the ground floor of a Venetian palace that enjoys an incredible view n to a garden facing the Grand Canal.The neighborhood of this apartment is of particular artistic interested. It is located next to Campo San Zadegola  and Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio, where you find the church of the same name, one of the oldest religious buildings in Venice, it dates back to the 10 century. The interior is rich in artistic treasures, ancient sculptures and works by famous artist including Lorenzo Lotto amd Paolo Veronese.A ten minute walk away is the museum of moderm art, Cà Pesaro, a baroque palace on the Grand Canal, originally commissioned to Longhena by the Pesaro family. Pink House is easily reached by vaporetto by getting off at the Riva di Biasio ( the apartment is located only 10 minuties away from Piazzale Roma bus station and the Santa Lucia train station by vaporetto).Besides its fantastic location on the Grand Canal, this apartment is also unique in that it is decorated by the owners’ exquisite taste classicaly integrating the color pink into much of the furniture, creating a refined and elegant atmosphere in the flat.The apartment is composed of an entrance foyer, a spacious and bright living room with a view of the garden, sofa and fireplace, master bedroom with bed french size, another bedroom wirh two single beds, one bathroom with bathtub, a second bathroom with shower and washing machine, utility closet, and a small private courtyard.The prestigious communal garden is governed by the Ministry of Art Preservation in Venice. It is required to follow the strict communal rules that prohibit walking on or lying in the grass, allowing children to play, bringing animals, or disturbing the neighbors.

Ideal for comfortably accommodating up to 5 people.

SANT’AGOSTIN APARTMENT
An elegant, 60 squared-meter apartment, located on the first floor ( second floor American) in the Santa Croce neighborhood, Casa Sant’Agostin is close to both the Santa Lucia train station and Piazzale Roma bus station. The apartment is a 10 minute walk from the San Stae water boat stop and the gothic Frari Church. Recently restored, Casa Sant’Agostin is elegantly and comfortably furnished, creating a relaxing environment.The apartment consists of an indipendent entrance, a hallway that brings you into a spacious living room furnished with a sofa, television, table with chairs; fully equipped kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom with shower. The centrally located apartment is located near Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio, one of the oldest and most romantic squares in Venice. The square’s church is a true artistic gem, around which the community’s happy and peaceful life revolves; indifferent to the tourist masses. In just a few minutes you can reach the Cà Pesaro Museum ( 5 minutes), Campo San Polo, Campo dei Frari, the San Giovanni Evangelista Scuola, the San Rocco Scuola, the latter which often offers evening concerts. Ideal for comfortably accommodating up to 3/4 people.

WIDMANN APARTMENT
Lovely and very sunny apartment situated in “Campiello Widman” near the famous XVII° century building of Longhena . Only few metres far from Fondamenta Nove and 10 minutes by walking from Saint Mark and Rialto bridge. Venice Lido,Murano,Burano, Torcello islands are easy to reach from the waterboat stop near the apartment.So that this ground floor apartment is absolutely perfect for visiting all Venice. The surrounding area is one  of the last place in Venice where is possible to breath an original Venetian atmosphere. The flat is composed by an entrance, a livingroom with doublesofabed, a doublebedroom, a  very equipped kitchen, a bathroom with tub.

Ideal for comfortably accommodating up to 3/4 people.  

SERVICES: - microwave - waschingmachine - dischwascher - fans - bedlinens and towels

The convenience and comfort of a fast and modern connection with the city airport even from the historical centre of Venice.

Alilaguna responds this way to the growing demand for mobility within the Area of Rialto and S.Angelo: by estabilishing a connection with hourly runs between the city of Venice and the airport terminal. In fact, the “orange lines” has been extended by incorporating a transportation service from the historical centre toward Murano and the airport terminal Tessera, by low tonnage motor boats, creating a unique carrier and causing low impact in terms of wave motions, so not to burden the Canal Grande navigation. A service which is similar to those present and operating in historical centres of other Italian cities by minibuses.

The Rialto and S.Angelo area in fact, has had a need for some time of a competitive service in terms of tariffs for the segment toward “Marco Polo” airport, with departures from a culturally relevant area with theatres, exhibitions spaces, public officies and private companies, in addition to many hotel structures. Alilaguna extension of the “orange lines” is a lean and modern service to meet the needs of a variable demand, capable of reducing traffic created by privately operated transportation means. A service which will contribute to the growth of areas with great tourist and cultural potentials.

Motorboat Ferry service ALILAGUNA Blue and Red Lines: A private motorboat service that works with ACTV leaves directly from the Venice airport. Alilaguna Red Line (the parentheses indicate how long it takes to reach the indicated stop): Murano (30´), Lido (55´), Arsenale (1h.05´), S. Marco (1h.10´) and Zattere (1h.20´). Alilaguna Blue Line stops at: Fondamenta Nuove (30´), and S. Marco (58´). The cost of the ticket varies from 5 Euro to 13 Euro. For information on prices and times consult the Alilaguna website at:

www.alilaguna.com

 
Venice Holidays’s Tours

1) Murano/Burano factory tours

2) Lido island biking tour

American woman living in Venice for over ten years offers fun and exciting tours during your visit to Venice.

To reserve a tour please email:  info@venice-holidays.com

1) Murano and Burano Island Tours in Private Water Taxi:

Tour cost:  10 Euros per person,  4 person minimum. Private Water Taxi is included.

You will be carried away into the lagoon by private water taxi to both Murano and Burano to see two of the most beautiful factories making the famous Murano blown glass and lace.

You’ll be met at the Fondamenta Nuove area of Venice and placed on board your own private water taxi heading first to Murano then onto Burano where you will get to see authentic artists at work. 

Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th Century, and by the 10th Century it had grown into a prosperous trading center with its own coins, police force, and commercial aristocracy. Then, in 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time.It wasn’t long until Murano’s glassmakers were the leading citizens on the island. Artisans were granted the right to wear swords and enjoyed immunity from prosecution by the notoriously high-handed Venetian state. By the late 14th Century, the daughters of glassmakers were allowed to marry into Venice’s blue-blooded families.

Such pampered treatment had one catch: Glassmakers weren’t allowed to leave the Republic. If a craftsman got a hankering to set up shop beyond the Lagoon, he risked being assassinated or having his hands cut off by the secret police–although, in practice, most defectors weren’t treated so harshly.

What made Murano’s glassmakers so special? For one thing, they were the only people in Europe who knew how to make glass mirrors. They also developed or refined technologies such as crystalline glass, enameled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicolored glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Their virtual monopoly on quality glass lasted for centuries, until glassmakers in Northern and Central Europe introduced new techniques and fashions around the same time that colonists were emigrating to the New World.

BURANO Island and its lace:

Burano’s lace making traditionsWhile the men of Burano are out fishing, the women are at home making lace. The women of the island used to repair their husbands fishing nets while they were away and probably started lace-making out of boredom.The Burano tradition of the ”air stitch” dates back to the fourteenth century, when the Duchess Morosina Morosini, wife of Doge Morosini, set up a lace workshop on the island and employed over 100 people.By the sixteenth century, the lace was renowned for its quality across Europe - Louis XIV of France wore a black collar of Burano lace that took two years to make. By the eighteenth century, Burano lace had lost much of its cachet and became perilously close to extinction, but it was revived in the late nineteenth century by Contessa Marcello and by the start of the twentieth century Venice and the islands between them employed some 5,000 lace makers in seven major factories. Nowadays, real Burano lace is a very expensive luxury and a dying art since it takes three years for ten women to make a single tablecloth.

Weather permitting. 

Remember to dress comfortably with sneakers, sun hat, and sunglasses.

Visiting Lido you will immerse yourself in a place that to this date continues to charm and delight its visitors.

Famous since XIX century as one of the most exclusive bathing resorts of Europe and appreciated by well known figures such as Shelley and Byron, Lido is a 12 kilometres long and sandy strip and represents a natural barrier between Venice and the open sea.  

Walking along the sea-front road, we can find architectural symbols belonging to the golden days tourism famous hotels such as Excelsior Hotel or Des Bains Hotel.  Fine-sand beaches, “capanne” and “murazzi”, artificial rocks in Istria stone serve as a strong protection against the strength of the sea during stormy winter months. 

There are many things to see on Lido such as the San Nicolò Church with works by Giovanni da Crema and Palma il Giovane, or visit the adjacent Benedictine Monastery and the beautiful 1500 cloister, which, in addition to the very interesting Jewish Cemetery, are the most relevant artistic sites to be discovered on this island.   Finally, in September the International Film Festival is the event you can not miss.

This tour will be given by a long time American resident of the island.

Its a great way to start your vacation off in a fun and relaxing way and see this beautiful beach island.  Sign up ahead of time to reserve your space!

To reserve a tour please email: 

info@venice-holidays.com

For something different we signed up for the bicycle tour of Lido.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the island at a leisurely pace on bicycles led by Denise who lives on the island.  Lido is so close to Venice but such a different world, both fabulous in their own way.  We whole-heartedly recommend the bicycle tour for a fun, entertaining experience.”  Vickie Vaughan

“Denise took us on a fascinating bike tour of the the Lido. We
visited the new MOSE project that will combat the acqua alta, saw the
beaches of the rich and famous who visit the Lido every year, and
wandered down tree-shaded streets unlike those in other Venice
neighborhoods. We had a lovely time and would recommend
it to anyone! Susan Bonthron

A square provides a point at which all roads, streets and alleys converge. It is at the very heart of community life, where housewives chat and hang out their washing and where children play in the open.

The most famous  are:

_  Campo San Polo ( San Polo area))
_  Campo Santo Stefano (San Marco area)
_  Campo Santa Margherita (Dorsoduro area)
_  Campo San Giacomo Dell’Orio ( Santa Croce area)
_  Campo San Bortolomeo ( San Marco area)
_  Campo Santa Maria Formosa ( Castello area)
_  Campo San Giovanni e Paolo (Castello area)
_  Campo dei Frari (San Polo area)
_  Campo del Ghetto ( Cannaregio area)
_  Campo SS. Apostoli ( Cannaregio area)
_  Campo San Luca ( San Marco area)

It is not to be confused with the corte, a closed public courtyard with a single entrance, or with the cortile, a private courtyard hidden within a patrician town house.

The campo, sometimes dotted with a few trees, is encircled by fine patrician houses, Gothic or Renaissance in style, and blessed with its own church.

 This apartment is located on the second floor (lift unavailable). It has been recently renovated and sports numerous typical features, such as Venetian flooring and exposed wooden beamed ceilings.
The apartment is composed by a small living room, two double bedrooms (with a Queen size bed each), a kitchen and a bathroom with a shower.
The apartment includes air conditioning (from middle May on) 2 TV sets (TV only in Italian), a microwave and an iron.

This lovely apartment is located next to Campo San Bortolo, a famous square located right between Saint Mark’s square and Rialto bridge.

The Piazza di San Marco may be more famous, but the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) is the true heart of Venice. The current structure was built in just three years, between 1588 and 1591, as a permanent replacement for the boat bridge and three wooden bridges that had spanned the Grand Canal at various times since the 12th Century. It remained the only way to cross the Grand Canal on foot until the Accademia Bridge was built in 1854.The Rialto Bridge’s 24-foot arch was designed to allow passage of galleys, and the massive structure was built on some 12,000 wooden pilings that still support the bridge more than 400 years later. The architect, Antonio da Ponte (”Anthony of the Bridge,” appropriately enough), competed against such eminent designers as Michelangelo and Palladio for the contract.The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer balustrades, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourist trade. (NOTE: The bridge consists primarily of steps, making it a challenge for tourists with strollers or wheelchairs.)Piazza San Marco is probably the best known spot in town, and it is so important amongst locals that it is said that everyone who lives in Venice passes beyond San Marco at least once a day. The wonderful square in front of the cathedral, full of children who feed the birds, souvenir sellers and cafés with live music (some of which are probably the most expensive coffee bars in Italy!), is definitely a must for those who visit marco Polo’s town. As you walk around it, don’t forget to have a look at the Palazzo Ducale (Duke’s Palace) and its Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), which joins the courtroom with the ancient jail. For those who are not scared of heights, we recommend climbing the tower, which overlooks the entire town .

For others informations you can see the web site: www.venice-holidays.com

Until the 20th of April an exceptional exposition. Following the great success in Vienna, the Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, are now displaying 28 masterpieces painted by Titian from 1550, the year of his death.

His last manner is characterized by the total freedom of the brushstrokes. He even applied the paint with his own hands: the result was briging out great dramatic tension in the compositions and an extraordinary sensuality which pervades his entire production.

CONTACT
Sopraintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Veneziano
Piazza San Marco 63 - 30124 Venezia
Tel:041 5210577 - Fax: 041 5210547

LOCATION
Gallerie Dell’Accademia
Campo Della Carità

www.gallerieaccademia.org

First of all, it’s a symbol of Venice, an elegant black boat that can be driven easily with a single oar by one man or one… woman? Up until now, no woman has been admitted in the official gondola service: Alexandra Hai and other female candidates have failed to pass the exam. The official reason is inexperience and lack of skill. But everybody knows that admitting a woman to this profession would break a diehard tradition. How do you drive a gondola? As you may recall from endless photographs, the gondolier stands up and turns to the direction of movement: this is called “voga alla veneziana”, rowing Venetian style. The oar is supported by the characteristic “forcola”, made from a single piece of walnut, like an arm folded at the elbow.Eleven metres in length, 600 kilos in weight, made with eight different kinds of wood in 280 pieces (the only elements in metal are the “iron” of the head and the “risso” of the stern), the gondola is asymmetric: the left side is larger than the right by 24 cm. The asymmetry makes it inclined on one side. The bottom is flat, so that the gondola can navigate in shallow water, only a few cms. deep.

The iron of the gondola head, used to gain stability by counter-balancing the gondolier’s weight, is a mini-map of Venice: the six strips called “pettini” (comb) represent the six “sestieri” (quarters); an additional long strip represents Giudecca Island; the double “S” bending represents the Grand Canal; on top is a stylized dogal horn and, under that, a lunette representing the Rialto bridge.

The origin of the name “gondola” is uncertain: it may come from the Latin “cymbula” (little boat) or “cuncula”, diminutive of “concha” (shell). It made its first appearance in paintings in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries in works by Gentile Bellini, Vittore Carpaccio, and Giovanni Mansueti. According to documents of the Serenissima Republic (the ancient state of Venice), the gondola was born in the early 1000s. With time, the gondola acquired characteristics that distinguished it as a boat designed for the private transport of persons of a certain rank. Even today, a gondola ride isn’t that cheap (see below).

The gondola was not only a means of transportation: a closed cabin (”felze”) placed in its centre (not in use nowadays) offered both a shelter from bad weather and privacy for the passengers, who could enjoy reading, food, drink, conversation, or romance without being seen. The dark side is that escaped criminals and kidnappers have favoured the felze. With open cabins, Venetians cooled off on hot summer nights (”fresco”) while showing off their finery.

The shipyards where gondolas are built are called “squeri” and their workers “squeraroli”. Oars and forcole are built by specialists called “remeri” (from “remo”, oar). Rare nowadays, the squeri were present all over the city in past centuries, building a huge number of boats and ships for commercial use. The decline of the squeri began with the fall of the Serenissima Republic, defeated by Napoleon in 1797. Later on, new technologies and new materials revolutionised the naval shipyards. In Venice, many squeri dedicated themselves to minor repairs, others became motorboat shipyards, and others closed. Some, of course survive, producing the traditional lagoon-crafts and gondolas.

Nowadays in Venice, it’s common to see gondolas used for tourists (called “charterage gondolas”, as they are hired), the gondolas for celebrations (weddings), the gondolas “da parada” (or “traghetto”) for the quick crossings of the Grand Canal. Their hulls are all black thanks to pitch, which is used for waterproofing. The upper and inside parts may have decorations in gold and coloured velvets and carpets (usually red or yellow): these are the gondolas especially used for marriages or special occasions. By contrast, it seems tawdry and meaningless to see the plastic flower bouquets that sometimes adorn them.

The “Angelo ” apartments, in the historical center of Venice, are the ideal residence for an unforgettable vacation!Situated in Campo Sant’Angelo, a few hundred meters from the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco, these flats offer an ideal starting point for visiting the important monuments and art museums. In addition, they are easily reachable from Piazzale Roma or the Santa Lucia train station by taking the N° 1 vaporetto to the Sant’ Angelo stop or the N°82 vaporetto to the Rialto stop and going by foot in the direction of the Accademia Bridge and Campo Sant’ Angelo.The apartments are all different sizes: studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom, all situated on the first floor ( second floor American).

They can satisfy the diverse needs of singles, couples, families with cildren and group of friends ( 12-14 people total ).This elegant two-bedroom flat includes a master bedroom characterized by the antique marble column that holds up the wooden ceiling beam. Original goldleaf work on the wardroble and headboard give this apartment a unique light. A bedroom with a single bed, a fully-equipped kitchen, and a bathroom with shower complate this house.All of the apartments have air conditioning and have been restored as well as luxuriously and elegantly furnished.

 The exposed ceiling beams amd Venetian floors create a warm and cozy environment where every detail has been taken care of in order to offer a pleasant stay to the client.

 You can reserv the apartment with special price for February and March months ( Easter Days Exclusided), in our web site:

www.venice-holidays.com
info@venice-holidays.com

                                                                                                                     From the 26th of January Palazzo Grassi houses a great exhibition for an historical journey to the period of Caesar’s campaigns.

Here it comes Rome the Barbarians!

Palazzo Grassi is famous for being a centre of Contemporaney Art. But now, temporaily, it has become the host of an axposition which covers a lengthy, important period, lasting a thousand years, in which the identity of the Europan continent was formed.

Rome and the Barbarian, the birth of a new world, the latest exposition linked to the guidance of Jean-jacques Ailagon, whishes to propose a different vision of this millenium which was decisive for that geographical entity which, today, is called Europe, which too often celebrates Greek, Roman and Hebrew-Cristmas roots, forgetting its own Barbarian origins, which were beyond doubt quite potent and detrmining.

The exposition concentrates on those phenomena which effected more directly yhe territories of Western Europe, whitout however neglecting the processes that, originating in the east, effected the Occidente as well. Let us mot forget the role played by the Mediterranean, until the advert of the Arab Muslim world, as a natural “basin” for the continuos interchange of men, merchandise and ideas, from East to West.

Its expansion in Europe, Africa and Asia allowed the Roman Empire to enter in contact with others nations: great civilizations such as that of the Egyptian and Pesrians, as well as the cultures of the so-called Barbarians. The Romans, like the Greeks before them, considered “barbarians” to the those who did not understand thir dominated approch, as is made evident by a large part of Roman imperial iconography.

Roma e i Barbari. La nascita di un nuovo mondo
From the 26th of January to the 20th of July 2008
PALAZZO GRASSI
Info: +39 041 5231680
www.palazzograssi.it
 

                                                           Can you drink water from the drinking fountains?

Yes, it’s the same as the tap water and subject to constant testing and treatment. Until 1884, when the supply piped from the mainland was inaugurated with a fountain in Piazza San Marco, the city depended on rainwater which was meticulously drained and collected in cisterns beneath squares equipped with locked covered wells.

Does everyone have a boat?

On summer Sundays you would be forgiven for thinking that is the case, as families pack small craft with picnic supplies, sunshades, fishing or stereo gear and row, sail, put or speed out across the lagoon. Many of course, need boats for work.

Do people often fall in the water?

The odd tourist miscalculates the distance between the quayside and a wating water taxi and takes the plunge inevitably saved by timely intervention from a bystander. Be wary of moss-covered steps when taking a photograph or a rest and, of course, don’t let young children out of your sight near water.

What do the buildings stand on?

In the course of the city’s history, milions of pinewood piles from the Republic’s carefully cultivated forests in the Alps were driven deep into the compressed clay-mud base and, over time, petrified in the absence of oxygen. These were successively overlaid with horizontal planks and marble-like Istrian stone slabs which served as the foundations for buildings.

Why don’t people restore the crumbling buildings?

Strict regulations concern facades only porous stucco can be used for renovation as anything else tends to come away in sheets in damp, windy weather and is a hazard for passers-by. As a result, freshly plastered facades start crumbling weeks after application due to the high humidity and salt content in the air.

Mosquitos repellent?

Mosquitos are a nuisance in summer and fewhotels and apartments have protective screening. Should you forget you own, pharmacies stock a wide range of repellents in liquid and electrial form.