Viaggioadagio.it

If you ask a Venetian to tell about his city ( Placemark di Google Earth) you not always make the right choice: people here walk along the calli, moves around the campielli but … do not stroll and, above all, do not pay attention to the wonders that appear behind any corner. But when a Venetian, after leaving his Lagoon, comes back there as a forésto, he gets surprised by discovering a “new world” where everything is magic and charming and every view, every landscape deserves a prolonged and careful attention. Anyway, he keeps on having a “trademark”: he is inclined to avoid the “touristic” places, because of a sort of haughty lordliness that keeps him far from St. Mark Square, the Bridge of Rialto, the Academy and the other crowded locations, making him prefer secondary itineraries, often hidden, in order to enjoy an evening “different” but special. The best possibile start for these do passi (two steps) is the central Campo San Luca: placed at a few meters from St. Mark square, it’s the rendez-vous point for the young Venetians for the aperitif, the traditional spritz (Prosecco, Aperol and seltz with an olive or, alternatively, a slice of orange) of the ancient patisserie “Rosa Salva” (www.rosasalva.com). After sipping this must, a few steps towards the Academy lead to the large Campo Manin, whose current look dates back to 1869, when the architect Giorgio Casarin, to honour the Venetian patriot Daniele Manin (www.giovaniveneziani.com/manin.html), proposed and -unfortunately- was allowed to pull down the ancient church of San Paternian with its wonderful and unique bell tower
. From this large and charming Campo -don’t call it “square” before a Venetian !-, through a maze of calli, luckily well indicated, you get to Palazzo Contarini, characterized by the wondeful stair after which it’s named del bovolo (“nail” in Venetian dialect). The stair is built within a cylindrical tower and linked with the nice arcaded loggia of the front. Pietro Contarini, a Venetian noble belonging to this ancient family that gave to Venice two Doges, commissioned Giovanni Candi to design the building, presumably around 1499; Moving up the stair, it is still possibile to admire what remains of the ancient V-Century frescos that once embellished the interior and the outside, until the marvellous belvedere under a dome forom which you can enjoy a landscape made of roofs, rooftop loggias, bell towers and the impressive domes of the Basilica of St. Mark. Within the builing, which has been recently restored, there is a huge collection of VI and VII Century paintings coming from the several properties of the “Istituzioni di Ricovero ed Educazione” (www.irevenezia.it), the current owners of the building. Useless, unfortunately, to say, you have to pay a ticket to get inside the building and the stair. If, meanwhile, dinner time has arrived
and if it’s not Monday, a good compromise among a nice typical restaurant, excellent traditional dishes and a cheap price is the restaurant “Ai Barbacani” (041 5210234) in Calle del Paradiso, under the homonymous Arch.   Placemark di Google Earth Once a coal store, the two small rooms are surmounted by ancient rafters which make even more impressive and relaxing the atmosphere, whose romanticism, apart from the candles and the delicious white wine, is guaranteed by the view of Palazzo Malipiero, the house of Casanova. After the dinner, there is nothing better than a walk through Campo Santa Maria Formosa and, from there, following the signs, getting to St. Mark square to enjoy the music in the air coming from the famous (but “untouchable” !) Caffè “Florian” and the view of the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the Bell tower, that the Venetians call Paron de Casa (litterally “master of the house”) Enjoy !