Venezia: what to do in four days

I've spent four days in Venezia and I'm totally in love with the city, it's so different from what we are used to! I love the sea, and that mixed with amazing architecture and art was the perfect combination. Being transferred from the airport directly to the hotel in a boat was an unforgettable experience. The island was packed with tourists, and it was incredibly hot, but the fantastic views and museums made up for it.




My favourite places were the museum of contemporary art in Palazzo Grassi, the Rialto bridge and the Castello area (if you go to Paris, have a walk around Castello, it's really beautiful and particular). The island of Murano is beautiful too. I didn't have time to visit the Fondazione Prada, maybe next time!

Oh, and I had the luck of meeting Natalia Vodianova at the Punta della Dogana museum! She was with Antoine Arnault (they're dating) having a tour of the exhibitions. She was very nice when I asked for a picture. She had a camera with her and took photos of every artwork she liked, even though it was not allowed! :D

The best finds:

MUSEUMS
-Palazzo Grassi: one of the best things in Venezia. Lots of contemporary masterpieces, from Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and many others. My favourite was the melting piano by Urs Fischer, the hiperrealistic paintings by Wateridge and the massive installation by Joana Vasconcelos titled "Contamination" that invaded the museum like a virus. The building is a work of art itself too.


-Punta della Dogana: a continuation of the Palazzo Grassi collection (you can buy a single ticket for the two museums). I found the Grassi more interesting, but you'll find curious works such as the reversed horse by Maurizio Cattelan and the basketball hoop transformed into a chandelier lamp by David Hammons. That's where I met Natalia Vodianova, accompanied by Antoine Arnault.


-Gallerie dell'Accademia: after visiting the most modern museums we went to the renaissance museum with the best Tintorettos. Amazing paintings by art masters, I could have sat in front of them and admire their greatness for hours.

-Peggy Guggenheim: modern art. You'll find works by Klee, Pollock, Brancusi, Francis Bacon, Picasso...

RESTAURANTS
-Osteria Ae Sconte (Castello 5533 - Corte Perini): great pasta, try the Spaghetti pomodore.
-Osteria Ae Spezie (Castello 3479/80, Salizzada S. Antonin): my favourite of all the restaurants I went to. Traditional dishes, but more creative.
-Suso (ice cream) Sestiere San Marco, 5453: tasty take-away ice-creams for the hot summer!

SHOPS
-Mosaici dona' Murano di Donà Stefano (Fondamenta D. Manin 86, Murano): The island of Murano is a must, but I didn't like the Murano glass designs at all, quite tacky. Luckily, I found a shop in where they sell pieces of Murano glass to make mosaics. I bought two bags of green little bricks of glass and those tiny flowers they make, for €6 each bag. I'm not going to make a mosaic, but I'm sure I can make some cute pieces of jewelry!




-Il Papiro (Castello 5275, Calle delle Bande): in Venezia there are too many mask shops, too many glass accesories shops and too many papiro and leather notebooks shops. This one is good, they have beautiful leather photo albums, and infinite greeting cards, personalized stamps...
-Ca' del Sol (Castello 4964, S. Zaccaria - Fond. Osmarin): a great shop of masks and costumes. They are handmade by the owner of the shop. I wanted a mask, I was looking for the one the father of Mozart wears at the Amadeus movie, a happy but sad on the back mask (see picture below). I couldn't find it anywhere. Carnival in Venezia must be amazing.

-Acqua alta (Formosa 5176, Castello) : Thousands of vintage books piled up all over the shop. Unique italian fashion books, comics, and interesting novels. The kind of shop you could spend hours looking for little treasures.


HOTEL
-Aqua Palace (Calle de la Malvasia 5492, Castello): one of the best hotels I've ever been to. It was very well decorated and close to San Marcos square.

The view through my window.

Photos by me, except for the ones from Punta della Dogana: dga.org, online.wsj.com, ionoi.it