Venice in Passing
We arrived in Venice after a secluded Greek island wedding. The city’s architectural sophistication provided a striking contrast to our remote villa experience at Ios, where we had been delightfully removed from both society and tourists.
My understanding of Venice had been shaped by three distinct perspectives: Italo Calvino’s dreamlike renderings in Invisible Cities, Niall Ferguson’s analysis of Venetian financial innovation in The Ascent of Money, and Peter Eisenman’s rigorous formal analysis during my studies at Yale. Each lens offered a different way of seeing the city — Calvino through imagination and metaphor, Ferguson through the mechanics of wealth and power that built these grand structures, and Eisenman through the precise grammar of architectural form and composition. We also watched Summertime with Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi…
A full moon rises over Murano as we ferry toward Arsenale.
Antipasti at Osteria Enoteca.
A portal into the living room of our cozy Venetian flat.
Our stay was nestled in Castello, a quieter, laid back neighborhood away from the throngs of tourists, but closer to the Biennale grounds. Via Garibaldi is the main thoroughfare lined with casual bakeries, bars and eateries catering to more of a local crowd.
Morning commutes take on a different rhythm in Venice. From the deck of the vaporetto, we drift past the city’s familiar blue and white striped pali da ormeggio. Sure beats sitting on the 110 through downtown LA.
Taking in the panoramic views from the Campanile di San Marco.
The sun setting over St. Mark’s Square.
A portal into the Grand Canal.
Looking past the tourists toward San Giorgio Maggiore from inside the Bridge of Sighs.
Part of the crowd.
Biennale day - we weren’t expecting to catch the Biennale but learned after planning the trip that it takes place 9 months out of the year. 2023’s Biennale Architettura revolved around themes of decolonization and decarbonization.
Inception - scale model of the exhibition hall we were in.
Giardini Napoleonici - a beautiful park, perfect for a relaxing evening stroll before heading back to rest.
