Venice - visiting the Arsenal.
 

I just learned that the Arsenal is open to the public on 25, 26 and 27th April. A rare opportunity because mostly the Arsenal is closed to the public.

Might interest some visitors - I will be going for sure.

Also, there is an exhibition of works by Canaletto at the Ca' Rezzonice, closes on 28th April.

How crowded is Venice now?

Lots of Easter tourists?


Thin

Is yours going to be a guided tour, Peter?

Some friends and I were lucky to have a tour of parts of the Arsenale, and we were all fascinated by what we saw and learned from the guide.

Thin, it is a bit hard to say how crowded Venice is. The Piazza is seeing a lot of people, about ten terabytes of photos being taken per diem. But we had a table in the second row at Quadri without trouble. The congregation for the Good Friday service at the Anglican Church, St Georges, numbered some fourteen souls.

Found a table at Nics on the Zattere without trouble, Nics being next door to Cassin de Nobile. The 7:00 pm sitting at La Bitta was booked out, not sure about the 9:00 pm sitting. Not so many visitors in the area between Academe and the Salute, but Peggy's was closed at the time.

I imaging that the Rialto / St Marco drag and the Merceria are pretty crowded, but we don't need to go there as Cartier have moved shop to the Piazza.

Quite a lot of French visitors (spot the guide book, Venise vs. Venedig vs. Venice vs Russian) and the French are well dressed mostly. Not too many Americans, I think, or I am not picking up the American accent so much.

Campo San Barnaba is busy, every table filled when the sun is shining, but the more "normal", less touristique places, like Billa, are no more crowded than we have seen them in the past.

Yvonne, the Arsenale is open for some sort of boating festival, dragon boats, pneumatic boats, sandole and the like. Not so much a guided tour. We are kayaking on the 25th, and hopefully we will be able to paddle in straight through the gates.

"Home is the sailor, home from the sea ..."

What a wonderful adventure you're having, Peter.
Could you remind me if the name if the little Ristoranti on Zattere - at the far left end of rhe wharf as you come off the vaporetto, please?

I discovered the exquisite squid in its ink over polenta there one lunch time, simply by asking the waiter what the staff were having & ordering that.

I think he was a bit concerned & he & the owner peered out at me every now & again. When I asked for a bread roll to take the last of the sauce, the owner came & asked whether I was Canadian. No, Australian - why? His wife was Canadian & she was the only other woman he'd seen order what the kitchen was having unseen & devour it with gusto. It was a long time ago.

It was my first visit to Venice, half my lifetime ago & I was staying at the charming old Pensione Seguso. They were so kind to me and I went to a concert with the owner at Scuola Roccola. You can't buy that & I thought I'd died & gone to heaven.

Bokhara, you will be pleased to know that the Pensione Seguso has changed very little, even down to serving the worst breakfast in Venice.

Haha Tarquin! I hope the little lift still rattles & shudders its way up & down, too.
I've not been a "hotel breakfast " girl since I stopped travelling with my family. That is, unless I'm at the Ciprianni or somewhere the breakfast is a highlight of the day, and the Seguso's "interesting" offering confirmed the wisdom of my choice.

I felt like a character in a Victorian novel, same table with my name each evening & my bottle of wine waiting for me, proudly wearing its little white linen napkin collar.

It was rather like a naughty boarder from school when I informed the front desk that I would not be in that night!

Like a lot of "firsts" in life. It remains a warm & charming memory.

Are you there now, by any chance?

What a brilliant idea. I've asked waiters for recommendations and followed workmen at lunch time, but never asked for what the staff are having

but never asked for what the staff are having>>

nor I - great idea, Bokhara. i noticed it particularly as DS has a penchant for squid and cuttlefish in its ink, and has also garnered strange looks from waiters, especially the first time he had it [in Venice] when he was about 11. it's a devil to get the ink here in Cornwall, even though the seas around us are teeming with squid etc, but "there's no call for it" so we have to make do with squid ink pasta [brought home by me from Sorrento] and whatever seafood I can found.

Peter - I've walked past the Arsenale many times but never had the chance to go it - so I'm another who'll be very interested in your description of it.

Bokhara - I am not in Venice now but will be end of May. The Seguso's creaky lift is still in action, but not unfortunately the old lady my son used to watch incomprehensible-to-him television with in the back sitting room. We now stay at the Palazzo Foscari in winter and rent apartments in summer.

You?

We left Venice yesterday after a most enjoyable 15 days there - our 10th visit in as many years. Yes, Venice is crowded - seems more so each year - but we manage to wander around quiet neighborhoods with mostly locals - getting lost - when we need to get away from the crowds. We visited all 16 churches on the Chorus Pass - many we have visited before, but we still see somethings we have missed - and can't get enough of the Tintorettos, Tiepolos, Bellinis...Now in Padova with more sights and adventures to come.

So why ain't the Arsenale open regularly - I mean it's not being used to build ships or for anything else, right?

And even to go past it by boat is a treat - the most interesting area of Venice for me.

It is a naval base.

In May 2010 we we in Venice and the hotel manager where we stayed gave us free passes to visit Arsenale. It was a cold and wet day but fantastic. Spent the whole day there. It's only open a few days of the year so we were told. Would recommend if its open when you are there.