TRAVEL DIARY TO VENICE, A BEAUTIFUL ESCAPE

Whether it is the first visit or the tenth, Venice is always a source of great amazement.

It reminds how important it is to look at the world as if we were kids again, and enjoy the simplicity of the present moment, to let ourselves be carried by the slow rhythm of the water and the joy of strolling without objectives.

At Escadrille, this city inspires us so much that we wanted to share with you our ideal travel diary, addresses that we love, hoping that they will also inspire you to prepare your next escapades.

HISTORICAL CHOCOLATE

Unavoidable, cliché perhaps, but so sublime, we love to savour a cioccolata con panna at Caffè Florian, as magical as ever. We’d rather sit inside to enjoy the beautiful red velvet benches and the golden panelling, unchanged since 1720.

Piazza San Marco, Venice

THE ADDRESS TO DREAM

The chic Venetian way is undoubtedly Fortuny, a textile printer (for interior decoration in particular) whose colour palette is beautiful and taste for secrecy incredible (it is still impossible to know how these fabrics are printed!). It looks like velvet but it’s actually cotton, with an incredibly soft touch. Just admiring them in the museum-palace of the brand is a real joy and a great source of inspiration.

Museo Fortuny, San Marco 3958, Venice

COCKTAIL WITH A VIEW

In the evening, at aperitivo time, we love to cross the lagoon on the zattere side and enjoy a bellini in the Giudecca, rooftop of the Molino Stucky hotel, a spectacular building which is a former flour mill fabulously transformed. From the 8th floor Venice unfolds before our eyes in all its splendour.

Giudecca, 810, Venice

CHIC SUPERMARKET

When there’s room left in the suitcases, we stock up on all the Italian food products we love at the Despar supermarket in the Cannaregio district. Apart from the beautiful products you can find there, it’s worth a visit for its somewhat unexpected décor: a superbly transformed former theatre/cinema. So chic!

REAL VENETIAN TRATTORIA

The trattoria Altanella is the address that is discreetly passed on, the favourite restaurant of those who know that in Venice there are restaurants for tourists and there are others, those who have the best products coming directly from the lagoon. You can sit on the terrace overlooking a small canal of the Giudecca and enjoy a mythical polenta with grilled cuttlefish. Reservations are essential!

Calle de le Erbe, 268, Giudecca. +39 041 522 7780

MOSAIC WORKSHOP IN CANNAREGIO

City of art and prestigious crafts, when we are in Venice we cannot resist visiting artisans workshops, and we love Orsoni Venezia 1888, which produces smalti, the small Venetian glass mosaics. Orsoni operates the last glass melting furnace in Venice (the others are in Murano) and the library has no less than 3500 references of glass of all colours. Visits (only twice a month, on Wednesdays) must be booked in advance on the brand’s website.

Cannaregio, 1045, Venice

BARLEY CAFFÉ IN SANTA CROCE

Venice has become crowded again, but like any touristy city, all it takes usually is a step aside to find the serenity of neighbourhoods where local life takes over. This is the case of the Santa Croce district, where it is good to walk around without a map or GPS and to stop, as in the Campo S.Giacomo da l’Orio square, in one of its cafés to order, like a true Italian, a caffé d’orzo (barley coffee) and sit on the terrace for hours.

ENJOY THE RHYTHM OF THE WATER

When your legs can’t take the strain of crossing all those bridges anylonger, take a vaporetto and don’t move until you have done the full loop, because the city is truly revealed from its canals. Our favourite is line 2, where we sit on the outside back platform and do the whole tour without worrying about time (duration about 1h30).

BEAUTIFUL DESIGN HOTEL

The zattere, those long quays opposite the Giudecca, have just the right amount of life and beauty, without the crowds, and now offer a hotel, Il Palazzo Experimental, where it is good to come for a drink or lunch, as it combines the sublime of an old palace with a very warm and elegant design renovation. In a city that tends to multiply velvet drapes with gold thread, we like a more contemporary address!

Fondamenta Zattere Al Ponte Lungo, 1411, Venice

Buon viaggio!

(Photo credit: Atelier Ikiwa @atelier_ikiwa https://www.instagram.com/atelier_ikiwa/)