Dolce Vita Venice Tour

VENICE

Dolce Vita

From the 1940s through the 1960s Italy went through an economic boom where families like the Ferraris, Guccis, Lamborghinis and Missonis reached global stardom along with Italian films who romanticized the inequality and hedonism of the Post-War Italian society; and thanks to the Venice Film Festival the city got glamorized by the jetset in the 70s — so get your friulanes ready to explore the Italian pleasures that Venice has to offer.

Time period: 1797-2000

Movie/book: The Comfort of Strangers (1990)/ Venetian Chic by Francesca Bortolotto Possati

Soundtrack: Domenico Modugno/Pablo Piccioni’s music

Fashion: neutral colors outfit, tailoring plus friulanes

Budget: from 420€ to 111,120€ (120€ for theater/gondola ride + 300€ for food + 10,700€ for shopping + 100,000€ for art)

Teodoro Viero: Nuova Pianta Iconografica dell'Inclita Città di Venezia; Venice, 1821

This walking tour would take you through San Marco, the most expensive neighborhood of Venice where the Habsburgs used to live and where you can find: hidden ateliers, jewelries and craft shops. The area is characterized by: luxury shops, historical palaces turned into hotels, and overpriced restaurants (some are worth it, other ones are tourist traps). Napoleon called Piazza San Marco “the finest drawing room in Europe" so it doesn’t come as a surprise that it was here where he decided to built his palace and a small garden (now the Museo Correr and Giardini Reale which are open to the public). Surprisingly the city fell under the anti-liberal rule of the Austrian Habsburgs who ended up enjoying the palace until they got kicked out by the kings of Sardinia in the 1860s. They finally united Italy since the Roman times bringing order and stability into the peninsula — but mainly to the north because the south got neglected causing a massive wave of migration to the americas. The peace brought by the Italian Unification got ruined by Mussolini when he decided to join Hitler in the Second World War; but after the war Italy went through an economic boom that gave us: the golden age of Italian cinema from 1940-1970, sports cars (Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis) plus leather goods from brands like: Gucci, Ferragamo and Bottega Venetta. Venice became once more a leisure town (with a rustic/underdeveloped touch) for movie stars and intellectuals like: Peggy Guggenheim, Ernest Hemingway or Sophia Loren. When the Calle San Moise got enlarged in 1881 it got rename Calle Larga XXII Marzo to commemorate the expulsion of the Habsburgs; and today the corridor between this street and Piazza San Marco has become the epicenter of luxury shopping in the city — but if you venture into the little streets you will find: fancy restaurants, art galleries, and craft shops that keep up with the glass and velvet artisanal reputation of the city. The classic Italian luxury brands: Prada, Versace, Ferragamo, Gucci and Bottega Veneta can be found around Campo San Moise; while the jewelry stores: Nardi, Salvadori, Leo Pizzo, Vesco and FOPE around Piazza San Marco. A jewel close by and where the sophisticated gather is Teatro La Fenice, the opera house of the Serenissima; built in 1792 (but burned to the ground twice in 1836 and 1996) it got rebuilt to its original state in 2003. During the morning is a museum and in the afternoon hosts: operas, concerts and ballets. The tour suggests getting lost in “the Royal Palace of Venice” during the morning; lunch at the iconic Harry’s Bar plus shopping, and a quick visit to the opera house in the afternoon; and to end the day a gondola ride plus dinner inside the Gritti Palace. This area is the best for a gondola ride (although more expensive and costumer service can be shitty) because of its quiet canals, plus the views to the Santa Maria La Salute and the palaces around it.