From our lovely hotel, Al Ponte Antico, we were able to walk to most areas of the city, including peaceful Cannaregio and the beautiful spiral staircase Scala Contarini del Bovolo.
We flew into Venice principally to drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo for walking in the Dolomites, but it seemed a shame just to pass through without spending some time in this lovely city. However, the height of summer is not the best time to visit, the central areas are absolutely heaving with tourists and it's usually hot. We'd chosen summer for various reasons associated with access in the Dolomites but for Venice spring or autumn, even winter, would be much better.
Arriving back from Cortina at the airport to drop off our car we made our way to the water taxis for a private transfer to our hotel. This is a lovely way to arrive in Venice, made all the more special because our hotel, Al Ponte Antico, on the Grand Canal close to the Rialto Bridge, has its own private dock .
Al Ponte Antico was a 16th century palace in a fabulous location, right on the Grand Canal and very close to the beautiful Rialto Bridge.
We had one of the hotel's classic rooms, which didn't have a view over the Grand Canal but was extremely cool, most welcome in the summer heat of the city. The hotel has a lovely terrace overlooking the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge where we had breakfast and evening drinks.
The streets in the region of the hotel, especially east and north, are quieter in the evening.
We had a couple of good meals at Ristorante Marco Polo, not far east of the hotel.
The food was excellent, not fancy, just good quality food beautifully cooked. Excellent tagliatelle beef ragu, crab linguine and Sea Bass.
The best ice cream we had in Venice was from Suso, very close to the hotel.
We walked from the hotel north through the Cannaregio district. It was extremely quiet compared to the central area of Venice and we wandered around the narrow streets and across numerous canals. This is a mainly residential area of Venice, very peaceful, and not frequented by tourists.
The Jewish Ghetto is sited in Cannaregio. It is the oldest ghetto in Europe, the name "ghetto" probably deriving from "giotto", or "geto" meaning "foundry" as the first Jewish quarter was sited near the old state foundries which probably made cannon.
The Jews were subjected to many restrictions at times, including a dusk to dawn curfew when they had to be inside the gates of the ghetto, and having to wear identifying insignia such as yellow scarves or berets.1
The southern boundary of Cannaregio is the Grand Canal where one of the most beautiful palazzi is situated, the Ca D'Oro, one of the best surviving example of a palazzo in the Venetian Gothic style.
This wonderful tower with its spiral staircase was commissioned in 1499 by the nobleman Pietro Contarini. Bovolo means "snail", hence the name of the tower.
At the top is a terrace with a fine panoramic view over the rooftops.
There is also on display on the second floor one of Jacopo Tintoretto's preparatory works for Paradiso, the finished painting of which is on display in Palazzo Ducale.
We walked back to the hotel from here.
