A Serene Interlude in Venice

When I am in Venice it seems as though such a tiny string of islands couldn’t possibly be sufficient to hold the volume of people threading their way through the narrow streets and thronging in the squares. Amid this noise and crush it is soothing to stumble into a little eddy in the current of people just a few winding turns away from the massed crowds of Piazza San Marco and the Ponte de Rialto.

By clinging to the northern sestieri (districts) of Venice, Cannaregio and Castello, plotting a course along the northern edge toward the Venetian lagoon, it is possible to avoid the most crowded districts entirely and take a peaceful walk through residential streets. If you accidentally find yourself trapped in the flock of tourists around Piazza San Marco, do not panic, simply point your shoes towards Calle Canonica, slipping left along the Basilica di San Marco, and cross the bridge there. Continue heading northwards and eastwards rounding corners into narrow streets, finding tiny unexpected architectural details gracing the buildings--a lion here, an angel there--and watching small boats--some gondola, some not--as they pass under the bridges you cross.

If you’ve chanced upon the correct combination of streets--and the only way to do this right is by instinct and serendipity; do not resort to your map--you will eventually find yourself in the Campiello della Confraternita, by Chiesa de San Francisco della Vigna. Here is a quiet square with a tree growing in it, the late afternoon light making the stones of the church glow buttery yellow. A nun with a youthful, contented face will smile the greeting “Salve” as she passes you on the way to the nearby school.

Sit here on the bench for a few moments, enjoying your own stillness as people whisk through the square on their way to other cares. Then, when the sun begins to feel just that little bit too hot, meander eastward past the Campo de Celestia, continue north towards the lagoon, make a right and suddenly you are on a slim metal walkway clinging to the hulking brick wall that forms the back of the Arsenale di Venezia. The smell of the sea envelops you in quiet solitude as you find yourself a lone traveller crossing this little walkway, the sea washing the wall beneath your feet. Stop to admire the view of the Cimitero Ortodosso Greco, a little green emerald shimmering in the lagoon. Savor this fresh moment of undiscovered solitude in the heart of the bustling, sizzling crowds of Venice.