Venice Nightlife Tips by tpal

Nightlife Spot: Piazza San Marco

It is unlikely that any visitor to Venice will miss Piazza San Marco, arguably the most famous square in Europe. The history and architecture of the "drawing room of Europe" is well documented. Daytime visitors will take away memories of an exciting environment filled with people from all over the world, street vendors of all sorts and, of course, the pigeons. But, limiting your visit to the daytime will not complete your experience.

Nighttime is when the magic comes alive. Gone is the hustle and bustle, replaced with romance. The square becomes aglow with lights from under the colonnades and from every column and pilaster. Music can be heard from every corner. The night mutes the visual details to a nearly sepia tone while the textures of the surrounding buildings and the patterns of the pavers reveal themselves.

Strolling through the piazza I suddenly become aware of my footfalls. I feel as though Carol and I are alone in our experience. There are still many others around us but the pace is slower, their voices are lower and they all feel the same as me.

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Address: San Marco Square
Directions: Follow Signs. All roads lead here.

Carol was eager to attend an opera while we were in Venice but alas our timing was just out of sync. It seemed the schedule was going to deny us this memory when, suddenly, we encountered a pretty young women dressed in an 18th century evening gown in front of the Accademia Gallery. Always a bit wary of street vendors we approached with caution. To our pleasant surprise this seemed the answer to our opera dilemma. The young women was selling tickets to an Opera Concerto at the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro. We decided to take a chance...and what a good decision!

That evening was our opportunity to wear the dressy outfits we had packed for a special night out. We took the vaporetto to the Rialto stop and walked to the concert hall which was actually a renovated 16th century charity house and later a flour warehouse. The Baroque and Opera Concerto featured a wonderful baritone and soprano duet accompanied by an eleven piece Orchestra all in 18th century attire. It was delightful.

After the concert, we walked back toward the vaporetto and, of course, we had to view the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge. Immediately, we realized the huge day to night difference. All the shops were now shuttered and closed, the crowds were replaced by a subdued group of evening revelers, some street musicians were playing for coins and then...there was the night. The nighttime view down the canal was spectacular and with Carol at my side could not be more romantic or memorable.

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It was to be our last night in Venice so Carol and I decided we would take a slightly extended ride on the vaporetto. We boarded the Number 1 at Rialto, rode it to the Arsenal stop and then began walking back to Piazza San Marco. Shortly after we disembarked and started walking toward the Campanile we noticed a strange almost spiritual light emanating from San Marco. It seemed very unnatural in the dark Venetian sky.

I had taken this walk before, and knew I hadn't seen this light. Certainly this would turn out to be "The Mystery Light of St. Mark which occurs during the first week October in the forth year of each century" and we were there to witness it!

Or...it could be the stage lighting from the Disney Production of the film Casanova shooting in Piazza San Marco. Believe what you will.

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Along with everyone else who experiences Venice after dark, I have felt the magic of the night. In the evening, Piazza San Marco, the Grand Canal and the sidewalk cafes all present themselves in their finest attire. A little more elegant, a little more refined and a little more mysterious.

Within a day or two, Carol and I had settled into our Venetian routine. After a short late afternoon rest we would set out for dinner and adventure. We discovered early on that the pasticcerias would all be closed by the time we were ready to return to our hotel, so before dinner we would need to pickup our sweet late night snack. After the romance of the night we would return to our room, set chairs on the balcony and savor our dolce.

All wonderful but, what really made it special was the night. As we sat overlooking the canal below the most startling sensation was the quiet. It seems illogical to me that night is more quiet than the day...but it is. It's a mystery to me that foot steps echo in the night. And, it is fascinating to me that the voices of the passersby gain an amplified clarity as they unwittingly share their private conversations.

It seemed it was the night that truly welcomed us to Venice.

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