Venice 2020
A City in Silence
We arrived in Venice on 23 September 2020 for a few days in a city we thought we knew — and found a Venice unlike anything we had experienced before.
The weather forecast had not looked particularly promising, but we were lucky. The clouds lifted, the light changed, and Venice gave us several beautiful late-September days.
What was extraordinary was the silence. Piazza San Marco, the canals, the bridges and streets were almost empty. Venice, normally shaped by movement and visitors from around the world, seemed to have slowed down.
It was beautiful, strange and unforgettable — a Venice we knew we would probably never see in quite the same way again.
San Marco
Piazza San Marco without its usual crowds felt almost theatrical — familiar architecture in an unfamiliar silence.
By day, the city seemed suspended between moments. At night, the illuminated Basilica di San Marco became even more striking against the quiet square.
Nearby, the Ponte dei Sospiri and Santa Maria della Salute appeared almost timeless, reminders that Venice has witnessed centuries of arrivals, departures and changing worlds.
Venice from the Water
No visit to Venice feels quite complete without seeing the city from the water.
We took a gondola through the canals, passing façades, bridges and quiet corners at a pace that seemed perfectly suited to this unusually still Venice.
With so few visitors around, even this familiar Venetian ritual felt strangely intimate. At other moments we watched gondoliers waiting quietly for passengers — another image that has stayed with me from those days.
Rialto & the Grand Canal
Even around the Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal, Venice felt remarkably spacious.
The water continued its timeless rhythm, while the city around it seemed to have slowed down.
Baglioni Hotel Luna
Our base in Venice was the Baglioni Hotel Luna, only a few steps from Piazza San Marco.
Its richly decorated interiors offered a striking contrast to the unusually quiet city outside. From the hotel, Venice was immediately at the door — canals, gondolas and the architecture of San Marco all within moments.
In a city defined by water, even arriving and leaving the hotel seemed to become part of the Venetian experience.
Harry’s Bar
One evening we went to Harry’s Bar — one of those legendary Venetian addresses that almost belongs to the mythology of the city.
It was an experience we wanted to have once. Memorable, certainly — although our lasting impression was that the evening was rather more expensive than the pleasure it delivered.
Venice has a way of mixing the sublime with the slightly absurd. Perhaps that, too, is part of its charm.
La Fenice · A City of Opera
For me, Venice also carries the language of music. Teatro La Fenice is one of the great names in operatic history, and walking through the city inevitably brings to mind the artists whose voices have become part of that history.
Among them is Maria Callas. Her presence remains woven into the story of La Fenice and into the wider mythology of twentieth-century opera.
Puccini · Tosca · Vissi d’Arte
To remember Maria Callas is also to hear her voice — unmistakable, dramatic and deeply human.
This historic performance of Vissi d’Arte from Puccini’s Tosca was recorded at London’s Covent Garden in 1964.
Venice, Between Moments
Looking back, Venice in September 2020 became more than a journey. It left traces that would continue into my relationship with art.
During those days, we acquired our first sculpture by Bruno Catalano at Ravagnan Gallery — the beginning of a lasting connection with his remarkable travellers.
And the photographs I took in the unusually quiet streets, squares and canals of Venice would later find another life of their own. Selected images became Venice, Between Moments, a fine art photography series exploring stillness, solitude and the fleeting presence of people within the city.
In that sense, Venice 2020 never really ended. Part of it came home with us — and part of it became art.
From Venice to Verona
On 26 September, we left Venice and continued by car towards Verona.
The extraordinary quiet followed us there. Verona, too, was almost without visitors — another familiar Italian city experienced in circumstances that now feel almost impossible to imagine.
But that is another story.
