Sunday Telegraph, 26th July 1998Unlocking the people's VeniceNigel Tisdall ...Our apartment was in the Castello district, close to Campo Santa Maria Formosa. It was a most select area, and I felt like sending a telegram home saying, "Streets full of palazzi, please advise." I hate to brag, but we were right next door to the stately residence of the Marcello-Pindemontes, the Pisanis were across the canal, and it was a mere sedan-chair ride to the palatial pads of the Dolfin-Bollanis, the Loredans, the Bragadin-Carabbas ... Oh, they don't make names like that any more in these Euro-dreary days. There are many advantages to renting an apartment rather than staying in a hotel in Venice. The first is simply the fun of having a key to your own front door, which in our case was a huge wooden job, set in a castellated wall, that opened onto a creeper-clad courtyard with a stone fountain. Every time I used it, passing tourists would slow their pace to peep in, and I would always smile back, doing my best to look like a playboy Doge... |
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