Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Along the Grand Canal, you can't miss 15th-century Ca' d'Oro's lacy arcaded Goth-
ic facade, resplendent even without the original gold-leaf details that gave the
palace its name (Golden House). Baron Franchetti donated to Venice this
treasure-box palace packed with masterpieces displayed upstairs in
Galleria
Franchetti
, alongside Renaissance wonders plundered from Veneto churches
during Napoleon's Italy conquest. (
041 520 03 45;
www.cadoro.org
; Calle di Ca' d'Oro
3932; adult/reduced €6/3;
8.15am-7.15pm Mon-Sat, 9am-12.30pm Sun;
Ca' d'Oro)
4
Ponte di Calatrava
BRIDGE
Avant-garde Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava's 2008 bridge over the Grand
Canal has been called many things: a fish tail, a glass tongue, unnecessary, over-
due, pleasingly streamlined and displeasingly wheelchair-inaccessible. By night
the bridge is a ghostly streak of light reflected in the Grand Canal; daylight reveals
its red ribbed-steel underbelly.
(Ponte della Costituzione;
Piazzale Roma)
Local Life
Menu? What Menu?
€15-35; noon-3pm & 7-11pm Tue & Thu-Sat, noon-3pm Mon & Wed; Crea)
, you'll get no menu -
you'll have whatever Marisa's cooking - and like it. Lunches are a bargain at €15 for a
first, main, side, wine, water and coffee. When you book for dinner, you'll be informed
whether the set menu is fish-based (usually Tuesdays) or meaty. Reservations and
pre-meal fasting advised.
