“The winter light in this city! It has the extraordinary property of enhancing your eye’s power of resolution to the point of microscopic precision […] The sky is brisk blue; the sun, escaping its golden likeness beneath the foot of San Giorgio, sashays over the countless fish scales of the laguna’s lapping ripples; […]
It’s a private light, the light of Giorgione or Bellini, not the light of Tiepolo or Tintoretto. And the city lingers in it, savoring its touch, the caress of the infinity whence it came.”
Josef Brodskij – Fondamenta degli Incurabili (Adelphi)
Visiting Venice in winter, grasping its atmosphere, lights, subdued colours, water splashing, smells, footsteps bouncing and echoing, in the only time of the year with few tourists, can make you discover and savour a different, more secret, true dimension. Then get lost in the labyrinthine alleys, take refuge in museums, galleries, palaces and churches, search for the lights of the great painters and experience these magical and intimate atmosphere. If fog swirls around or it’s chilly and there is acqua alta, (high tide) follow the smells of savoury cooked food and have a snack and take a rest.
From “DeTourism”