San Marco is the most glorious piazza in all of Italy, rivaled for grace and grandeur only by San Pietro in the Vatican.  San Marco is also something to love and to hate. Love the grandeur, the beauty, the theatrical stage set.  Hate the throngs of tourists, pigeons, and tacky souvenirs, the deafening noise.  Love the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the elegant shops, the competing, repeating rhythms of the Procuratie Vecchie and Nuovo, the older more graceful, light and delicate, the newer, heavy, rich and bold.

For us, San Marco is a place to visit, but like any tourist attraction we approach it wearing armor, and depending on the time of year and the hour, it might be a place to linger.  Late at night, after a dinner on that side of the Grand Canal, we will take a night cap at the Caffè Chioggia, enjoying the jazz and waiting for midnight and the Marangona.  We always take our drink and go stand dead center in the Piazza and let the deep sounds of the ancient bell resonate from every direction and feel it deep in our chests. 

For the most part, though, we avoid going to San Marco (and the Rialto) because it destroys the serenity we feel in Venice.  (Gianni Basso, the affable producer of exquisite had-set printing says, “I never cross the third bridge from here in the direction of Rialto, because it lands in Hong Kong.”) Except, on every visit to Venice we must go at least once, preferably more often, to the Caffè Florian.

Historic, nostalgic, beautiful, gracious, magnetic, Caffè Florian draws us away from Santa Margherita to Piazza San Marco.  We never sit in the open in the Piazza or in one of the great Sale, still decorated in the opulent style from the 19^th Century.  We always walk straight in past the reception stand and land at the tiny bar hidden next to the kitchen.  There we find Maurizio (or his partner Massimo), who greets us graciously.  We catch-up on what has occupied our lives during the past year. We smile and feel warmed. 

This little bar with its few stools and coveted two tiny tables is one of our very favorite places anywhere.  In continual operation since opening in 1720, we feel the presence of Casanova, Byron and Canova, but mostly we just enjoy chatting with Maurizio. 

We know that despite its tourist beacon, the Venetians love this bar. We love seeing Venetian mothers bring their children for a wickedly luxurious hot chocolate, or several local folks meeting for a chat, or a dowager alone with her tea.  We have been told that the Venetians don’t much care of the Quadri across the Piazza.  It was the favorite of Wagner and was the hang-out for the Austrian officers during the time they briefly ruled Venice, and too, the Nazis during the war. For us the Florian just somehow feels comfortable. Feels right. We always look forward to our next visit.   All photos click for larger image.