Fireworks over the Grand Canal on New Year’s Eve. A lavish brunch of pasta and Prosecco on New Year’s Day at an iconic restaurant on the island of Torcello.

 

All that and more was on the agenda of our girls’ trip to Venice in December 2021. Covid-19 infection rates were finally waning. We were vaccinated, boosted, and ready to bust out of quarantine when my friend and Italophile Corky organized our trip last summer

 

Then, a Covid variant ominously called omicron began surging. Masks were back. Infection rates were rising. Airlines scratched flights. Just days before our departure, both Italy and the U.S. began requiring proof of a negative Covid test from all travelers, including those who were fully vaccinated. Friends with health issues cancelled. Others dropped out rather than risk days in quarantine overseas. When Corky called to say she had been exposed to Covid, I thought the trip was doomed.

 

Negative Covid tests!

 

But a handful of us stubbornly (or foolishly?) refused to give up on New Year’s in Venice. On December 26, with copies of negative Covid test results in hand, we strapped on our face masks and boarded a plane in Austin. Less than 24 hours later, a water taxi whisked us through midday fog in the Venetian lagoon to Hotel Flora near Piazza San Marco.

 

A little nervous, but also exhilarated to be in Venice, I wanted to kiss the stone walkways that barely rise above sea level on this enchanting island city of winding canals, Gothic churches, and Renaissance palaces. Sleep seemed unimportant as I strolled the narrow paths and arched bridges, once again intoxicated by the magic of La Serenissima (most serene).

 

That nickname dates back several centuries, when Venice was a powerful republic that ruled trade in the Mediterranean Sea. In more recent times, this northern Italian city has been compared to a theme park, overrun by as many as 20 million tourists a year.

 

I was expecting smaller crowds because of Covid; plus, winter is low season in Venice. But I was surprised to see more pigeons than people in the piazzas and empty gondolas bobbing alongside inner canals. Even the usually murky water in the Grand Canal, which snakes through the center of the city, looked as calm and aquamarine as the lily pond in a Monet painting.

 

Serenity is back in Venice

 

Yes, Venice was serene again, and very festive. Holiday lights sparkled over walkways and illuminated shadowy canals. Christmas trees brightened piazzas, and holiday greenery framed storefronts and cafes.

 

Venice also felt very safe from Covid transmissions. Everyone wore masks everywhere. Outside, too. Everyone also carried a vaccination card, which was inspected before we could enter a shop, café, bar, or museum. No exceptions.

 

We felt freer than we had in Texas. We could explore the sights of Venice without reservations and without waiting in long lines. No one, including me, seemed to be in a rush. The only real line I saw was outside the Doge’s Palace, the Gothic architectural masterpiece that was once the seat of the Venetian government.

 

We had time to linger over the eclectic art of Pollock and Kandinsky at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and take in the views from the stone patio overlooking the Grand Canal. Chairs were six feet apart, but still plentiful for Sunday mass at St. Mark’s Basilica. The religious art and sculpture at the Academia Gallery overwhelmed us, as usual, but we did not have to jockey for position to linger over the Renaissance paintings of Bellini and Titian.

 

Vivaldi lights up Chiesa San Vidal

 

A few seats stood empty at the entrancing Vivaldi concert at Chiesa San Vidal, a church built in 1084 that is now a stunning concert hall. There was even room atop the Rialto Bridge to snap selfies, with gondolas and vaporettos (public ferry boats) plying the Grand Canal in the background.

 

We had no trouble snagging a table inside at famous Caffe Florian, though it was too chilly to enjoy cocktails outside on Piazza San Marco. No one seemed concerned about Covid at Harry’s Bar, which has been packed with visitors since novelist Ernest Hemingway downed Bellinis there more than half a century ago. After seeing the standing-room-only crowd at Harry’s, we sipped expensive cocktails at the empty bar at Hotel Monaco instead.

 

 

We walked right into most restaurants; no waiting required. We also found seats at wine bars, including Black Jack, where we sampled cicchetti (Italian tapas) and crisp Prosecco while chatting with the bar’s congenial owners.

 

Shop keepers greeted us warmly once they inspected our vax cards-–even after learning that we were from the U.S. “You are welcome here,” one shopkeeper told me. “It’s probably safer here because more people are vaccinated.”

 

 

Italy safer than Texas?

 

While friends in Texas reported staying in their homes for days, we walked up to five miles daily–getting joyfully “lost” in the pedestrian-only city.

 

Even so, life was hardly normal in Venice. The government abruptly cancelled the New Year’s Eve fireworks display over the Grand Canal to minimize the spread of Covid. We had to change our brunch reservations at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello, as the restaurant had limited seating on New Year’s Day due to Covid restrictions.

 

We were waiting to board a vaporetto on the glass-making island of Murano, when we learned that only N95 masks, or the equivalent, were now acceptable on public transport in Italy. Oops.

 

But if Covid has taught us anything, it is flexibility. We made other plans for New Year’s Eve and for brunch. We also bought a fresh supply of N95 masks.

 

Arrivederci da Venezia!