In the latest edition of CNN’s Quest’s World of Wonder, host Richard Quest travels to Italy to visit Venice, a place that’s endured more than a thousand years of history. Exploring this city of canals, Quest discovers the soul and distinct identity of the area.
As Venice is built on water, gondoliers and gondolas have been around almost a thousand years. Quest meets Roberto Nardin, who has been an official gondolier for more than forty years, to explore the history and legacy of the profession. “My father was a gondolier. My grandfather was a gondolier, my uncles, my cousin, now my nephew, a second, third, fourth generation,” he says.
Built for the narrow canals and shallow waters of the Venetian lagoon, the gondolas originally served as the main form of transport and as status symbols for the rich merchants and the elites of the city. The tradition continues as the gondolas are now one of the city’s main attractions. “Well, see, this is not just a job. It’s a lifestyle. You enjoy your boat, you enjoy your colleagues. It’s like a big family. And first of all, you enjoy showing people your city,” says Nardin.
Quest concludes that although it is Venice’s most popular tourist attraction, the gondola is essential to the city’s identity. In fact, Nardin explains: “Everybody in Venice takes it very seriously, rowing. I mean, it’s like going on a bicycle, it’s the first thing you learn as a kid and it is so important.”
At the heart of Venice’s soul is its extravagance, which is reflected in the majestic creations of Stefano Nicolao, the maestro of the Venetian costume. With forty years of experience, and having dressed numerous films, shows and operas, Nicolao has created forty thousand costumes.
“The feeling, the sentiment that I put into creating the costumes, is the same that one puts into their own children. So, for me they are like my children. The fact to be able to create something is to actually connect oneself to this moment of creation,” he says.
The rich and lavish costumes constitute a major part of the of the city’s identity, as during the 17th and 18th centuries disguise became the daily Venetian wardrobe. Nicolao says: “Venice is a place exactly, for the historic situation, because when you walk also today in Venice, you feel the history of the Serenissima, the feeling of the history in the costumes.”
Quest walks the runway in Nicolao’s fashion show, which displays the story of Venice through the decades of designs he’s created for famous films and productions.
Quest’s exploration of Venice’s extravagant soul through design continues as he meets Fosca and Lorenzo Urbani, siblings who run Ottica Urbani, an eyewear shop that’s been in the family for nearly 70 years. Fosca’s unique designs are inspired by the beauty of Venice, as they recall, “The window of the architecture, gothic architecture, Romanic architecture,” she says.
Fosca has found a way to incorporate the centuries-old Venetian art of Murano glass artisans, designing eyewear that embodies the history and soul of the city. To describe Venice, Fosca says: “It’s an old lady, but very fashionable today too,” as its traditions remain alive in the present.
Quest also visits the colourful island of Burano to meet Massimiliano Bovo, who owns and runs the family business Trattoria al Gatto Nero with his parents Ruggero and Lucia Bovo, to taste the traditional flavours of the Venetian lagoon.
The fish served at the Trattoria al Gatto Nero is fresh and local, as Massimiliano goes fishing every morning in the lagoon. “This is what I do every morning before we bring it and most of the time it’s my breakfast,” he says.
“If you want to have a successful place, you need passion. Sometimes you don’t always make the money you want, but at least you get the passion and things will come second,” Bovo tells Quest. He adds: “I’m really passionate about Venice because I’m Venetian first, and I’d like to preserve it.”
The show travels with Bovo to the island of Torcello, believed to be the very first Venetian settlement in the fifth century. Torcello is very different from Venice: “It’s supposed to be a really quiet place where you come on, you see a piece of history, almost like a forgotten place,” Bovo explains.
As Quest asks Bovo what he hopes he takes with him from his visit, Bovo says: “I hope you have learned the way we live. We’re not conventional, we can’t deal in a conventional way because Venice is unique.”
