What if the best way to experience Venice was to turn the entire city into a treasure hunt, while also making a difference for a good cause?

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato welcomes Simone Pavlovich, the creative mind behind A Caccia con Filippo, a project that transforms Venice's streets, bridges and hidden corners into an exciting adventure filled with clues, discoveries and unexpected stories.

Venice is a city where every detail has a story to tell, but how often do we actually stop to notice them?

Through their treasure hunts, Simone and Michele invite participants to look beyond the familiar landmarks, pay attention to the little things and experience Venice with a fresh sense of curiosity.

But there's another important side to A Caccia con Filippo: its connection to charity. The project supports CDKL5 – Insieme verso la Cura, an association dedicated to helping families affected by CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a rare genetic neurological condition, and supporting the search for treatments.

It's a wonderful example of how creativity, community spirit and a love for Venice can come together to support something much bigger than a game.

During our conversation, we talk about how the project began, the challenges of designing treasure hunts in a city as extraordinary as Venice and why getting lost can sometimes be the best way to find something special.

We also discuss the importance of giving back, the people who have embraced the initiative and the ambitious plans to make the experience accessible to an even wider audience through a multilingual web app.

From the stories behind the clues to the meaningful cause at the heart of the initiative, this conversation reminds us that sometimes the greatest treasure isn't something you find, but something you help create.

• How A Caccia con Filippo began and the story behind its unusual name.
• The creative process of turning Venice's history and hidden details into treasure hunt clues.
• How games can encourage visitors and residents to experience Venice differently.
• The funniest and most unexpected moments from previous treasure hunts.
• Why slowing down and paying attention can change the way we see Venice.
• The charitable mission behind the project and its support for CDKL5 – Insieme verso la Cura.
• How a treasure hunt can bring people together while raising awareness for an important cause.
• The challenges of transforming a creative idea into a growing community project.
• The plans for a multilingual web app and the role of technology in making the experience more accessible.
• What Simone and Michele hope participants will remember long after the game is over.

If you love Venice, its hidden stories and the people who are making a positive difference in the city, this episode is for you!

Listen to Venice Talks on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and your favourite podcast platforms.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Simone Pavlovich from A Caccia con Filippo,

Don't forget to follow the podcast, subscribe and share this episode with anyone who loves Venice, enjoys an adventure or believes in the power of community.

And if you've enjoyed listening, please leave a review. It really helps Venice Talks reach more people around the world.

Follow Venice Talks and join us for more conversations about the real Venice, one story at a time!

Learn more about A Caccia con Filippo: https://www.acacciaconfilippo.com/

Visit: https://www.monicacesarato.com/

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Regina Maksimova and Alexandra Zagrebelnaia, the team behind Venice Art Insider, a platform created to help people discover and understand the extraordinary art world of Venice.

From historic masterpieces and museums to foundations, galleries, independent spaces and the Biennale, Venice Art Insider looks at the city as one vast cultural landscape. Regina and Alexandra explain how they select what to feature, how they build curated routes and how they help visitors navigate a city where art is quite literally everywhere.

The conversation also explores the relationship between art and place, the impact of the Biennale on Venice, the role of social media in the way we experience exhibitions and the challenge of making art accessible without oversimplifying it.

This is an episode about looking at Venice differently, slowing down and learning how to notice what is often hidden in plain sight.

• Who Regina and Alexandra are and how Venice Art Insider began
• Why Venice needed a clearer way to navigate its immense art scene
• How they choose exhibitions, museums, galleries and cultural spaces to feature
• The importance of connecting art with the neighbourhoods and architecture of Venice
• How the Biennale changes the city and what remains once it is over
• Discovering Venice beyond the major museums and famous masterpieces
• The different perspectives Regina and Alexandra bring to the project
• How social media is changing the way people discover and experience art
• Making art more accessible without losing depth or context
• How to approach Venice as one enormous, layered art experience

A conversation about art, Venice, discovery and the many layers of a city where masterpieces, galleries, museums and unexpected cultural spaces are waiting around almost every corner.

If you enjoy Venice Talks, follow the podcast and subscribe on your favourite platform so you never miss a new episode. And if you enjoyed this conversation, share it with someone who loves Venice, books and a good mystery.

Remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Regina Maksimova and Alexandra Zagrebelnaia from Venice Art Insider

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson, the three writers behind Venice Noir, Venice’s international festival dedicated to crime writing, noir and the darker side of storytelling.

What began as an ambitious literary idea has grown into a distinctive festival bringing together Italian and international authors, historians, journalists and readers in the heart of Venice.

We talk about how Venice Noir has evolved, how the programme is shaped, the relationship between Italian crime writing and the international noir scene and what happens when three crime writers have to agree on what actually belongs in a noir festival.

There is also plenty of discussion about growth, identity, literary festivals, dream guests and, inevitably, a little friendly disagreement.

Key Notes from This Episode

• How Venice Noir has evolved from an idea into an international literary festival
• The role of Italian authors within an international programme
• The relationship between Italian giallo and English-language crime fiction
• How Gregory, Philip and David choose writers, themes and events
• How broad the definition of “noir” can really become
• The festival’s relationship with the international crime-writing world
• What organising a literary festival teaches writers about being guests themselves
• How the three founders balance different tastes and ideas
• The challenges of growing while keeping the festival intimate
• The authors they would love to invite in the future

A conversation about books, murder, Venice and the dark literary creature that Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson continue to shape year after year.

If you enjoy Venice Talks, follow the podcast and subscribe on your favourite platform so you never miss a new episode. And if you enjoyed this conversation, share it with someone who loves Venice, books and a good mystery.

Remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson From Venice Noir

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Simon and Jess from The History of Venice Podcast about the women who lived, worked and helped shape Venice across the centuries.

Moving beyond the better-known stories of noblewomen and courtesans, the conversation explores what everyday life was really like for Venetian women from different levels of society. From work and family life to money, independence, marriage and social expectations, Simon and Jess bring to light the stories of women whose contribution to Venice has often remained in the background.

The episode also looks at lesser-known female figures, the kinds of jobs women carried out and what historical records can reveal about their lives. A fascinating journey into another side of Venetian history: the city seen through the experiences of its women.

• Simon and Jess from The History of Venice Podcast on telling the story of Venice through the people who lived it.
• Lesser-known women whose stories deserve a place alongside Venice’s more famous female figures.
• What everyday life looked like for women from different social classes.
• The jobs and trades carried out by Venetian women.
• Women as artisans, shopkeepers, servants, market sellers and workers.
• Money, property and the economic independence available to women.
• Marriage, widowhood and the options open to women outside traditional family structures.
• The differences between the lives of noblewomen and working women.
• Women from Venice’s different communities and backgrounds.
• What archives, legal records and other historical sources can tell us about women’s lives.
• How women contributed to the economic and social life of the Venetian Republic.
• Why so many of these stories have remained less visible in traditional accounts of Venetian history.

Tune in for a journey beyond the familiar names and discover the women whose work, choices and everyday lives were part of the fabric of Venice.

Listen now and subscribe to Venice Talks for more stories about Venice, its history, its people and its culture.

And remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire Media

Guest: Simon & Jess from History of Venice Podcast

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

n this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with drinks writer, podcaster and author Susan L. Schwartz about her new book, A Guide to Drinking in Venice.

Venice is a city where drinking is never just about what is in the glass. It is about ritual, place, history and the people behind the bar. Susan takes us through the research and stories behind the book, from traditional bacari and Venetian drinking habits to cocktails, wine, coffee and the changing bar scene of the city.

We also talk about what surprised her while researching the book, how Venice’s drinking culture differs from what visitors often expect and why understanding where and how Venetians drink can reveal so much about the city itself.

• How the idea for A Guide to Drinking in Venice began
• What inspired Susan to dedicate an entire book to Venice’s drinking culture
• The research behind the book and the people she met along the way
• Why Venice is about much more than just Spritz
• Bacari, wine bars, cocktail bars and the different ways of drinking in the city
• The role of tradition in Venetian drinking culture
• How Venice’s bar and cocktail scene has evolved in recent years
• What visitors often misunderstand about drinking in Venice
• Some of Susan’s favourite discoveries while researching the book
• How a drink can become a way of understanding the history and identity of a place

If you love Venice, food, wine, cocktails and the stories hidden behind everyday Venetian rituals, this is an episode to listen to with a glass in hand.

Remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Susan L. Schwartz from A Lush Life Manual

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

What happens when two history lovers decide to tell the story of Venice from the very beginning?

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato is joined by Simon and Jess, the creators and hosts of The History of Venice Podcast, a chronological journey through the people, politics, conflicts and extraordinary events that shaped the Venetian Republic.

Simon and Jess share how their mutual fascination with Venice inspired them to begin the podcast, and what it is like to research, write and present such an ambitious historical project together.

We talk about the challenge of separating historical fact from legend, especially in a city where myths have been repeated for centuries. They explain how they approach conflicting sources, complex political events and the colourful personalities who brought Venetian history to life.

The conversation also explores how studying Venice’s past changes the way we experience the city today. Behind every bridge, campo and palace lies a story—and the deeper we look, the more Venice reveals itself as far more than a beautiful destination.

From the origins of the lagoon settlements to the rise of one of Europe’s most powerful republics, Simon and Jess invite listeners to discover the real history behind the Serenissima.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Simon and Jess created The History of Venice Podcast
• Their personal connection with Venice and its history
• What it is like to produce a podcast together as a couple
• How they divide the research, writing and presenting
• The difficulties of separating Venetian history from legend
• How they make complex historical events accessible
• The personalities and stories that have surprised them most
• Common misconceptions about the Venetian Republic
• How historical research has changed the way they see Venice
• What Venice’s past can teach us about the city today

Listen to The History of Venice Podcast to follow Simon and Jess on their chronological journey through more than a thousand years of Venetian history.

And remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire Media

Guest: Simon & Jess from History of Venice Podcast

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

Before Peggy Guggenheim became one of the most influential collectors of modern art—and before Palazzo Venier dei Leoni became her Venetian home and museum—she opened a small but remarkably ambitious gallery in London.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato speaks with Gražina Subelytė, curator at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, about the exhibition Peggy Guggenheim in London: The Making of a Collector.

The exhibition explores the crucial years of 1938 and 1939, when Peggy founded Guggenheim Jeune, her first London gallery. During its brief eighteen-month existence, the gallery presented more than twenty exhibitions, promoted abstraction and Surrealism, introduced London audiences to major European artists and helped Peggy develop the vision that would eventually shape her celebrated collection.

Gražina guides us through this formative period, revealing a Peggy Guggenheim who was still learning, experimenting and finding her place in the international art world. We discuss the artists, advisers and friendships that influenced her, the radical exhibitions she organised and the archival discoveries that offer a more complex understanding of her development as a collector.

The conversation also explores the role of women artists within Guggenheim Jeune, the gallery’s controversial contemporary sculpture exhibition and the first signs of Peggy’s dream of creating a museum of modern art.

Presented inside Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, the exhibition allows visitors to look back at the moment when Peggy’s extraordinary story was only beginning—and to understand how her London years laid the foundations for the collection we know in Venice today.

• Gražina Subelytė’s journey into art history and curatorial work
• Peggy Guggenheim’s life before she became a legendary collector
• The opening of Guggenheim Jeune in London in 1938
• How Marcel Duchamp, Samuel Beckett and Mary Reynolds influenced Peggy’s artistic education
• The gallery’s extraordinary programme of more than twenty exhibitions in eighteen months
• Kandinsky’s first solo exhibition in London
• Peggy’s support for abstraction, Surrealism and experimental contemporary art
• The role of women artists
• The controversial contemporary sculpture exhibition
• Letters, photographs and archival documents that reveal a more personal side of Peggy
• The origins of Peggy’s ambition to establish a museum of modern art
• How the London years anticipated the collection now housed in Venice

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Venice Talks and discover the story of Peggy Guggenheim before Venice—when a small London gallery became the starting point for one of the most important collections of modern art in the world.

Follow Venice Talks on your favourite podcast platform so you never miss a new conversation about the people, history, art and culture shaping Venice.

Follow Monica Cesarato and Venice Talks for new episodes, behind-the-scenes stories and more voices from the lagoon.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire Media

Guest: Gražina Subelytė curator at Peggy Guggenheim Collection

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Sara Cattani, co-founder of Staging Alive, a new Venetian project created to bring fresh, joyful and high-quality live entertainment formats to the city.

From musical theatre to live performance, from historical costumes to private productions, Sara’s work asks an important question: can Venice still be a place that creates culture, rather than only a place where culture is consumed?

Together, we talk about the need for more accessible, inclusive and entertaining cultural experiences in Venice — shows that can speak to residents, visitors and new audiences without losing quality or identity.

The conversation also takes us inside Atelier Le Boudoir, the new spin-off connected to the historic costumes of Atelier Pietro Longhi: not a large costume warehouse, but a hidden dressing room near Campo della Bragora, surrounded by artisans and Venetian life.

A conversation about theatre, costumes, creativity, courage, and the dream of seeing Venice once again as a port of departure for new ideas.

In this episode:

• How Staging Alive was born and what Sara felt was missing in Venice
• Why musical theatre and joyful entertainment deserve more space in the city
• The divide between “tourist product” and “local product”
• How to create cultural experiences that can speak to different audiences
• The role of fun, beauty and lightness in contemporary culture
• The story behind Atelier Le Boudoir
• The legacy of the historical costumes from Atelier Pietro Longhi
• What it means to build a creative company in Venice today
• Why Venice should not only be a destination, but a place that produces ideas
• The dream of bringing Venetian creativity beyond the lagoon

Follow Sara and her projects:

• Staging Alive
• Atelier Le Boudoir

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire Media

• Guest: Sara Cattani for Staging Alive and Atelier Le Boudoir

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.