private shuttle boat to St. Mark's Square

Hotel Excelsior

Swatch welcome desk

The hotel is located directly on the beach of the Lido, right next to the Palazzo del Cinema.  The 70th Venice International Film Festival had ended on the weekend before the Swatch event, so maybe a famour actor, movie director, or ... had stayed in our room a few days before. An interesting thought!

The weather and the view of the Lido was really breathtaking, so it was just the right time for a visit of the private pier of the hotel.

private cabins, probably very expensive

the first event participants are arriving

movies everywhere!

At noon, most of the event participants had registered at the welcome desk, so it was time for a welcome cocktail in the garden of the hotel.  We saw a few previously unknown faces (mainly from Italy), so it was the right time to say "hello" to everyone...

a first group picture (with more to follow :-)

In the afternoon, the first part of the event took us to La Biennale, for a guided tour of the art exhibition.  In Venice, you cannot simply take the bus.  Time for a boat trip!

Everyone had received an entrance ticket

The first part of our guided tour took us to the Giardini part of the art exhibition.

The Guardini gardens in the east of Venice have been the traditional venue for the International Art Exhibition since 1895. The area hosts the Central Pavilion and a further 29 national pavilions, built at various periods by the participating countries themselves.  I like the Spanish pavilion :-)

But before the "deep dive" into art, we first walked over to the Swatch booth.  No watches were on sale in this booth.  The two Venice related art specials (Off by José Carlos Casado and Blue Wild Face by Goto Design) were prominently on display.

Afterwards, we had a light lunch at the Spazio Esedra, a large tent next to the Swatch booth.

During the lunch, a REAL surprise happened:  Brian from the US stopped by for a visit!  His mediterranean cruise just had ended on this day, in Venice.  What a coincidence!  Everyone was so happy to see him.

After lunch, we prepared for the guided tour of the art exhibition.

Click here to read page 2 ("A tour of the Biennale Arte 2013") of my Swatch Faces Venice 2013 Event report.