Weird Venice

Funeral for Venice to be Held on November 14

2009-11-01T12:38:00.003-05:00

From the Voice of America News: Declining Venice Population Leads to City's 'Funeral'
By Sabina Castelfranco Venice 27 October 2009

A group in Italy's canal city, Venice, is planning to hold a "funeral" for their hometown, which is rapidly losing its permanent residents. The group says the city is being drained of its normal life.

Venetians have been concerned about the declining population of the canal city for decades. The population stood at more than 145,000 in 1960. Thirty years later, it had dropped to about 78,000. Now it has hit an all time low, dipping below the 60,000 mark.

Many residents are concerned and feel something needs to be done about this steady demographic decline. They say the population is getting older, the buildings are in a state of degradation, and more and more shops are being opened for the millions of tourists that visit the city.

But they say the traditions and crafts of the canal city are fast disappearing.

Mario Secchi says he was born in Venice, his dad and grand dad were Venetians, but he was forced to emigrate to the mainland because the rents were too high in the historic center.

His son, Matteo Secchi, a local businessman who runs a hotel, is one of the organizers of the upcoming funeral for the city. On November 14, a group of Venetians will carry a coffin symbolizing the death of the city down the Grand Canal in a procession of three boats and anyone else who wants to join in.

Matteo Secchi says the high property prices and rental costs are forcing ordinary residents to leave the city.

"Venice is under attack from the business," he said. "The rich people think they are at the stock exchange with the houses of Venice. For example they buy at 100 an empty house and they sell after 5 years at 150, like the stock exchange. Venice stock exchange."

Secchi and his friends are also responsible for a population counter that has been placed in the shop-window of a pharmacy in the city center.

Doctor Andrea Morelli explains why he decided to host the counter in the shop.

The doctor says it was installed in March 2008. He decided to do this out of his love for the city of Venice and because he thought it was important to put on display the real decline of the population, to raise public awareness.

The more pessimistic Venetian residents say the countdown has begun and that if the exodus continues at this rhythm, in 2030 Venice will have become a ghost city with no more citizens, just hordes of tourists. Today 18 million tourists visit Venice every year, but in 20 years this number risks doubling.

Send photos if you attend!

It's time to order the new olive oil!

2009-11-01T10:36:00.005-05:00

I just received my Casa de Case newsletter and, now that my order has been placed, I want to let you know that they are now accepting orders for olio nuovo. (Olio nuovo is bottled directly as it comes from the spigot when crushe.) As their newsletter says the olive oil's "intense fresh fruit taste that makes it so special." Casa de Case is one of the only sources in the United States of true Italian olio nuovo -- and I love it.

Four More Days!

2009-05-17T19:56:00.004-04:00

Four more days till I leave for Venice! How excited do you think I am.... If you say VERY, you'd be close. One thing I'm looking forward to: eating at Ristoranti Riviera. IMHO it's the BEST restaurant in Venice. A nice mix of traditional and new, Riviera has never, ever disappointed me. And, Luca and Pietro Fra Diavolo (my name for the red-headed waiter) are a unique mixture of crazy sense of humor and desire to give every diner a fantastic meal. For those of you in need of a place to stay, Riveria has a fantastic B&B above the restaurant. I think the aromas from the kitchen would drive me insane....

I rook this photo in April 2007. It's the view from Riviera's terrace. As you can see, we're waiting for the main course!

Ciao!

Safety in Venice

2009-05-04T20:31:00.003-04:00

I don't think the swine flu has made its way to Venice, but there are a few things you should do to stay safe.

1. Venice is a very safe city. There isn't a lot of crime and you can wander around at all times of day and night without feeling threatened.

2. Pickpockets are a big problem, as you might guess. If you're in crowded San Marco or an unbelievably crowded vaporetto, keep you hands on your wallet/pocketbooks. If you're a backpacker, don't keep your pack on your back on the vaporetto. First, it's rude (you're taking up too much space). Second, a pickpocket will have a lot of fun dipping into your belongings.

3. If someone "spills" mustard or something on you, don't worry about that. Worry about your wallet.

4. Ignore the fake bag sellers on the main walkways. If you buy a fake, you're liable for a big fine. The sellers and buyers are both guilty in Venice. Don't even acknowledge the sellers--they will hound you if you do.

5. Buy the vaporetto pass. They don't often check tickets, but if they do--and you get caught--it's a fine, payable on the spot.

6. Make copies of your passport and keep them with you. When you check into the hotel and apartment, the info will be recorded for the police to check. If you go to an internet cafe, you'll have to show it, too. It's better to have a few copies than leave the real thing with a clerk.

If you don't follow my advice, you may pay for it--or get strung up where the old-timers met their fate!

After 75 Years, the Temporary Accademia Bridge to Be Replaced?

2009-05-03T12:00:00.004-04:00

The wooden Accademia Bridge was erected in 1933 as a temporary structure until a permanent bridge could be built. 75 years later, Venice may be finally getting around to building that permanent bridge.

News reports say that Venice's city council on Thursday opened the bidding to design a replacement for one of the city's key bridges, the Ponte dell'Accademia.

The council itself doesn't plan to spend a penny and is instead in search of a sponsor to fork out five million euros, an architect and a building company to present a joint offer by the end of August. The council plans say that the iron arches supporting the bridge will remain, but the wooden section will be replaced with a new design, either in stone or a metal alloy, and the entire structure given an overhaul.

ANSA.it quotes public works councillor Maria Rumiz as saying that Venetians had become fond of the bridge, and that she expected there would be some polemics.

She said it was necessary to ''overcome'' the idea that Venice was ''made of postcards'' without any structures that ''need to be eliminated''.

I took the photo of the bridge in May 2003.

Coke is It -- In Venice

2009-02-24T20:08:00.003-05:00

ANSA.it brings us the news that Venice is not selling out -- even as it agrees to a "partnership" with Coca-Cola
» 2009-02-23 14:13
Coca- Cola not 'buying' Venice
Mayor says partnership with drinks giant 'indispensable'
"(ANSA) - Venice, February 23 - Coca-Cola is not ''buying'' Venice, its city council said Monday, reacting to polemics over a planned million-dollar partnership between the drinks giant and the lagoon city.

Italian daily La Stampa reported Monday that the city was ''selling itself'' to Coca-Cola in a 2.1 million-dollar deal that will involve ''vending machines in every corner of the city'', including St Mark's Square, where tourists are forbidden from picnicking under strict council rules on urban decorum.

But Maurizio Calligaro, the council's chief of staff, said the 60 vending machines would not be placed on public soil, let alone near landmarks such as St Mark's.

''Fifteen distributors will be placed on the principal vaporetti landing stages, the others will be inside council car parks and in the limited traffic zone of the mainland. Where's the invasion?'' Calligaro said.

He also stressed that the vending machines would not bear the Coca-Cola logo, quashing rumours that the brand name would be plastered all over the city.

Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari, who has long bemoaned a lack of state funds for the upkeep of city monuments and churches, said he was ''astounded'' by the polemics over the deal, adding that it was no different from others adopted in the past.

''This is a financial strategy that today is simply indispensable for safeguarding our monuments and artistic heritage and is in line with culture ministry guidelines,'' Cacciari said.

''It follows a strategy we've adopted with other equally prestigious collaborators - Lancia for the restoration of the Ducal Palace, Swatch for the Biblioteca Marciana, Replay for Ca' Rezzonico and Bulgari for the Scala d'Oro''.

The mayor added that the idea that Venice could be safeguarded ''by philanthropy alone'' was unrealistic.

''These idealists who protest against strategies such as (the Coca Cola deal), which by now have been adopted in all the cities of the world, should have the good taste to indicate an alternative, or, even better, provide for the needs of the city from their own pockets,'' he said.

Cacciari last month warned that Venice's monuments and churches risked falling into ruin because too much state aid is being directed into a controversial project to protect the lagoon city from sinking.

The experimental 4.3 billion-euro Moses scheme is scheduled to come into action in 2014 and involves moveable flood barriers that rise from the seabed to block the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when high tides are forecast.

A longstanding opponent of the costly scheme, Cacciari has warned that there are no guarantees that it will work."

This photo shows one of my preferred drinks in Venice.

AMEX Gone From Venice

2009-02-03T22:28:00.003-05:00

According to the excellent newsletter/blog/travel service, Dream of Italy:

American Express has closed its offices in Venice's Piazza San Marco and near the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, but blame the closings on high rents rather than fewer travelers.

I took the photo in 2007. It's one of the thousands of photos I have of San Marco! Be sure to click on the photo to see it in its full digital glory. I'm always amazed--it makes me feel like I'm standing in San Marco. If you can't be there in person, be there in digital...

Cheap Eats Near San Marco

2009-01-31T20:47:00.002-05:00

From ANSA news:

Venice 'pilgrim restaurant' opens
New eatery driving prices down around St Mark's
(ANSA) - Venice, January 30 - A new 'restaurant for pilgrims' is driving Venice prices down by offering cheap, quality lunches to visitors to St Mark's Basilica.

The eatery, which advertises three-course lunches for a tidy 13 euros ($17), has yet to open but has already caused a flutter around the famously pricey square.

Three days before it threw its doors open to the public on Monday, reporters had already spotted ''new, competitive'' menus on sandwich boards in the area.

The La Basilica restaurant is run by a local catering company, SGS, on behalf of the St Mark's Procurators, the board that manages the famed Byzantine cathedral.

Since the Procurators are a non-profit outfit, SGS has been able to come up with a large menu for the lowest of costs, catering firm chief chief Augusto Piscella said.

''I was amazed,'' he said at the restaurant's unveiling Thursday night.

''Since all we have to do is break even, we can afford a choice of eight first courses, seven second courses and six side-dishes''.

''The Procurators' aim is to give a medium-high class meal to all those who visit the Basilica, expressing the Venetian Church's desire to welcome people''.

I took the photo in November 2008. It's not the best photo, but it was a nice November day and we had been sitting in San Marco, drinking expensive coffee and watching the crowds--worth the price of admission!

Book Venice Online -- Discounts, Too

2009-01-21T20:25:00.004-05:00

Venice to start online bookings
Tourism will be more sustainable, officials say
(ANSA) - Venice, January 21 - Venice is set to open an online booking service that will give tourists discounts if they plan their holidays in advance.

The system will help keep flows into the often overrun lagoon city manageable, officials say.

From Sunday, February 1, visitors will be able to book tickets at the Correr Museum and the Ducal Palace as well as city-edge parking space and bus and vaporetto rides.

At the website, www.veniceconnected.com, they'll be able to choose from 'green' days (city virtually empty), 'blue' days (medium full) and 'red' days (crowded), Deputy Mayor Michele Vianello told a press conference.

''This is a major step in making tourism in Venice more sustainable,'' he said, calling the colour coded system ''a thermometer of sustainability''.

''Tourists will be able to create their own holiday package including hotels, public services and tickets for museums and other events. And they can pay for this at one time after which they will be given an entry password''.

The city council will also throw in a free ticket to the city's famed casino and a free wi-fi connection along with its three-day packages.

On green days, a typical three-day package for two people will cost 209.30 euros online compared to 247 if paid after arrival - a saving of 31.70 euros.

Blue packages offer savings of 31.10 euros while three red days will cost 20.10 less online, Vianello said. The new system has allowed the city to ditch plans to impose entry quotas or charge high-season entry fees, Vianello said.

For now only two city-owned museums are included but talks are going ahead to add the city's array of state-run sites as well as its churches, led by St Mark's Basilica. In the wake of recent hotel wellies-and-all discounts to lure back tourists put off by pictures of St Mark's under water, the city is also putting up a video entitled Venice, A Livable City Even With Acqua Alta.

I took the photo in May 2007. Unfortunately, the statues are gone,but the feelings remain.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-12-31T06:58:00.000-05:00

Venice Kiss-In greats the New Year Let us know if you participate!

VENICE, Italy, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Venice, Italy, is reinforcing its image as a city of romance by holding a mass "kiss-in" Wednesday night to welcome the new year.

City officials are hoping this year's kiss-in will surpass last year's version, in which an estimated 60,000 people locked lips at midnight to earn Venice an international prize for best New Year's event, ANSA, the Italian news agency, reported Monday.

Couples are expected to gather about 10 p.m. under the square's bell tower and practice their kissing before the main event at midnight when fireworks will light up the sky, ANSA reported.

The event in St. Mark's Square will be preceded with detailed lessons about how to perfect a kiss, the news agency said.

Last chance for olio nuovo - "new" olive oil

2008-12-04T23:08:00.006-05:00

This is not a Venice post, but a warning that you have a chance to order olio nuovo or "new" olive oil. If you've never tasted just-crushed olive oil, you missed one of the world's best taste treats. Now that my order has been placed, I don't mind telling the rest of you to get your order into Casa de Case. Order your olive oil now! I've been ordering this olive oil for years--and I can't wait to try this year's crush.

Here's the best way to enjoy olio nuovo: bake or buy a good loaf of bread. Toast one or a dozen slices. Sprinkle a great sea salt on each slice. Drizzle olio nuovo on each slice. Enjoy with a strong cafe, blood orange juice, prosecco, or whatever you prefer for a morning beverage!

Acqua Alta Brings Hotel Bargins

2008-12-02T20:09:00.003-05:00

High water. Hotel discounts. Free boots. Maybe you should get to Venice before the floods go down. This is from ANSA.it. I took the photo during a November 2002 acqua alta.

Venice offers 'high- water package'
Free thigh boots, discounts after flood of cancellations
(ANSA) - Venice, December 2 - Venice hotels responded to a raft of flood-induced cancellations Tuesday by unveiling a 'high-water package' including discounts and a free pair of fishermen-style thigh boots.

''After all, tourists seem to like having their picture taken while wading around,'' said the head of the local hoteliers' association, Franco Maschiello.

Maschiello said his association had had ''1,000 cancellations today alone'' and took issue with the ''alarmist'' coverage of the high tide in the media, ''which appeared to give the impression the city was sinking''.

He pointed out that the acqua alta (high tide) - the fourth-highest in the city's history - had ''only reached its maximum point in certain zones''.

Perspective on Today's Floods

2008-12-01T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today's acqua alta is second only to the November 1966 flood. Check out this YouTube video from 1966 to gain some perspective on the amount of destruction the high waters cause.

I have been distressed by some videos of tourists splashing in San Marco like it's a water park amusement. This is not a game. WE NEED TO SAVE VENICE NOW.

Deepest acqua alta in 22 years -- Mayor tells people to stay out

2008-12-01T08:42:00.005-05:00

The story is from ANSA.it. I took the photos in October 2002. The first is behind the Rialto stalls; the second is shows San Marco under water.
(ANSA) - Venice, December 1 - Venice was swamped Monday by one of the highest tides in its history.

St Mark's square was submerged under almost a metre of water and the rest of the historic centre was swimming too, with many pontoon bridges floating off to leave residents stranded in their homes.

The only Venetians getting about were those equipped with thigh-high boots of the kind fishermen wear.

Many elderly people had to be carried to safety, and the bottom floors of homes and shops started operating their bailout pumps.

City Mayor Massimo Cacciari advised local people to stay at home and anyone thinking of coming to Venice to ''think again''.

To cap things off, the city was hit by a transport strike which prompted Veneto Governor Giancarlo Galan to say sarcastically: ''I'd like to give them (the strikers) a medal for their sense of responsibility''.

Pushed by relentless winds, the sea level rose to 156 centimetres above normal - the highest 'acqua alta' (high water) since 1.58m in 1986 and 1.66m in December 1979.

The record 'acqua alta' was in the great flood of 1966, at 1.94m. Levels of 100-130 cm above sea level are fairly common in the lagoon city and Venice is well-equipped to cope with its rafts of pontoon walkways.

But anything much above 140cm risks swamping the city and washing the walkways away.

The high-water threat has been increasing in recent years as heavier rains have hit northern Italy, weather experts say.

Scientists have conceived various ways of warding off the waters since the catastrophic 1966 flood, and a system of moveable flood barriers called MOSE is being installed after years of polemics.

Experts say there are three main reasons for high water in the city: the rising floor in the lagoon caused by incoming silt; the undermining of the islands by the extraction of methane gas in the sea off Venice; and the overall increase in sea levels caused by global warming.

Weird Venise/St. Martin's Day

2008-11-09T19:55:00.007-05:00

I was checking my site visits and came across the Google French translation, Weird Venise. Those clever Google guys--who knew I had a French blog!

In honor of the upcoming St. Martin's Day (November 11), I'm posting a photo I took two years ago (on St. Martin's Day). These are very popular cakes, made only for this special Venetian holiday. I'm not sure who St. Martin was (I know someone will enlighten me), but it's a great holiday in Venice. (Tip: click on the photo to see the enlarged version)

On the day I took this photo of the special cakes, we followed a group of young school children and three delightful nuns through the calles of Dorsoduro. The children--and the nuns--stopped outside the shops and enthusiastically banged wooden spoons against pots and pot covers. The shopkeeper would give a few coins to the kids and the procession moved onto the next shop.

Venetian children run through the city, banging pots and pans with wooden spoons. It is traditional to reward the children by giving them a few coins. Special cakes depicting St Martin are baked in celebration.

Two years later, I'm still sorry I didn't take a photo of children...

Obama Pizza

2008-11-05T13:12:00.004-05:00

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about Italy watching the U.S. elections, here's a bit more information on the Obama Pizza. (Thanks to René Seindal from Venice Kayak for sending me a link to Turismo in Italia's website where this photo came from.)

ANSA.it says:

Neapolitans meanwhile had an extra reason to celebrate Obama's win as the Italy For Obama committee handed out special free pizza.

"It's a half-Neapolitan and half-American pizza, with the classic Margherita sharing the plate with hot dogs and fries," explained Naples provincial councillor and committee promoter Francesco Borrelli.

"It's a nice way of declaring our solidarity with Barack Obama, the protagonist of a historic event," he said.

Italy Watches U.S. Voting

2008-11-03T20:10:00.017-05:00

This has nothing to do with Venice, but I thought it was interesting--thanks to ANSA.it for the story. I took the photo in May 2003.

» 2008-11-03 19:01
Italy gears up for US vote
Italians treat election almost as their own

(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - Italy is gearing up for Tuesday's presidential elections in the United States almost as if it was a national election here complete with all-night TV coverage and rallies for the candidates.

Results will be broadcast live on the state RAI networks, the private Mediaset channels owned by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, the independent La7 and channels on the Sky satellite platform, which hosts several American networks as Britain's BBC and the Arabic al Jazeera network, which also has a channel in English.

Because of the six-hour time difference, no results of the race between Democrat Barack Omaba and Republican John McCain are not expected in Italy until after midnight (23:00GMT).

However, Italian viewers can watch a full array of related programming including talks shows with Italian pundits and American guests, news specials and films with a US election theme.

These include Michael Moore documentary on George W. Bush's presidency Fahrenheit 9/11 and the made-for-TV film Recount on Bush's victory in 2000 with the contested vote count in Florida, which stars two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacy and which won an Emmy award.

Another film scheduled for Tuesday night is Death of a President which was produced by Britain's Channel Four and is a fantasy-documentary about the assassination of President Bush which sparked a lot of controversy but which won an American Emmy award as well as the critics' prize at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007.

Italians waiting for the election results can also watch Hollywood superstar Robert Redford as a candidate for the US Senate with presidential ambitions in Michael Ritchie's 1972 film The Candidate.

Americans in Rome of both parties will be gathering at the luxurious Parco dei Principi Hotel near Via Veneto to watch the elections results.

The Democrats Abroad organization, convinced of an Omaba victory, have also organized a rally at a restaurant at the Termini railroad station and are reported to have asked city authorities for permission to stage a victory parade on Saturday from the American embassy on via Veneto to the Colosseum.

The Democrats have been the most active in campaigning for Obama who won the primary elections in Italy by a landslide.

Among Italian politicians the African-American senator from Illinois has the full support of the center left. And he has even won over several members of the center right government, leading other conservatives to accuse them of "jumping on the bandwagon" of the front-runner in the US vote.

The Italian government and the American embassy have both stated at length that relations between the two countries will remain "excellent" no matter who wins Tuesday's vote.

In a talk show in Sunday, Italian Foreign minister Franco Frattini said that "there will be no surprises" for Italy from the American elections.

The US, he observed, ''is and will remain our primary international ally''.

US Ambassador Ronald Spogli will host an election night event at the Excelsior Hotel for some 2,000 invited guests including American and Italian businessmen and politicians from the center right and left.

Italy's center-left Partito Democratico (PD) is organising its own election night rally with the participation of party secretary Walter Veltoni, the former Rome mayor who wrote the introduction to the Italian edition to one of Obama's books.

The event will be broadcast live by the PD's satellite channel YouDem as well as on its website.

Election night events are also being organised at the leading American military bases in Italy and at the campuses of many US universities which have branches here.

In Naples, the American consulate is organising an open air event while pizza makers, certain of his victory, have already come up with an Obama pizza to be served up Tuesday night.
==================
So, if you live in the US, be sure to vote. If you live in Naples, try an Obama pizza and let us know what you think about it.

Feeling Lucky???

2008-10-23T20:40:00.003-04:00

If you're in Italy, you might want to buy a few lotto tickets. This is from ANSA.it....

Italian jackpot nears world record
Betters line up for crack at 100- million- euro win
(ANSA) - Rome, October 23 - At a whopping 100 million euros, the jackpot for Italy's popular SuperEnalotto game is close to becoming the fifth biggest lotto win in the world ever.

The advantage of the Italian game over others, especially those in the US, is that SuperEnalotto pays out the full prize immediately while the US game gives winners the pot in instalments or pays a single, reduced prize.

SuperEnalotto winners also receive interest on their winnings from the time they redeem their slips to when they receive full payment, which usually takes two months. The chance of becoming a millionaire has driven millions of Italians and foreigners to place bets and the number of slips played for Saturday's draw broke the 100-million threshold for the first time ever.

SuperEnalotto's jackpot has been building since its last top prize was won on April 26, when 40.6 million euros were won.

In order to win SuperEnalotto betters must choose the correct six numbers drawn from one to 90. Draws are held three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Good luck!

UPDATE (also from ANSA.it)
ANSA) - Catania, October 24 - The whole of Catania was still celebrating Friday morning after a night of cavalcades of cars and cascades of sparkling wine greeted someone's Superenalotto jackpot killing of more than 100 million euros, the biggest Italian lotto win ever.

Despite calls to emerge from anonymity and a plea from a leukemia sufferer, the winner will almost certainly stay undercover.

All that is known is that he or she placed their bet at a tobacco shop not far from the city centre which has been besieged with calls.

Ca' Cerchieri Garden

2008-10-22T21:06:00.002-04:00

In the comments section for yesterday's post about renting an apartment in Ca' Cerchieri, Tom from Toronto wrote that he's stayed in the same building and had a great view of the private garden. Here's a photo of the garden that I took in May 2003. More about Venice's secret gardens later this week.

Venice Highlights: My Apartment

2008-10-20T20:30:00.006-04:00

I'm back from my trip to Venice; a trip that was of my best. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to re-live that trip and write about some of the highlights.

The first has to be my apartment. I am a big believer in renting apartments when I go to a city--it's a great way to live in a neighborhood, have more space than a hotel room and give you an opportunity to learn a different part of a favorite city.

The first two times, I stayed in hotels (the pre-renovation Monaco & Grand Canal and the Hotel Rialto). Both were wonderful and I had a great time--but then I discovered renting and Views On Venice. I've been a fan ever since. I haven't counted the number of their apartments I've stayed in, but each one has been great.

This time, we stayed in Ca' Cerchieri 3 in Dorsoduro. It's on the Grand Canal, it's very comfortable and it has amazing views. This is a photo I took from the living room on a foggy morning. (I'm sure I'll put up some other photos later.) Having such a wonderful base added to our enjoyment of the week. I know I'll be staying there again. (Grazie, Filippo and everyone else at Views on Venice!) If you're looking for a reason to go to Venice, look at the special offer for November to mid-December. If I had the time, I'd be booking it myself....

I wish I could say the same for the water taxi driver who, despite directions, deposited us at the wrong palazzo! Thank goodness some residents of the wrong palazzo unlocked the gates or we'd still be standing on the dock! If you're going to pay the price for the water taxi, be sure he's going to the right place! (yes, I know there are cheaper ways to get from the airport to Venice, but I had my reasons.)

Strike Today

2008-10-17T20:23:00.004-04:00

Did you have trouble with the vaporetti today? According to ANSA.it there was a massive strike in Italy today. It even effected Venice: "'Vaporetti' water buses in Venice were also down to a reduced service, with around 48% of operators adhering to the strike." Not fun. But it must have been nice on the Grand Canal.

Keep the Tips Coming!

2008-10-02T20:08:00.003-04:00

I'm off to Venice tomorrow, but don't stop the tips! I'll try to check in while and I'm gone and see what you're suggesting.

Thanks to everyone who's suggested something. I may not be able to try them all, but I'll do as many as I can. My main mission this trip is to get to all of the Chorus pass churches.

Ciao!

Got Any Tips

2008-09-28T20:37:00.002-04:00

So, I'm finally getting to Venice this year. I've never felt so out of touch with my favorite city--I can't wait to get back.

A question: is there any place I should visit, any restaurant I should visit, any shops I should spent my euros in? Who's been to Venice lately? What is on your "not to be missed" list? Who knows, you might even win something!

Aqua Alta in San Marco

2008-09-18T20:34:00.004-04:00

Anyone been to Venice lately? I've been watching the webcams because in a few weeks, I'll finally make my 2008 trip to La Serenissima -- and I've been seeing a lot of acqua alta in San Marco, as shown in this photo.

Anyone know what's going on?

No Respect for the New Bridge

2008-08-07T20:03:00.003-04:00

The new bridge continues to cause controversy. I'll be heading back to Venice in October -- and I'm looking forward to seeing the new bridge.(The following story comes from ANSA.it). Here's a photo I took of the construction in March 2006

Fuss over new Venice bridge
Costs out of control, opposition councillor says
(ANSA) - Venice, August 7 - A right-wing councillor this week accused Venice city council of ''thoughtlessness'' over a new high-tech bridge on the Grand Canal due to open next month.

Raffaele Speranzon, National Alliance whip in the lagoon city's council, said the cost of the project had spiralled out of control due to planning errors, while there would be no disabled access to the bridge when it opens.

''When the bridge was first planned in 1996, it was to have cost four million euros. So far, the city has spent 12.5 million euros, but legal disputes with the construction company over planning errors could cost a further 11 million,'' he said.

''All these errors were born from the thoughtlessness with which the council has managed the project - thoughtlessness that is quite evident from the fact that the bridge, when it is inaugurated, will not be accessible to the disabled and is therefore outside the law,'' he added.

But the city's public works chief, Mara Rumiz, dismissed Speranzon's claims.

''The bridge has cost around 10 million euros,'' she said. ''Speranzon's figures have no basis in reality because one can't include (cost overruns that haven't been determined). We'll see after the litigation is settled,'' she said.

''The bridge is all but finished and will be ready in a month, but it will take a couple of months to install the automatic lift for those who have mobility problems,'' she added.

Once opened, the bridge will link Venice's railway station with Piazzale Roma, a car, bus and ferry terminal on the opposite side of the Grand Canal.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the sleek arc of steel accessed by a flight of glass steps spans 94 metres from one bank to the other.

The bridge will be the fourth over the lagoon city's Grand Canal and the city's first new bridge in 70 years.

But the project has been dogged by controversy and delays from the start, which have put back the planned inauguration date of June 2005.

The bridge was installed two years late last summer amid fears that the canal banks wouldn't be able to hold it up properly.

Speranzon said a ''mistake'' had also been made over the choice of steel used for the bridge, which meant ''20 tonnes had to be chucked away''.

In February Mayor Massimo Cacciari had to dismiss fears that the bridge might be shaky after a local newspaper quoted project chief Roberto Casarin as saying it had moved ''about a centimetre'' in a load-bearing trial.

Other alterations to the original plan included the decision to add stairs, in order to make the structure more visible to tourists, and to use two kinds of stone instead of one.

Calatrava's other trademark buildings include the 2004 Athens Olympic stadium, an auditorium and sealife centre in his native Valencia, and the Milwaukee Museum of Fine Arts.

Travel the Canals -- In a Kayak?

2008-06-02T20:07:00.004-04:00

I wish I had a photo of the voyage David Kocieniewski, a reporter for the NY Times and his girlfriend, took in the inflatable kayak they brought with them on a recent trip to Venice. There's a great story and a great video on the Times website.

Obviously, this photo isn't of David in his kayak! I pulled it from my files and, being lazy tonight, it was the first gondola photo I came to.

Take a Gondola Ride / Poll Results

2008-05-21T19:37:00.004-04:00

Weird Venice is going to take a long Memorial Day break. We'll be back on or around May 27. Unfortunately, we're not heading to Venice, but...

according to the results of our recent poll (Even though the dollar keeps falling, are you still planning to go to Venice this year?), 56% of those who responded said, "To hell with the dollar, I wouldn't miss a trip to Venice for any reason!"

15% had the opposite reaction and voted for: "No, I'm staying close to home this year."

8% said they'd go if, "My lotto numbers are picked."

Another 8% said, they couldn't afford the gas they'd need to get to the airport.

And another 8% said they were waiting to see if things got better.

The rest of you were undecided.

THANKS to everyone who answered. Vote on the current poll today!

For those of us still at home, take a gondola ride via YouTube. I looked at a lot of the videos and really liked this one.

Enjoy and Ciao! for a few days.

Accademia Bridge to Become Permanent (Finally)

2008-05-20T19:50:00.004-04:00

The "temporary" Accademia Bridge was opened to the public in 1933.

Now, nearly eight decades later, the original plan for a permanent stone bridge may finally be realized, according to Rumiz [Venice's public works councillor]. Municipal authorities have confirmed that bidding will open shortly on a contract for a new design and complete overhaul of the structure. ''Between the end of May and the start of June, we will open bidding on creating a new Ponte dell'Accademia,'' Ruiz told local daily La Nuova Venezia. ''The underlying iron structure will remain in place, as this is still perfectly sound. However, the entire outer covering of wood will be replaced, either by stone or perhaps with a metal alloy. We haven't decided which yet, as this is still being assessed''.

(from ANSA.it)

What do you think? Vote in the "Your Turn" box in the sidebar.

I took the photo in February 2005. As you can tell, it was a rainy day on a crowded bridge.

Venice Needs More Webcams!

2008-05-18T20:51:00.003-04:00

Who Can Help Us Get More Webcams!!

It's pathetic. Venice is one of the most picturesque cities in the world and those of us who are not fortunate enough to live there are stuck with a few lousy webcams -- and they don't always work. So, come Venetian residents, give us more webcams. We'll help; just tell us how. Or won't some Venice-crazed tourist plant a webcam somewhere and tell us about it? I'll be happy to contribute to the cost.

GIVE US MORE WEBCAMS!!!

This photo is from the San Toma Grand Canal webcam -- none of the others seem to be working tonight and I'm not happy about it. Give us more webcams!

Ladies, Watch Your Bottoms!

2008-05-16T12:07:00.011-04:00

For Women Only: If you've been in Venice lately, your bottom may have been snapped. Yep, your bottom. Here's an article from ShortNews.com (the story is being reported on many news sites). I couldn't think of an appropriate photo, so I just posted a random shot that I took from the window of Ca' Vidal, which I rented from Views on Venice. (It's a fantastic apartment in a great location!)

Also, don't forget to take the poll on the sidebar -- is the dollar going to keep you at home? One last important thing: I finally got my Weird Venice to accept comments! So feel free to say hi or something.

Now, here's the article:

Man Arrested for Photographing 3,000 Bottoms Around Venice

A 38-year-old Italian man has been arrested after police became suspicious of him in Venice, Italy. The man was seen following women while carrying a large bag through St Mark's Square in the city.

After he was arrested, police found that he had been following the women so as to be able to take photos of their bottoms. He had taken some 3,000 pictures through a hole in the bag. He was charged with infringement of privacy.

During his arrest, the man confessed he had been photographing the bottoms of women in short skirts for around two years, generally when they bent to pick something up. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Pigeon Population Falls --That was Fast!

2008-05-12T17:16:00.004-04:00

According to the Venice city council, the ban on feeding pigeons is already working. The following article from ANSA.it explains it all. I took the photo in 2006 from the roof of the basilica and shows the piazza San Marco -- complete with pigeons, tourists and feed sellers. If the city council's plan works, this will be just a memory.

Venice pigeon population falls
City- wide ban on feeding birds working, council says
(ANSA) - Venice, May 12 -

Venice city council on Monday was celebrating the first sign that it may be winning its long battle against the city's population of pigeons, once described by mayor Massimo Cacciari as "flying rats".

According to city environment chief Pierantonio Belcaro, the number of pigeons flocking to St Mark's Square is already dropping after the council extended a bird feeding ban city-wide and forced the piazza's 19 licensed birdseed sellers to shut up shop.

"Revoking the licenses of the birdseed stalls and capturing ill birds are proving to be valid tools for the reduction of pigeon numbers, although solving the problem is likely to take two or three years." Belcaro said.

He added that on Monday a new council task force in charge of dealing with pigeons, mice and mosquitoes in the lagoon city had decided to draft in a bird of prey to help scare the pigeons away.

Falcons are already used in other Italian cities and airports to ward birds from monuments - which can be damaged by acidic guano - and prevent air strikes.

Venice has for years been trying to cut its estimated 40,000-strong pigeon population, which produces thousands of tonnes of droppings a day.

While many visitors to the lagoon city find its flocks of pigeons charming, the council says they are a public health menace and a nuisance, eroding the city's historic facades and statues.

Controversial efforts at controlling the pigeons have included trapping the birds in nets and removing them from the square.

Animal rights campaigners crossed swords with the council earlier this month following the eviction the birdseed sellers from St Mark's Square, accusing the city of a "shameful massacre" by hunger and distributing 30 kilos of birdseed to flocks of ravenous birds. Local people became less sympathetic to the pigeons' plight last year after a report by the Nomisma research group found that the presence of the birds in Venice costs each resident some 275 euros a year to clean up the mess and damage.

Some experts even claim the excrement, by eroding flagstones, has increased the risk of the "acqua alta" that puts the square under water for much of the winter.

Reducing the numbers of pigeons is just part of Venice's strategy to ensure the city stays clean and maintains its charm despite the presence of 20 million visitors a year.

Volunteer patrols of 'guardian angels' wander the city to prevent "indecorous behavior" among tourists, which the city has decided includes sitting on the pavement, eating sandwiches there or going bare-chested.

The city is working on laws to stop the sale of fast food in St Mark's Square so as to limit the amount of rubbish that accumulates there and which street cleaners can only remove once a day.

On Monday the council said it is also planning to fine beggars up to 500 euros, and confiscate their day's takings, if they are caught asking for money in tourist areas of the city.

Are You Still Going to Venice?

2008-05-12T11:50:00.002-04:00

The dollar / job situation has forced me to rethink my plans to go back to Venice later this year. I'm wondering if anyone else is having second thoughts. Take to poll on the sidebar and let us know!

I took this photo on one of my first trips to Venice. The colors are a bit washed out because it's a negative (yes, my first trip was pre-digital!) and I've been converting them to digital.

Weather & Currency Reports

2008-05-04T11:10:00.002-04:00

There are two things that most people going to Venice want to know: what's the weather like and how far will my money take me? In an attempt to answer both questions, I've added a weather report and currency monitor to the sidebar. Keep an eye on them -- and hope for good reports!

Pigeon Update

2008-05-04T10:01:00.003-04:00

Pigeons in Piazza San Marco

A ban on feeding Venice’s pigeons took effect Wednesday, May 1. Nineteen pigeon-feed sellers on St. Mark's Square immediately went out of business. They had long been granted licenses to sell dried corn to tourists wanting to feed the pigeons and take photos of themselves covered with the birds.

A spokeswoman in Venice says people who feed the pigeons face fines the equivalent of about $80 to $775.

According to a story on the Canadian Press website, the people who profited from the pigeons were not happy. “The pigeon-feed sellers, who say they have been selling their wares on St. Mark’s Square for a century, are up in arms and protested the ban with placards on their booths aimed at the mayor, including: ‘Curse the day I voted for you’ and ‘Cacciari, what kind of Venetian are you?’”

No one knows for sure how many pigeons live in Venice’s 6.5 square kilometers, but the city estimates there are 40,000. About one-third of them pass through St. Mark's Square on any given day, according to environmental officials.

According to the following story from ANSA.it, the ban is not going over very well. The animal rights people distributed illegal feed to hungry pigeons:

Venice pigeon feeding ban flouted
(ANSA) - Venice, May 2 - Animal rights campaigners in Venice crossed swords with the city council on Friday after distributing 30 kilos of birdseed to flocks of ravenous pigeons in St Mark's Square.

The birds had gone hungry for two days after the age-old tourist tradition of feeding the pigeons in the picturesque square came to an abrupt end.

Although feeding the pigeons has long been outlawed in other parts of the lagoon city, on Wednesday Mayor Massimo Cacciari won his battle to extend the ban city-wide and force the square's 19 licensed birdseed sellers to shut up shop.

Animal rights campaigners said they were feeding the birds on Friday in an effort to stop ''the shameful massacre of the animals through hunger and capture''.

''Pigeons have lived in Venice for centuries and they have a close link with its history, its traditions and its residents: they are one of (the city's) best-known symbols around the world,'' said Cristina Romieri of the Italian Vegetarian Association.

''Now with unjustifiable alarmism the council wants to exterminate them by starving them, ignoring civilised and valid alternative methods like the administration of contraceptive medicine,'' she added.

Tourists, including children, helped the animal rights campaigners distribute the seed in the square but the morning's feeding frenzy failed to capture the attention of the municipal police.

Venice has for years been trying to cut its estimated 40,000-strong pigeon population which produces thousands of tonnes of droppings a day.

While many visitors to the lagoon city find its soaring flocks of pigeons charming, the council says they are a public health menace and a nuisance, eroding the city's historic facades and statues with their highly acidic guano.

Controversial efforts at controlling the pigeons - which Cacciari describes as ''flying rats'' - have included trapping the birds in nets and removing them from the square.

''The city council has been trying to reduce the number of birds for ten years through continuous, violent capture and indiscriminate killing, which adults and children are forced to watch,'' Romieri said.

''Every year around 20,000 pigeons are killed, at a collective cost of 850,000 euros. ''It's an unacceptable, costly and ineffective method rejected by the scientific world: the surviving pigeons continue to reproduce, finding more space and food at their disposal,'' she added.

The evicted birdseed vendors are also unhappy with the council's methods and are seeking 150 euros per day as compensation for their lost jobs.

Failing that, they want the council to issue them with permits to sell souvenirs on the square.

Local people became less sympathetic to the plight of both vendors and birds after a report by the Nomisma research group found that the presence of pigeons in Venice costs each resident some 275 euros a year to clean up the mess and damage.

Some experts even claim the excrement, by eroding flagstones, has increased the risk of the 'acqua alta' that puts the square under water for much of the winter.

The city recently banned the tradition of showering newly-wed couples with rice as part of its bid to tackle the pigeon menace.

Scenes like the one shown in the photo I took a few years ago, will disappear if the pigeons are gone. Or, will the voracious seagulls replace the pigeons? Tip: if you click on the photo, you get a super-sized version and can see all the details.

The Pigeons Can Stay -- the Vendors Have to Leave

2008-01-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, the pigeons are a nuisance. They cause lots of damage. I am among those who can't understand the thrill of having pigeons all over me -- even I'm standing in the middle of San Marco. But now it's not the pigeons under attack;it's the birdseed vendors. Stands like these are an endangered species. (I took this photo in May 2004).

The following article from ANASA.it explains it:

Venice birdseed vendors in a jam
Council bans them as part of pigeon purge
(ANSA) - Venice, January 10 - The traders who sell pigeon food in St Mark's Square expressed anguish on Thursday after city hall passed a measure banning them from ever doing so again.

''It's absurd to take away our jobs like this. We have to live,'' said Sergio, one of the 20 or so Venetians who run the small stands selling bird seed and corn on the lagoon city's most famous piazza.

Like several other European cities, Venice has already banned people from feeding pigeons in all other parts of town, saying they are a public health menace and a nuisance, eroding monuments with their excrement.

Despite being well aware that many tourists find the flocks of pigeons charming, the council on Wednesday night decided to finish the job by driving the birds from their last refuge in the city.

''If the council wants us to go away it should at least give us a valid alternative,'' protested Sergio. ''Some of us have families to support and mortgages to pay. If we don't work, who's going to pay? The mayor?'' The driving force behind the campaign to rid St Mark's of pigeons is city commerce councillor Giuseppe Bertolussi, who is convinced that the time has come to end what he calls a ''health emergency''.

Bertolussi's initiative has the backing of heritage experts who say pigeon droppings are eating away at St Mark's flagstones and increasing the risk of the 'acqua alta' that puts the square under water for much of the winter.

Local people also became more sympathetic to the cause after a report by the Nomisma research group found that the presence of pigeons in Venice costs each resident some 275 euros a year to clean up the mess and damage.

Dream of Italy -- Great Offer/Act Fast!

2008-01-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

Dream of Italy -- sounds like something a lot of us do, but it's also a great travel newsletter. It's a great resource if you're going to Italy (not just Venice), or if you're not going to Italy this year, but dream about it.

The newsletter can be delivered electronically or through the mail. If SUBSCRIBE BEFORE JANUARY 8th (that's tomorrow), you'll receive a free 2-DVD set of the Italian hit film Cinema Paradiso. ($24.95 value)

You can find some free articles here if you'd like to check it out.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

New Books in the Library

2007-12-05T20:14:00.000-05:00

My Venice library keeps growing! I've added my latest additions on Library Thing. Check it out, you may find some ideas for holiday presents for the Venetophiles in your life. And, if anyone out there has any Venice books for sale, feel free to contact me!

I took the photo in May 2007. It shows one of the books in my collection (Chow! Venice) on the table in the apartment I rented. Undoubtedly I was looking for a good restaurant -- and this book is always a great help.

Olio Nuovo - new 2007 Olive Oil

2007-12-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Thanks to those of you who responded to my question about the construction in San Marco. I'll get to them later in the week. We on the East Coast of the U.S. had our first snowfall of the season -- and I'm tired from cleaning the sidewalks...

But, even if the dollar is keeping us here in the states, we can still taste Italy. If you are an olive oil fanatic, as I am, you have to get Olio Nuovo (I can post this now that my order is in! :-))

Here's a link to Casa de Case, importers of fantastic olive oils, including the just pressed that I'm addicted to. Kris and Howard Case (who are fellow Venice lovers). As their website says:

We distribute directly to the finest restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area, and we ship to fine specialty stores across the country. We also sell to consumers via this web site.

Once a year, immediately after the new oil is crushed at the Olivestri frantoio (olive oil press and factory), we airfreight it in for immediate distribution. We are one of the only sources in the U.S. offering this rare and wonderful olio nuovo.

Disclaimer: They don't pay me to say I love their olive oil and I don't give them any advance notice that I'm posting anything about them. And, I've already placed an order, but I think I'll go order some more. Drizzle this oil on toasted sourdough bread and you will be in heaven....

What's This?

2007-11-27T23:15:00.001-05:00

Who's in Venice tonight? I was looking at the San Marco webcam and saw this. What's the purpose of the tower and the construction barrier? If you know, email me at Sharonzuk@myway.com. The first person to answer gets a book from my Venice library (disclaimer: I'll pick it from one of my duplicates).

If you want to check out my library, click on the link on right.

Skipping Venice?

2007-11-25T11:57:00.000-05:00

With the euro threatening to go above $1.50 US, how many of you are going to forgo a trip to Venice and hope that a change arrives soon? I'm one of those people. As much as I love Venice, I'm not ready to pay 50% more. So I'll spend the time getting my Venetian library and photos in order. Maybe I'll even post more often!

But, it looks like the euro/dollar conversion didn't stop many people this year. "Italy's Venice on track for record tourism year" is the headline of an article on the AFP website. The city's tourist office expects the year to end with a total of 20 million tourists visiting!

The article also says:
"The number of tourists expected to visit the city from now until the end of the year without spending a night there has been estimated at between 11 and 12 million, the official said.

"The ratio between foreign tourists and Italian visitors has remained constant at 80 percent to 20 percent respectively.

"Americans continue to be the largest group of visitors with 1.15 million spending at least one night in the northern Italian city.

"The number of Japanese tourists has declined by more than seven percent this year, while Russian visitors have shot up by 31 percent. Spanish tourists were up by nearly 18 percent and French visitors had increased by almost 11 percent."

Send us an e-mail postcard if you go!

Weird Sex Wins Again

2007-09-08T20:15:00.000-04:00

From Reuters:

Ang Lee film is surprise winner in Venice
Sat Sept. 8, 2007 3:13 PM ET

By Mike Collett-White and Silvia Aloisi

VENICE (Reuters) - Taiwanese director Ang Lee's sexually explicit "Lust, Caution" was the surprise winner of the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival on Saturday, just two years after he won with "Brokeback Mountain."

The movie is a World War Two thriller set in Shanghai featuring long and sometimes violent sex scenes which Lee has hinted were real.

"It is overwhelming, because this movie has taken me to some very difficult places," Lee told the red carpet award ceremony on the Lido waterfront.

"I have invited you to come along with me and in the end to stay down there with me ... You are the seven samurais, I needed your help," he added, addressing the seven-member jury.

Brian De Palma, whose "Redacted" shocked audiences in Venice with its brutal reconstruction of the real-life rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers, won the Silver Lion award for best director.

Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche and his drama "La Graine et le mulet" ("The Secret of the Grain"), was one of two runner-up jury prize winners, and was described by the jury as the "revelation" of the 2007 edition of the festival.

The film is about an old Arab man and his family seeking to realize their dream of opening a restaurant in southern France.

While not overtly political, it touches on the issue of integration by immigrants, and whether they have what the director called the "right to be different."

Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There," one of six U.S. productions in the 23-strong main competition, took the other runner-up prize for his conceptual biopic about singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.

In a bold piece of casting, Australian-born Cate Blanchett was one of six performers to play the singer at various stages of his life, and it paid off when she was named best actress in Venice this year.

Hollywood star Brad Pitt was the surprise winner of the best actor award for his portrayal of outlaw Jesse James in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

His co-star, Casey Affleck, who played James' killer Ford as a creepy social misfit, had been widely expected to scoop the prize.

Venice director Marco Mueller, facing competition from festivals in Rome and Toronto, succeeded in attracting some of Hollywood's biggest stars, although his decision to invite so many U.S. films was criticized for making Venice too commercial.

Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie came to the canal city with their children, and George Clooney, Woody Allen, Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron and Keira Knightley all wowed the noisy crowds gathering along the red carpet each night.

Reuters

Venice in the Summer

2007-09-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

In yesterday's return posting, I asked people who had visited Venice this summer to share their story with me. Thanks to Judy for sending the following.[I took this photo of San Michele in May 2003. Click on the photo to enlarge it--it looks much better.]

If you'd like to tell us about your summer trip to Venice, email me at SharonZuk@myway.com.

Hi Sharon - glad you're back!
We were in Venice in May, stayed in an apartment in the Castello (Vaniglia Green, and not a bad place at all). That gave us the opportunity to experience Venice at night, what a treat!

I wrote a piece on L'Isola di San Michele, if you're interested, online at
World Photo Adventure: Secret Venice: L'Isola di San Michele.

Most tourists think visiting a cemetery is pretty bizarre, but we love them,
and this one has so much history, we need to revisit it again!
Ciao -

*******
Judy Kiel

Weird Venice is Back!!!

2007-09-03T00:09:00.000-04:00

Hello to all Venice lovers,
First, I apologize for the lack of posts, but I took the summer off to get used to a new job, think about Venice's future and enjoy my vacation. But I'm back and excited. A lot has happened in Venice this summer and I'll try to catch up with some highlights including the new bridge and a report on my visit in May. In the meantime, I'll leave with an image of dawn over the Grand Canal from one of my favorite webcams. It's why I love Venice.

Did you go to Venice this summer? Tell me about it (sharonzuk@myway.com) and I'll post your comments.

Get Up Early

2007-06-15T23:33:00.001-04:00

I just got this photo from the Grand Canal webcam. It's 5:30 in the morning and, as you can see, it's deserted.

If you're going to Venice, experience it the way few tourists do--set your alarm for 5 AM, go out and wander the streets. Watch the light change as the sun rises. Finish your morning tour at the Rialto fish market and join in for an early-morning ombre and shrimp sandwich. Then go home and take a nap.

Pearl Jam Blown Away (Literally)

2007-06-15T19:51:00.000-04:00

This comes from Reuters news service:

Venice whirlwind injures 25, blows out Pearl Jam gig
Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:32PM EDT

VENICE (Reuters) - A whirlwind hit Venice on Friday, injuring about 25 people and forcing the cancellation of a festival headlined by rock band Pearl Jam was to have played, police and fire services said.

The whirlwind hit late in the afternoon, bringing down sound towers and girders on the stage for the Heineken Jammin' Festival as well as trees in the surrounding park. Several vehicles were overturned by the strong winds.

The damage forced the cancellation of the festival, organizer Roberto De Luca told local media.

The park where the concert was to have been held was on the mainland part of the city and there were no reports of damage in the city's historic centre in the lagoon.

Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari said 19 people had been taken to hospitals but only one suffered serious fractures, news agency ANSA reported.

Traffic on the bridge that connects the lagoon city to the mainland was temporarily disrupted by debris.

The Friday night concert was Pearl Jam's only Italian appearance on their current tour.

The band sold over 9 million copies of their debut album "Ten" and their track "Man of the Hour" was on the soundtrack for Tim Burton's film "Big Fish."

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.

Biennale Blog

2007-06-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

Want to keep up with the latest from the Biennale? If so, check out the New York Times ArtsBeat Blog. Enjoy!

June 10 update: even if you're not an art fan, you should take a look at this blog. It's well written (as I'd expect from the NY Times) and really makes you feel as if you're in Venice.

Venice Daily Photo

2007-05-22T23:05:00.001-04:00

There aren't many Venice blogs. I try to post often, but often fail because of things that get in the way: my job, my family, my dog, my other writing...

One blog that I like and check frequently is ">Venice Daily Photo. I don't know anything about them, but I love their photos. And, I often discover a new part of the place we love.

This photo, of Campo Zanipolo in the Castello Sestiere, is from today's Venice Daily Photo blog.

NY Times Features Woman Gondolier

2007-05-14T07:48:00.000-04:00

Maybe the NY Times reads Weird Venice (see my April 1 article)... Today, there's a photo of Alexandra Hai on the front page. Inside, there's an article about her quest to become the first female gondolier.

"For more than a thousand years, Venice has had gondolas but never a female gondolier. But now there is Alexandra Hai."

Here's a link to the article.

Buy a Book

2007-05-09T22:26:00.000-04:00

This has nothing to do with Venice, but please read on anyway.

Some of you may know that I am also a mystery writer. Recently, I learned that a fellow mystery writer, Elaine Viets, suffered a stroke last month--just as her new book was being released.

Here's more information:

Mystery authors step in on book tour for colleague felled by illness

The community of crime fiction publishing was rocked in April when Elaine Viets, author of the Dead-End Job Mystery series, suffered a serious stroke shortly before publication of her sixth Dead-End Job Mystery, Murder with Reservations (0451221117). But when it came time to show support, mystery authors nationwide rose to the challenge.

With Viets, now recovering rapidly in a Florida hospital, unable to travel, word spread quickly throughout the community that others might fill in for her at pre-booked stops on her Murder With Reservations book tour. So now, coming to a bookstore near you, is the Elaine Viets tour—without Elaine Viets.

At bookstores from Dayton, OH to San Francisco, CA (with stops in San Mateo, CA Dallas, TX and Charles, MO among many others) mystery authors will fill in for Viets and discuss her work as she recovers. Viets is signing bookplates available from BreakThrough Promotions (with SASE) to anyone wanting a signed copy of Murder With Reservations.

At Main Street Books in Charles, MO, for example, Joanna Campbell Slan, Vicki Erwin and other authors will read from Viets's books on May 26. Viets will be attending the annual mystery writing conference in Dallas on June 15 and 16—in the form of a lifesize poster as colleagues tell their favorite Elaine Viets stories. A get-well card for Viets will be available for signing at Books N Company in Dayton, OH on May 14. Twist Phelan will stand in for Viets at Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ on May 9. Authors like Jan Burke and others will attend events elsewhere as part of the "tour." Tour details are updated daily here.

The Dead-End Job series takes Helen Hawthorne on a wild series of jobs meant to make ends meet. In Murder With Reservations, she's a hotel maid—a job Viets says deserves a lot more respect than it gets.

So, help out a writer who can't promote her book--go buy it! And guess what? You'll enjoy reading it!

Bookplate Offer

As part of her "therapy," Elaine will be signing bookplates for all of her fans and friends. We cannot guarantee the exact time frame, since she is recuperating.

To get your bookplate, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Elaine Viets Bookplate
BreakThrough Promotions
903 Clover Hill Lane
Cedar Hill, TX 75104

Offer good for a limited time only, while supplies last!

Venice Report Coming Soon...

2007-05-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

I'm just back from a week in Venice. The suitcase still isn't unpacked (the dirty clothes are gone!), but the photos have been downloaded. Here's one of the new statues near the Rialto market. (Click on the photo for a larger view--she's cute.)

More detailed reports to follow!

200 Things to Do in Venice

2007-04-26T22:45:00.000-04:00

Whenever I tell people that I'm on my way to Venice--again--I'm frequently asked why I keep going back. "What's there to do?"

Slow Travel has the answer: 200 Things to Do in Venice.

Here are the top 10 in San Marco:

San Marco

1. The Doge's Palace. Take the regular tour, or walk through it with an Audio Guide or Guide Book.

2. The Doge's Palace. Take the Secret Itinerary Tour, see rooms that are off limits to other tours.

3. Basilica San Marco. Inside, outside, the Treasury, the Loggia, the Pala D'oro, and the Baptistery.

4. The Campanile. Look down on the onion domes, and all of Venice. There is an elevator to the top although when you descend again you exit through a different door than the one through which you entered; important if you are planning on meeting someone after your visit to the top. If you are there when the bells ring you may find it a glorious or a rather painful experience, depending on how sensitive your ears are. Warning: Unless you like looking like Marilyn Monroe in the famous scene from The Seven Year itch, never wear a full skirt to the top of any campanile.

5. La Zecca - the mint - now the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. When not open for exhibitions, it may be seen by special arrangement with the Director. In addition to ancient books and maps there is a Titian fresco, ceiling medallions and paintings by the leading Venetian artists.

6. The Piazzetta dei Leoncini. Next to the Basilica San Marco.

7. The Piazzetta. Do not walk between the columns of The Lion of San Marco and San Teodoro, complete with crocodile, very bad karma. It was once the place for public executions.

8. Libreria Sansoviniana. Opposite the Doge's Palace. Built by Sansovino and topped with statues.

9. Museo Correr. Allow lots of time for the regular collection and any special exhibits.

10. Museo Archeologico. Enter through the Correr.

The list was compiled by uth Edenbaum is the co-author of Chow! Venice, Savoring the Food and Wine of La Serenissima. She lives in central New Jersey and spends more than two months a year in Venice. Ruth exhibits her photos on www.chowbellabooks.com. (I've mentioned Ruth's book, Chow! Venice before. You can buy autographed copies through the site.)

Ads to Appear on Vaporetti

2007-04-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

This comes from ANSA news. I took the photo last May.

Venice lifts ban on adverts
After shunning them for years, city to test the water
VENICE (ANSA) - After refusing for years to even consider allowing advertising on the water buses that plough up and down the Grand Canal, Venice city council has finally decided to allow a timid experiment.

For eight months, and only on the Grand Canal, city hall will let selected advertisers put carefully monitored publicity on the sides of five of the 'vaporetti' that do the busy run between the station and St Mark's Square.

The money raised with the unprecedented venture will be used to improve the transport system in a city which runs 150 boats to move locals and tourists around between the Venetian islands.

The council has not said how much it will charge the companies that win the chance to advertise on a route travelled by millions of tourists every year.

In order to avoid unsightly or vulgar advertisements that could jar with the spectacular backdrop, a special council panel will examine all publicity before it is put on the side of a vaporetto.

Earlier this month, the council also decided to allow publicity on scaffolding covering the front of certain historic buildings on the Grand Canal during restoration work.

Approved in the interests of raising money for preserving the city, this was a temporary exception to a longstanding rule aimed at ensuring the city's main waterway retains its traditional appearance.

Sad News for Venetians

2007-04-15T20:01:00.000-04:00

This story from THE PLAIN DEALER (Cleveland, Ohio) makes me sad.

"The last active preschool in the heart of Venice will be converted to a hotel, another sign that Venice is gradually losing locals and moving toward becoming exclusively a tourist attraction. In 50 years, the population has dropped from 175,000 to 61,000, with some 50,000 tourists visiting every day."

Is our love of Venice killing the things we love about it?

Venice under water in 'few decades'

2007-04-07T17:59:00.000-04:00

People, it's time to do something. Here's a sobering article from ANSA.it, News in English.(I took this photo in November 2002. It was my first experience with Acqua Alta.):

UN climatologist sees grim future for lagoon city
BRUSSELS (ANSA) - Venice could find itself under water within a few decades if current climate trends continue, a top United Nations climatologist said on Friday.

Over the next 30 or so years rainfall in the northern Mediterranean will increase by 10-20% as a result of global warming, said Osvaldo Canziani, deputy head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Speaking at the presentation of the IPCC's bleak new report on climate change, the Argentinian expert said that despite efforts to slow down a global rise in sea levels, the situation everywhere was "increasingly critical".

Referring to Venice, a city built on mud islands in a lagoon at the top of the Adriatic Sea, he said: "The water of the lagoon will continue inexorably to rise. If things carry on like this, Venice is destined to disappear".

The IPCC groups 2,500 scientists and is the top world authority on climate change.

It has been known for years that Venice is gradually sinking into the sea but the process was believed to be slower than implied by the authoritative warning from the IPCC deputy head.

Flooding is already a constant problem for Venice and the picturesque St Mark's Square, a must on Italy's tourist trail, is covered with water dozens of times every year.

Experts say there are three main reasons for high water in the city: the rising floor in the lagoon caused by incoming silt; the undermining of the islands by the extraction of methane gas in the sea off Venice; and the overall increase in sea levels caused by global warming.

In a bid to combat flooding, a 4.3-billion-euro flood barrier system is being built.

The 'Moses' project consists of 79 barriers, designed to rise from the seabed to block the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when high tides are forecast.

After 30 years of debate and testing, the project was inaugurated in May 2003. Despite countless polemics and delays, about a third of the work has now been done and completion is scheduled for 2011.

Venice Finally Approves Female Gondolier

2007-04-01T14:07:00.000-04:00

For centuries, Venice's gondoliers have been men. Now, in a history making move, a woman has been approved to be a gondolier (after ten years of trying). Here's the article from the Sunday Times. (www.timesonline.co.uk)

(Note: the photo does not show the woman gondolier. I took this shot in May 2004--when Alexandra Hai was still trying.)

Lady with a gondola turns tide in Venice

John Follain

SHE may have failed the basic canal-navigating exam three times and sing only while taking a shower, but Alexandra Hai has made waves in Venice by winning a 10-year battle to become the first woman gondolier.

The struggle pitted Hai, 35, against one of the world’s most exclusive all-male cliques – the 405 members of the Venice Gondola Association, all of them Italian men.

She celebrated with a dinner of champagne and Florentine beef on Friday after the administrative tribunal for the Veneto region recognised her right to navigate her gondola throughout Venice for customers of the three one-star hotels where she works.

“I’m thrilled because I was beginning to doubt there was any justice left in Italy,” Hai said yesterday. “The gondoliers in Venice make up a caste, that’s for sure. They’re not all male chauvinists, but the ones at the top fought against me as a woman.”

Hai, the daughter of an Algerian civil servant and a German midwife, grew up in Germany and spent four years in America before moving to Venice in 1996.

“A man at a market in San Francisco gave me cuff-links with gondoliers on them and that’s what gave me the idea of moving to Venice,” she said.

Her first plan was to become a film-maker, but three days after her arrival in the canal city, she boarded a gondola for the first time. “I’ve got a bit used to it now, but being on a gondola is a magical, emotional moment for me. The way a gondola is made is extraordinary, and it transmits to visitors what Venice is more than anything else,” she said.

Asked if she was married, she replied: “I’m married to the gondola.”

Three years after her arrival in Venice, after coaching by a few friendly gondoliers, she took her first examination to obtain a license. She was motivated partly by a desire to help improve the reputation of the gondoliers, who are notorious for fleecing tourists.

She failed her first 20-minute test, officially because of a botched manoeuvre, but won an appeal on the grounds that there were no women in the examining commission.

In two subsequent attempts, which saw two women join the commission, she bumped into another gondola in choppy waters, then failed to keep hers – and the judges sitting in it – steady when she met a motor-boat coming the other way under a bridge.

After the third failure, Hai initially said she would give up and leave Venice. But she returned to the fray and for 18 months defiantly took her customers around the city aboard her gondola. “Some gondoliers would shout insults and make rude gestures at me as I passed them. I didn’t like that because even though the words were in Italian, my customers understood,” she said.

In mid-October, a municipal police launch stopped her on the Grand Canal and fined her £92. She was told it was the first day of a city hall ban on the use of gondolas “for private and commercial ends” – effectively defending a monopoly held by the Gondola Association.

She and her employers appealed against the decision, which led to last week’s ruling in her favour. “There is frankly no reason why, in a city like Venice, customers cannot be offered a transport service like a gondola,” the verdict said.

Hai aims to restart work on Wednesday, offering gondola rides as part of a package which includes the hotel room, a bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers. “We want to ensure tourists don’t get ripped off,” she said.

The city hall plans to appeal to a higher court. Franco Vianello Moro, head of the Gondola Association, has said the strict tests and a limit of 405 on the number of gondoliers helped to preserve a unique tradition. “Sexism had nothing to do with it,“ he said.

But Hai’s triumph was hailed as a victory against the rigid corporations which rule over a host of services from markets to motor launches. “I defend Alex against the Gondola Association. This city is in the hands of corporations,” said Count Girolamo Marcello, a prominent Venetian resident.

Elio Dazzo, president of the Venetian hoteliers’ association, said he hoped the ruling would mark the beginning of liberalisation. “Today hotels aren’t allowed to send their own boat to fetch tourists. The result is thata water taxi from the airport to the historic centre costs £80. The city hall should be more open about this,” he said.

When Hai boards her gondola again, her customers will not, however, hear her sing O Sole Mio, the serenade favoured by her more established colleagues. “I sing only under the shower,” she said. “And in any case lots of the gondoliers who think they can sing, can’t. You often have to pay extra for a real singer.”

Pigeons: From the NYTimes Archives

2007-03-25T22:38:00.000-04:00

I've been carrying this clipping around for a few weeks and am finally getting around to posting it. The NY Times has recently put its articles--dating back to 1851!--online. If you're a subscriber, you can access 100 articles a month. If you're not a subscriber, each article costs $4.95. As a subscriber, I've been having a great time reading about Venice. Here's an article which was originally published on November 10, 1895. The copyright belongs to the New York Times.

From the London Daily News

The other day at Venice a gentleman who was visiting that city bought some Indian corn with which to feed the historical pigeons in Piazza San Marco. While the birds were feeding, a diamond fell from the ring he was wearing, and was immediately swallowed by one of the pigeons. The gentleman put out his hand to try and catch the bird, but in doing so frightened the whole flock, which flew away to the Doge's Palace.

I've been searching the archives, but can't find a follow-up to the story. I can only imagine...

Weird Venice Seal of Approval: No Vulgar Hotel

2007-03-21T21:07:00.000-04:00

No Vulgar Hotel, by Judith Martin (aka Miss Manners), may be the Weird Venice bible. Martin has done a great job capturing all that is "weird" about Venice. From Great Moments in Venetian History (Marin Fuller the only doge, and maybe the only ruler in history, who planned a coup--to get rid of himself!) to Venetian festivals (e.g. Su e Zo i Ponti di Venezia or "Up and Down the Bridges--you get the idea) to famous tourists (from Galileo to Dame Edna), Martin covers all the things that make us Venetophiles. If you don't already have "Venetophilia," you will when you read this book!

Here's what the publisher says about No Vulgar Hotel(and I agree!):
The definitive manual for the hopeless Venetophile.

Love of Venice can strike anyone, not just romantic wusses. Among the toughies with serious cases were Lord Byron, Richard Wagner, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway. Symptoms include:
* Wishing that the movie stars in films set in Venice would move aside so that you can get a better view of the scenery.
* Wondering why people ask if you had good weather when you were there--as if rain could dampen your love.
* Thinking that people who go to Tuscany or Provence must be nuts.
* Believing that the "Per San Marco" street sign with arrows pointing in opposite directions makes perfect sense.
* Consoling yourself when you leave by remembering the generations of Venetian merchants who, as they were borne away from Venice, vowed to be back as soon as they had more money.

There is no cure for this affliction. This is a guide to managing it. 35 illustrations.

P.S. The title comes from Henry James's The Wings of the Dove. Milly Theale says she wants to stay in Venice, "...if possible, no dreadful, no vulgar hotel."

Weird Venice Seal of Approval

2007-03-18T19:14:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking of people, places, books, etc. that I think are noteworthy and trustworthy and should be used by anyone journeying to Venice. So, I'm creating the Weird Venice Seal of Approval. My first award goes to Views on Venice. I discovered them on my third trip to Venice and have happily rented from them ever since. It's nice to say that I've never been disappointed. I'm repeating a post from February which tells why Views on Venice is the first recipient of my Seal of Approval.

Updates: Renting an Apartment

The photo is taken from the window of Ca' Gondola, which is mentioned below.

Recently, I’ve been looking at some of my older posts and decided it was time to follow up on a few of them. Tonight, I'm starting with Views on Venice.

A number of years ago, I read about "self catering" or rental apartments. I'd been to Venice twice and was anxious to be more than a tourist on my next visit. So, I turned to the internet, which was still in its early days. No TripAdvisor, no Expedia, no SlowTravel. I was pretty much on my own.

After some searching, I found Views on Venice and Ca' Giulia --the best apartment I have ever rented. I've had the pleasure of staying there twice and dream about renting it again.

Since then, I've rented Ca' Vidal (directly across from the Academia), Ca' Belle Arti, Ca' Gondola (you'll never find a better view!), and others. I have never been disappointed.

Why the update? Because I've been meaning to write about something that happened to me in December. I left work late and missed my train. I usually have a book to keep me company, but that night I was bookless. So I went to the newsstand to find something to read. I picked up the December 2006/January 2007 issued of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel because on the cover they were advertising: "Renting an apartment in Venice." Sold!

I got on the train and settled down to read about apartments in Venice. Imagine my surprise when the first thing I saw was a photo of "my" bedroom in Ca' Belle Arti! It's a nice article--check it out. The online version is interesting, but the magazine version has more pictures.

Congratulations, Filippo and everyone else at Views on Venice. And thanks for all you've done to make our visits to Venice memorable!

Man Convicted of Setting La Fenice Fire Arrested

2007-03-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

This article comes from the ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mexican police detain man convicted in 1996 fire at Italy's La Fenice opera house

11:48 a.m. March 2, 2007

ROME – Mexican authorities have arrested an Italian electrician convicted in the 1996 fire at La Fenice opera house in Venice, authorities in the two countries said.

Police detained Enrico Carella in the resort city of Cancun and authorities plan to extradite him to Italy, the Mexican Attorney General's office said in a statement Thursday.

The Mexicans were tipped by Italian police who discovered Carella was in the country by monitoring his contacts with friends back at home, the ANSA news agency reported.

Carella, 37, had been on the run since 2003, when Italy's top criminal court upheld convictions on arson charges for Carella and fellow electrician Massimiliano Marchetti, sentencing them to seven and six years in jail respectively, ANSA said.

La Fenice, a late 18th-century opera house, was being renovated when the two electricians torched it the night of Jan. 29, 1996, to avoid fines their company faced for being behind in its work. The electricians admitted starting the blaze but insisted they only wanted to cause minor damage so they wouldn't have to pay the fines.

La Fenice, which means phoenix in Italian, rose from its ashes in December 2003, reopening its doors to the public after years of reconstruction.

New Feaure: My Library

2007-03-02T12:19:00.000-05:00

Over the years, I've collected quite a few books about, and set in, Venice. Now, thanks to LibraryThing, I've got them online. Feel free to browse and add reviews, if you'd like.

Tintoretto in Madrid

2007-03-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

Today's NY Times has an interesting article about the Tintoretto exhibit in Madrid's Prado. "The Jacopo Tintoretto show at the Prado here [Madrid], through May 13, is the first full-dress retrospective since the one in Venice in 1937. Tintoretto painted too much, too unevenly, and too many of his pictures are too huge to be moved."

If you can't get to Madrid, you can see some of the paintings, and read the article in the NY Times Arts section.

The Last Supper, shown here, is included in the exhibition. According to the Web Gallery of Art:
The church of San Giorgio Maggiore was built on the San Giorgio Island between 1566 and 1600 using the design of Palladio. After 1590 the workshop of Tintoretto was commissioned to paint big canvases for decorating it. Due the large number of commissions, Tintoretto in his late years increasingly relied on his coworkers. However, three surviving paintings placed in a chapel consacrated in 1592 - The Harvest of Manna, The Last Supper and Entombment - were certainly painted by Tintoretto himself.

Tintoretto painted the Last Supper several times in his life. This version can be described as the fest of the poors, in which the figure of Christ mingles with the crowds of apostles. However, a supernatural scene with winged figures comes into sight by the light around his head. This endows the painting with a visional character clearly differentiating it from paintings of the same subject made by earlier painters like Leonardo.

New Gadget: Currency Convertor

2007-02-25T19:38:00.000-05:00

There's a new gadget in the links sidebar: a currency convertor. Check it out--although you may not be happy to see that the dollar doesn't buy many euros. However, it's a great reason for our Venetian friends to visit the US.

Record Crowds at Carnival

2007-02-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

It's all over for this year's carnival. From experience, I know the drunken roar of the crowds has instantly and mysteriously ended. Venice is probably very silent now that Lent has begun. I could almost hear the city sigh... According to news reports, carnival was a great success this year. Here's an article about the record-breaking crowds:

"A record 140,000 people crowded St Mark's Square and the narrow streets of Venice over the weekend as the city's carnival prepared to draw to a close with Tuesday's traditional Mardi Gras celebrations.

Organizers said the attendance rate, aided by sunshine, was the highest in recent years and spoke of this year's edition as 'a great success.'

'We hadn't seen these kind of crowds since the early 1990s,' a spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Monday.

During the weekend, organizers awarded the Best Mask of 2007 to a German woman, Tanja Schulz, who paraded through the streets of Venice dressed up in an 18th century hot-air balloon costume.

The Venice Carnival ends on Tuesday with La Mascherata, a masked pageant in St Mark's Square, and a Marching Bands Collision, in which Latin American bands will play on the go, bumping into Scottish bagpipe players in the process.

Celebrations are due to be wrapped up with a high-tech pyrotechnic display, in which the bangs of fireworks will be replaced by synchronized music controlled by a computer.

The opening song of the show is to be John Lennon's pacifist hit Imagine.

This year's edition of the carnival was dedicated to Carlo Goldoni, a popular Venice-born 18th century playwright."

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last Day of Carnevale

2007-02-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

Closing Fireworks for the last day of the 2007 Carnevale start tomorrow night at 23:00
Place: Riva degli Schiavoni
Grand Fireworks Display and Music from the 2007 Carnival
Partcipation costs: Free

Send photos if you go!

Springsteen, Sting and Others in San Marco Concert

2007-02-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

First seen on the web on VeniceWord.com

Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, and maybe Andrea Bocelli. These are the stars that in June could be in St. Mark's Square for two very special concerts for "Emergency", an humanitarian association directed by Gino Strada. The days are already fixed: Friday June 29th and Saturday June 30th. But the cast of the shows isn't completed. Lots of rumours about two others events: Sir Elton John that could play in St. Mark's Square in June and Maestro Ennio Morricone that will be in front of the Basilica on September 10. No tickets are available at the moment but soon we'll inform you about this marvellous Venetian Summer.

10,393 Miles Away!

2007-02-11T22:39:00.000-05:00

If you look at the bottom of the page, you may see a little icon for Sitemeter, which counts visits to Weird Venice. I love looking at it to see where visitors live.

Tonight my longest long-distance visitor comes from Melbourne, Victoria! 10,393 miles away from my desk. Thank you. I am thrilled to have someone from so far away drop in to read my blog. One of these days I'll skip a trip to Venice and come visit you! Thanks.

Updates: Renting an Apartment

2007-02-11T19:41:00.000-05:00

The photo is taken from the window of Ca' Gondola, which is mentioned below.

Recently, I’ve been looking at some of my older posts and decided it was time to follow up on a few of them. Tonight, I'm starting with Views on Venice.

A number of years ago, I read about "self catering" or rental apartments. I'd been to Venice twice and was anxious to be more than a tourist on my next visit. So, I turned to the internet, which was still in its early days. No TripAdvisor, no Expedia, no SlowTravel. I was pretty much on my own.

After some searching, I found Views on Venice and Ca' Giulia --the best apartment I have ever rented. I've had the pleasure of staying there twice and dream about renting it again.

Since then, I've rented Ca' Vidal (directly across from the Academia), Ca' Belle Arti, Ca' Gondola (you'll never find a better view!), and others. I have never been disappointed.

Why the update? Because I've been meaning to write about something that happened to me in December. I left work late and missed my train. I usually have a book to keep me company, but that night I was bookless. So I went to the newsstand to find something to read. I picked up the December 2006/January 2007 issued of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel because on the cover they were advertising: "Renting an apartment in Venice." Sold!

I got on the train and settled down to read about apartments in Venice. Imagine my surprise when the first thing I saw was a photo of "my" bedroom in Ca' Belle Arti! It's a nice article--check it out. The online version is interesting, but the magazine version has more pictures.

Congratulations, Filippo and everyone else at Views on Venice. And thanks for all you've done to make our visits to Venice memorable!

Carnevale!!!

2007-02-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

Carnevale Starts! February 9 to 20, 2007

A few years ago, I finally made my way to Venice for Carnevale. What I remember most is that the noise from the drunks in Campo San Stefano that kept us awake all night (we were renting this great apartment), the car in the campo and the snow. We didn’t attend many of the events, but had a great time exploring the deserted parts of the city.

Being in Venice on Ash Wednesday, the day after Carnevale, was amazing. A snowy hush quieted the city. The crowds had instantly disappeared, as if Harry Potter had waved a magic wand and spirited them away. We were treated to a sleepy (hungover?) city. We were accepted as people who were in Venice because they loved Venice—not because they wanted to join the drunken hordes.

So if you’re going to Carnevale, have a great time! Please quiet down in the wee hours of the morning so the other folks can sleep. Pick up your trash. Don’t clog the bridges. And stay over for a day or two after the party ends. You’ll be glad you did!

I took the photo from the window of my apartment. It's the car that had been displayed in Campo San Stefano. I took the photo on the day after, when they were loading the car to take it away.

To see the program of events, go to www.carnevale.venezia.it. You'll also find the following story about Carnevale:

The Carnival is Venice!
It is going to be like a gigantic chariot drawn by a thousand horses, accompanying guests and Venetians through the streets of Carlo Goldoni and his company, now three centuries old.

Its name? Carnival!

It will be a voyage of discovery in a fantastic world, made of music, theatre, games and magic. A whirling universe where people from every country can experience the jokes, the masks, and the make-up. Where you can play hide and seek, then reveal yourself and...amaze.

You will return to the truth of “Carnovàl,” magic and enchanting, to forget what you don’t like, don’t need, or don't want.

The Queen will be disguised. She will astonish her people and make men and women from all countries fall in love with her, through colour and coyness.

History, tradition, emotion, will be offered with mock modesty and immense allure.

Venice, Carnival, a single soul, a single idea ...undivided.

“Is Venice the Carnival ? No gentlemen, pardon me: Carnival is Venice!”

If you go, have a great time. Send photos and stories to me.

A Little Foggy Tonight

2007-02-02T19:39:00.000-05:00

It's a bit foggy tonight (this is from the San Marco webcam). Can you spot any pigeons?

Can't Find a Good Meal in Venice?

2007-01-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

<
My first restaurant experience in Venice was not a good one. When we got to Venice after a week in Rome and Florence, we were tired and unprepared for Venice. A bit overwhelmed by the beauty and the maze of street, we didn’t wander too far from our hotel (Monaco & Grand Canal—pre-makeover) in search of our first lunch. That means we were at the mercy of the restaurants surrounding the San Marco area. And that’s not a good place to be.

Still, we were happy to be lured in by the waiter shilling outside his restaurant. The fish was fresher than anything we’d ever tasted (although looking back, I'm not so sure about the quality--I think we were overcome by Venice), and I’ve never looked for the receipt to see what we were charged because I’m sure it was too much. All I remember is that the waiter cheerfully took my credit card. After the bill was settled, he told us he’d made a mistake and didn’t put our wine on the bill. Could we pay in lira so the boss wouldn’t notice his mistake?, he asked. Of course, we were happy to help out.

Now if you’re going to Venice for the first time, or the 1,000 time, you can avoid mishaps such as mine (given the exchange rate, every penny counts!) by taking along Chow! Venice, Savoring the Food and Wine of La Serenissima, A guide to restaurants and bars in Venice by Shannon Essa and Ruth Edenbaum. The second edition was recently released and I highly recommend it for anyone searching for a good meal (or drink) in Venice.

As the intro to the book says, you may not find your favorite restaurant in this book, but you will find “places that we go back to again and again, that are consistently good and that treat tourists well.” In addition to reviews, Chow! Venice includes some handy tips (like the different ways to order a spritz) and the always-vital directions, as well as the usual opening hours.

Order autographed copies through the authors’ website (www.chowbellabooks.com). If you order an autographed copy, the autograph--and postage!--are included. The website also has updates on restaurants in the guide.

Dreams Do Comes True

2007-01-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

I love this story from our friends at BUONGIORNO VENEZIA - The News from Venice (published weekly by VENICEWORD INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SERVICES). I took the photo in May 2004. Click on the photo to enlarge it and check out the broom the sweeper is using. They're handmade (I once got lost and came across a place where a sweeper was putting his broom together) and have probably had the same design for centuries.

The story reminds me of the Jimmy Buffett song, "It's my job..."*

Here's the article:

The dream of Federico Bastianelli, a street cleaner in Falconara Marittima (a little town in the Marches region in the centre of Italy) came true at dawn on 6 January. Last September, he made a wish, hoping to be able to clean St. Mark's Square, and the councillor responsible for the environment granted it. At 5:30 a.m. on 6 January, together with a team of Venetian colleagues, he began his work shift in front of the timeless splendour of the Basilica and of the Doge's Palace. "I love my job in Falconara," Federico says, "but to do it in Venice is beyond comparison." At 10:30 a.m., the end of his work shift, AIPE (Association of Commercial Businesses) offered him a toast, and Federico, beaming with joy for having accomplished his greatest wish, was only able to say: "I am very happy."

Congratulations to Federico.

* "In the middle of late last night I was sittin' on a curb
I didn't know what about but I was feeling quite disturbed
A street sweeper came whistlin' by
He was bouncin' every step
It seemed strange how good he felt
So I asked him while he swept

He said 'It's my job to be cleaning up this mess
And that's enough reason to go for me
It's my job to be better than the rest
And that makes the day for me.'

"It's My Job," by Jimmy Buffett, from his album Coconut Telegraph (1981)

YouTube in Venice

2007-01-15T20:50:00.000-05:00

Given my weakness for webcams (I like to watch), I'm not sure exploring YouTube was a good idea. but, it's fun nonetheless! Go watch a bunch of homemovies about trips to Venice....

"Venice Italy 'In a Nutshell,'" is my favorite so far. Got a favorite Venice video? Let us know.

John Singer Sargent's Venice Paintings Coming to NYC

2007-01-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

The painting is John Singer Sargent's Gondoliers' Siesta, c. 1904. Next week, an extensive exhibit of Singer's Venice paintings opens in NYC. From there, it goes to Venice. Here's an excuse to visit Manhattan (as if you should need an excuse!).

From the Adelson Gallery website:

SARGENT’S VENICE, A SPECTACULAR ARTIST’S VIEW OF THE FABLED CITY, TO BE SHOWCASED IN A TRAVELING EXHIBITION TO OPEN IN JANUARY 2007 AT ADELSON GALLERIES IN NEW YORK CITY

New York, NY (Autumn 2006)—John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), one of a few truly international artists of the 19th century, had a love affair with Venice: He traveled there numerous times over 40 years. Adelson Galleries in New York, noted for its expertise in American art and the work of John Singer Sargent in particular, has organized an exceptional loan exhibition, Sargent’s Venice, comprising approximately 60 oils and watercolors painted by the artist from the 1880s until 1913. The exhibition will be on view at the gallery from January 19 through March 3, 2007 and then will travel to the Museo Correr in Venice—marking the artist’s first-ever solo exhibition in that city—where it will be on view from March 24 through July 22, 2007.

Sargent’s Venice will be organized as a journey down the Grand Canal, following the artist’s route from a gondola perspective and examining his choice of viewpoints and compositions. A majority of the paintings to be shown are on loan from private collections and have rarely been on public view; several institutions, including the Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, are loaning important works as well.

Inspired by the idea of idea of retracing Sargent’s routes down the Venetian waterways, Warren Adelson, president of Adelson Galleries and the sponsor of the Sargent catalogue raisonné, saw this approach as a means to gather together the Venice pictures that appear throughout several volumes of John Singer Sargent: The Complete Paintings (Yale University Press). “We had decided to write about John Singer Sargent's years of painting in the city that he most loved, and realized that in his long career and in the intervening years after his death in 1925 that there had never been a one-man exhibition of his work in Venice,” Mr. Adelson said. “Sargent's Venice will showcase the range of his painting in oil and watercolor over a span of forty years. It will be the first such exhibition in New York (Adelson Galleries) and, remarkably, the venue at the Museo Correr in St. Mark's Square in Venice will be the first exhibition of Sargent ever held in that magical place.”

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence to American parents and lived most of his adult life in England. Widely recognized as the preeminent portrait painter of his generation, he felt equally at home in Europe and the United States where he painted many of the most notable social and political figures of his day. When Sargent felt the need to escape the demands of his portrait commissions, he traveled to Italy and Switzerland with friends and family to paint (usually out-of-doors) whatever appealed to him. Of the many places he visited over the course of his long career, the allure of Venice surpassed all other destinations and it is where he produced some of his most evocative and masterful oils and watercolors—many painted while sitting in a gondola.

Featured in Sargent’s Venice will be not only pictures of beloved Venetian scenes, such as the Rialto Bridge, the Doges Palace and Santa Maria della Salute, but also scenes of traditional Venetian life including intimate glimpses captured of the interiors of wine shops, residents strolling along the streets, women at work stringing beads, café settings, and more. Among the most recognizable works to be seen will be The Sulfur Match (1882), Gondolier’s Siesta (1905) and Street in Venice (ca. 1882).

Adelson Galleries is uniquely qualified to present the artist’s work in this context. In 1980, Warren Adelson, an internationally recognized authority on Sargent, initiated scholarship on the John Singer Sargent Catalogue Raissoné in partnership with the artist’s great-nephew, Richard Ormond. To date, four volumes of the Catalogue Raisonné have been published by Yale University Press; Volume IV was released in October 2006. The gallery has also made significant contributions to the study of American art through critically acclaimed loan exhibitions and accompanying publications including Art in a Mirror: The Counterproofs of Mary Cassatt (2004-2005), Sargent’s Women (2003), Maurice Prendergast: Paintings of America (2003), From the Artist’s Studio: Unknown Prints and Drawings by Mary Cassatt (2000), Childe Hassam: An American Impressionist (1999) and Sargent Abroad: Figures and Landscapes (1997).

Assisting Mr. Adelson in organizing Sargent’s Venice is Elizabeth Oustinoff, director of Adelson Galleries and co-author of Sargent Abroad. A fully illustrated accompanying book of the same title will be published by Yale University Press in January, 2007, with essays by Mr. Adelson and Ms. Oustinoff as well as by Richard Ormond, co-author of The Complete Paintings of John Singer Sargent (Yale University Press) and former director of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England; Elaine Kilmurray, research director of the Sargent catalogue raisonné project and co-author of The Complete Paintings of John Singer Sargent; William H. Gerdts, professor emeritus of art history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of highly respected articles and books on many aspects of American Impressionism; and Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, professor of Anglo-American literature at the Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice, and co-curator of the exhibition Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle, organized by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2004 as well as the author and editor of several publications.

On January 17, a gala benefit evening will be held from at Adelson Galleries for Venetian Heritage, Inc., a not-for-profit organization based in the United States whose mission is to encourage and support artistic and intellectual initiatives and cultural exchange between the United States and Italy; to safeguard the Venetian cultural heritage as manifested in architecture, music and fine arts, in Venice and its former dominion; to sponsor exhibitions, lectures and conferences intended to stimulate interest in the urgent and never-ending needs of Venice; and to familiarize people all over the world with the problems of the city. Patron tickets are $150 per person/$300 per couple and Benefactor tickets are $250 per person/$500 per couple. For more information about this special evening, please call 212.439.6800.

Adelson Galleries is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9:30-5:30, and will be open on Saturdays during this exhibition from 10-5. The galleries are located 19 East 82nd Street, New York, NY. Tel: 212.439-6800. Fax 212.439.6870.

When Murano Beads Ruled the World

2007-01-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

Visitors to Venice often succumb to the lure of Murano glass. Few of us realize that the shiny glass beads once were of vital interest all over the world. I was rooting around in the New York Times archives and stumbled upon an article which was originally published on November 30, 1917.

Bead Supply Is Menaced.
Invasion of Italy Affects the World-wide Monopoly of Venice.

Washington, Nov. 27.--The menace to Venice from the Austro-German campaign [of World War I] in Northern Italy strikes sharply at one line of trade in which the whole world is interested. It is the trade of glass beads. Venice is the bead capital of the world. In the South Sea Islands, the heart of Africa, under the North Pole, Tibet, Patagonia, at the uttermost corners of the earth will the handiwork of the Venetian artisan be found. In this country tons of beads from Venice find their way into the handiwork of our Sioux, Chippewa, and Five Tribe Indians.

Harvey Carroll, American Consul at Venice, in a dispatch just received by the Department of Commerce, says that the Venetian bead-making industry is a monopoly and controls a world-wide exporting business, shipping to Africa, India, Oceania, Asiatic countries, Europe, and the Americas. It makes the beads that are used as money by certain tribes in the Congo and in German West Africa, and ships many thousands of tons of bead ornaments to the savage as well as the civilized nations of the world.

The offices of the company are in a magnificent old palace at Murano, the Palazzo Trevisan, which boasts frescoes by Tiepolo. The foundries and factories cover many acres of ground. Before the outbreak of the European war this company kept in storage more than 4,409,245 pounds of manufactured beads. At the present time less than one-fourth this quantity is in stock, and production has greatly decreased, owing to difficulty in securing fuel and raw material.

While exploring, I found the Venetian Bead Shop, which has some interesting information on blowing glass beads and other information. I know nothing about them, but if you're interested in Murano
beads, this could be a place to start.

A friend (thanks, Marie) sent me a link to Prairie Edge, which claims to have the " last and the largest collection of Italian glass beads (over 2,600 different styles and colors) from the same Venetian guild that supplied fur traders in the 19th century. The Societa' Veneziana Conterie closed its doors in 1992 and Prairie Edge acquired all the remaining inventory, over 70 tons in all. View exquisite examples of finished Plains Indian beadwork. Most of the beads on display are offered for sale in Sioux Trading Post." How the collection wound up in South Dakota is not explained.

Sad News to Start the Year

2007-01-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

<span style="font-weight:bold;">This has nothing to do with Venice, but I wanted to post it anyway.

Our house and our hearts are empty tonight. Gretel, the retired Seeing Eye dog who lived with us for the past two and a half years, died suddenly today (she would have been 12 next month). Last month, she passed her physical with flying colors. This morning, after her walk and morning treat, she collapsed. Never losing consciousness, she remained fully aware. We rushed her to the animal hospital and learned she had massive abdominal bleeding brought on by cancer. Instead of prolonging her life with painful treatments, we let nature take its course and, tearfully, let her go.

We didn’t have Gretel for long, but each moment was wonderful. She was a great ambassador for the Seeing Eye organization. She was a beautiful girl and strangers would often stop us to ask about her. When we told people about her working life as a Seeing Eye dog, people were fascinated.

At first, Gretel was serious, no doubt trying to figure out what her new “job” was supposed to be. Soon, she figured it out. Her job was to get petted whenever possible! She turned into a slightly goofy dog, who was always happy, always happy to see us.

True to her training, Gretel didn’t bark much–but she did quack! On her first day with us, my sister gave Gretel a stuffed, plush duck that quacked when you pressed it in the right place. Gretel soon used her ducks (her brood grew to six) to let us know she was happy. She ran around the house, duck in mouth, quacking at us. She’d also move her ducks around when we weren’t watching. Sometimes they’d be scattered around the house; sometimes they’d be in a pile; this week she had them in a semi-circle around her bed. I’ll remember Gretel quacking!

Gretel was a good girl, who really enjoyed her retirement. Thanks to the Seeing Eye Organization for giving us the opportunity to have Gretel become part of our lives. We hope to adopt another Seeing Eye dog as soon as possible.

Cross-Dressing Cop Sacked

2006-12-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

I couldn't ask for a better story to end the year, Weird Venice at its best....

From ANSA.it:

Man wore mini- skirt, skimpy top off duty around Venice
(ANSA) - Venice, December 28 - An Italian police officer has been sacked for cross-dressing when not on duty.

The unidentified officer, a deputy superintendent, was fired after he was seen on several occasions in Venice city centre wearing a mini-skirt, long earrings and a skimpy T-shirt aimed at showing off his navel.

The man tried to get his job back by appealing to a local court, arguing that his off-duty apparel was his own business.

But the judges upheld the dismissal.

In announcing its decision to sack the officer, the local police chief said the man had shown "total disrespect for the force and no sense of honour or moral values".

The officer's neighbours had also complained about his habit of washing his car in his swimming trunks, which he sometimes removed, the police said.

The photo is from ANSA.it news and accompanies the story on their website.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Elton John in Venice for Christmas

2006-12-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

Elton John's Christmas.

Silent Nights in St. Mark's

2006-12-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

"It's odd that so few tourists go to Venice for Christmas. But their absence - and with them the proprietors of a thousand souvenir stalls - is the winter visitor's gain."

That's how "Silent Night in St. Mark's," which was published last year in the UK's Guardian begins.

It's a nice article--check it out. (I'm repeating the photo because I took it--you can see me in the reflection--and I like it!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

What are you doing reading this blog? You should be decorating the tree, wrapping the presents, or (if you're a procrastinator) shopping!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Weird Venice will return in January.

Rare Collection--of Mushroom DNA--in Venice

2006-12-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, mushrooms. Fungi, which according to my dictionary includes mushrooms, toadstools and moulds. "28,000 samples of fungi that represent 6,000 species - many of which are quite rare - are housed at the Venice Museum of Natural History [part of the Musei Civici Veneziani], a partner with UC Berkeley for this ambitious project. The collection also is one of the largest in Europe." The samples are going to be used to build a huge DNA database, which will be used for research into plant diseases, forests, etc. The project is expected to be finished by the end of next year.

Here's a link to an article about the collection.

Do You Dream of Spending the Holidays in Venice?

2006-12-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

If you dream of spending the holidays in Venice, check out these tips. It's on Dream of Italy, a great blog/newsletter, which is an "insider's guide to undiscovered Italy." Lots of good reading and excellent tips. Check out their holiday gift subscriptions. Sometimes you have to realize there is a lot more to Italy than Venice....

Too Crowded?

2006-12-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

I love webcams and can't understand why there aren't more of them in Venice. This is from one of my favorites. It's in Piazza San Marco and, as you can see, the piazza is deserted! So if you want to have San Marco all to yourself, go there very late on a Sunday night/early Monday morning (I've done it and it's an experience you'll remember forever).

Love the Pigeons?

2006-12-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

Many people, including me (here on this blog) have denigrated pigeons, especially the pigeons in Piazza San Marco. After reading this column at Salon.com, I may have to change my mind.

"If you're like most people -- and especially if you're like most city dwellers -- you probably get a bit skeeved out just hearing the word. Pigeons? They might not be vermin -- not exactly -- but they aren't too far up the ladder, either. They eat trash. They crap everywhere. Stupid. Filthy. Rats with wings. Right? Sorry, but not quite. In fact, not even close. And thanks to Andrew Blechman's consistently engaging and surprising new book, 'Pigeons,' the seemingly dull, unlovely members of the Columbidae family -- or, rather, their idiosyncratic and intensely loyal human proponents -- now have a handy arsenal of lively anecdotes and plain old facts (heads up, wisenheimers: Pigeons are doves) with which to defend their long-maligned feathered friends."

Maybe pigeons are more than "rats with wings." Let us know if you read the book--and change your mind about pigeons!

Photo of the Day

2006-12-04T22:57:00.000-05:00

I took this photo on the 22nd of November 2002.

I went to Venice to experience the Feast of Santa Maria della Salute. It's a unique Venetian holiday which celebrates/honors the Mary for saving Venice from the plague in 1630. If you remember your guidebooks, Salute was built to commemorate Mary's intervention.

A temporary bridge is placed over the Grand Canal (I'll have to post a photo of in) and a procession goes from San Marco, across the bridge and to the cathedral. In 2002, I was in the middle of the procession. After I got to the church, it took another 10 minutes for the rest of the procession to arrive--that's how many people were marching! A very moving evening.

Venice in the NY Times This Weekend

2006-12-03T19:05:00.000-05:00

This has been quite a Venetian weekend in the New York Times. Three articles:

1. In the Travel Section, Venice in 36 Hours (with one mistake about flying from New York. Despite what the article says, you can fly direct. Delta has one flight a day that goes non-stop, direct to Venice.)

2. The Curator, about Nancy Spector who is

not only responsible for curating contemporary art at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, but it was also her controversial decision to select the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres for the American Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale.

3. Holiday Books: Venice--

The story of Palladio’s conquest of Venice and his promotion by a coterie of aristocratic patrons is the story of Tracy E. Cooper’s massively documented and beautifully illustrated book, PALLADIO’S VENICE: Architecture and Society in a Renaissance Republic (Yale University, $65).

4. Naked in the Marketplace: The Lives of George Sand (in the Book Review section):

Sand did help Musset through a serious illness when they were together in Venice, and although she also managed to have an affair with his doctor, the episode demonstrates the degree to which, as Eisler puts it, 'the maternal and the erotic were one' for her.

Enjoy! You may have to register for access to the site.

"Prehistoric Venice" Uncovered Near Pompeii

2006-11-28T20:53:00.000-05:00

This comes from ANSA.it news:

2006-11-28 18:05
Mythical canal city emerges
'Prehistoric Venice' comes to light near Pompeii
NAPLES (ANSA) An ancient canal city is emerging outside Pompeii, Italian archaeologists say.

Recent digs have unearthed traces of the mythical Sarrasti people, previously known only from Etruscan descriptions.

A large dock has been found, anchored by huge poles and linked to a series of canals dating back to the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC).

Huts and other wooden structures have been uncovered, perfectly preserved in the age-old mud - making the site unique in Italy.

"We like to call this settlement Italy's 'prehistoric Venice'," said Pompeii archeological superintendent Pietro Giovanni Guzzo.

Archeologists have also found some of the artefacts that made the site at Longola near Pompeii famous in the ancient world, Guzzo said.

"We have oak canoes. We have countless objects carved out of animal horn and bone, as well as bronze and ceramic pieces," Guzzo said, predicting that Longola would "soon have a tourist site all of its own".

The latest object taken out of the soil was a long, strong, tapered pickaxe-like tool.

"This looks like it did a lot of the donkey work at this hard-working, prosperous city," Guzzo said.

"It symbolizes the strength of the Sarrasti," he said, showing the pick to reporters.

The Sarrasti are believed to have dominated the area around the Sarno river until the arrival of the Greeks and Etruscans.

Historians say the city at Longola survived until the foundation of Pompeii in the Sixth Century BC.

The photo comes from the article on ANSA.it

Holiday Presents

2006-11-25T19:09:00.000-05:00

Since here in the US, the holiday shopping season has officially started, I thought I'd offer a few suggestions.

The first is a great present for anyone headed to Italy, especially those going for the first time. Italy: Instructions for Use: The Personal, On-site Assistant for the Enthusiastic but Inexperienced Traveler by Nan McElroy. Nan, according to the book jacket, "has been traveling, eating and living in Italy as often as possible since 1995." (Nan now lives in Venice.)

I have Instructions for Use in front of me as I type this. It's 110 pages of useful information from how do you pronounce things in Italian to shopping and eating. It also has ten tips for the American traveler. My favorite? "Sometimes there's nothing to be done." You can buy the book at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com.

Nan, an American living in Venice, also has a great blog (her latest post describes a pasta-making session).

Can't get enough Venice? Do you really miss it when you're gone? If so, take a look at the photography of Andrea Zanatta (thanks to Nan for turning me onto his work). I agree with the blurb in his book that says he is "one of the most interesting photographers of the young generation in Italy." Put Andrea's book on your Christmas list, or it to your favorite Venice fan. You can buy Andrea's book at Amazon.com.

Who says you can't get good food in Venice? That's a common (misguided) complaint I hear about Venice. Chow Venice: Savoring the Food and Wine of La Serenissima, (Second Edition) makes a great gift for people hunting for good meals in Venice. Co-authors Shannon Essa and Ruth Edenbaum only print reviews of restaurants/bars they've eaten in--and enjoyed. The second edition is due on December 15th--plenty of time to wrap. Order from Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com .

Finally, this isn't Venetian, but it's a great taste of Italy. Olio Nuovo, or just crushed olive oil. I can safely post this because my order is already in! If you have never tasted just-crushed olive oil, you're in for a treat. It's like nothing you get in a supermarket! If you'd like to treat yourself or give a really nice gift, check out Casa de Case's website and get your order in fast. [Dec. 13 NOTE: Too late--the olive oil is sold out. And too bad if you missed out because it's wonderful. I've been enjoying mine and I'm not sharing!]

Note: I'm not getting paid by any of these people. I know them (but they don't know I'm posting this) and have enjoyed these things (before I knew them!). I'd be happy to get any of them as a gift and think the Italy/Venice fans in your life would enjoy them too.

Government Says No to Tourist Tax

2006-11-17T23:43:00.000-05:00

From WantedInRome.com:

Government scraps proposed tourist tax.
The government has scrapped plans for a tourist tax, which would have allowed Italian towns and cities to add €5 per day to foreign visitors' hotel bills.

The withdrawal of the levy from the 2007 budget was met with relief by both the national and international tourism associations and operators, particularly smaller local companies, who feared that this would have dissuaded foreigners from visiting Italy. Culture and tourism Minister Francesco Rutelli has expressed his support for the U-turn, commenting on the government's “wise decision”.

Italy's most popular tourist destinations, Rome, Florence and Venice, had previously shown support for the proposed tourist tax as a means for improving and maintaining monuments, tourist facilities and services and keeping the cities clean and orderly.

Clock Tower Opens to Visitors!

2006-11-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

VENICE: THE CLOCK TOWER REOPENS TO THE PUBLIC
(from AGI) - Venice, Oct. 31 - The Clock Tower reopens to the public and offers - on reservation and with a specialised guide - an extraordinary visit of one hour including a close observation of the complex mechanisms of the clock a splendid view from the balcony on St. Mark square and on the whole city. Upon reservation, the entrance is free of charge for Venetians from 4 to 12 November 2006 at all working hours; from 13 November 2006 to 31 March 2007, upon request, from 4.00 pm. There can be a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 12 visitors. Visits are possible every day (besides 25 December and 1 January) with a fixed schedule. The visit is available only on reservation and with a specialised guide and it covers the five floors of the tower. After the first stairs made of stone the visitor approaches a small room that illustrates the history of the tower. From here it is interesting to observe the interplay of pulleys, weights and counterweights that rise and fall silently at regular intervals. After a winding metal staircase, the visitor approaches the complex Clock Machine. It can be closely observed and an explanation of its principal functions is provided. Another staircase leads to an upper floor where there are wooden statues of the Magi and the Angel, as well as two precious doors from which, on the occasion of Epiphany and Ascension Day, the statues join the procession. From here it is also possible to see the internal mechanism of 'Ta'mbure' of the nineteenth century with the digital indication of hours and minutes. One floor up and the visitor arrives in a room full of ancient objects belonging to the machine, which was made in the 15th century. From here the visitor accedes to two lateral balconies and through yet another winding staircase, to the terrace of the Mori where one can admire huge statues, as well as a splendid vista of Venice and the lagoon."

I'll be in Venice next week for a few days--I hope I'm successful in getting a tour!

The photo is from FlickR.

40th Anniversary of Great Flood Coming Up

2006-11-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

November 4th will be the 40th anniversary of the flood that made people pay attention.

"The trouble began on November 4, 1966, when an extremely high tide swept into Venice and refused to leave. For 15 hours, Venice was inundated by the sea. In historic Saint Mark's Square the water was four feet deep. Luckily, no one was killed. But the place was a disaster zone.

"In a single day, the city and the world were forced to face a harsh reality: Venice was sinking into the sea.

"Today flooding has become a fact of life. Instead of floating above the water, the 15th and 16th century buildings are often filled with it, and the ancient bricks are gradually dissolving away." (From Nova, "The Sinking City of Venice)

I took this photo in November 2002. When I took it, the water in San Marco was knee deep. I couldn't imagine what it looked like under 4 feet of water!

The Nova website, Sinking City of Venice, has lots of information on the flooding problem. You can also read the transcript to their show, "The Sinking City of Venice."

The VENETO INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, LETTERS AND ART in Campo Santo Stefano is going to hold a conference called, "Is There a Future for Venice? Reflections 40 years after the 1966 flood." It will be on Nov. 2 at 10 AM. Contributors include Ignazio Musu, Gherardo Ortalli, Andrea Rinaldo and Wolfgang Wolters.

Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out about it. If anyone attends, please give us a report.

Information, Veneto Institute of Science, Letters and Art, tel. 041.240.77.11. Web site: www.istitutoveneto.it.

Florence will be remembering a different, deadly flood on November 3. "At 5am on November 3, 1966 the skies over Tuscany opened and poured non-stop for 18 hours, causing an unprecedented artistic, economic and human disaster. The River Arno burst its banks, flooded the city and claimed 29 lives.

Mud and water swamped the museums, churches and libraries of the birthplace of the Renaissance, ruining many great works.

The damage caused was incalculable. But it was a fraction of the devastation the city would have suffered without the efforts of thousands of young volunteers who came from all over Italy and from abroad to save the art treasures and help Florence off its knees." (From ANSA.it)

More than 2,000 of those volunteers are scheduled to return to Florence for 100 different events focusing on the flood.

Let's hope these two great cities never face such disasters again!

Three Dimensional Map Being Made

2006-10-18T19:58:00.000-04:00

From AGI Online--an interesting story about a tri-dimensional map of Venice is being made. Can't wait to see it!

VENICE: LASER AND SATELLITE FOR CITY TRIDIMENSIONAL MAP
(AGI) - Venice, Oct. 17 - Satellite and laser techniques will be used to provide a complete and through scanning of Venice calli, campielli and fondamente, an unusual tri-dimensional map soon available on the internet and available for everyone. The Ramses project organised by Insula, the Venitian company dealing with the recovery and the safety of the city, has now started: it is an original project that will carry out the complete tri-dimensional representation of the pavements of Venice historical centre. The planimetry and the altimetry of the various parts of Venice will be surveyed with thorough precision (single centimetre after centimetre, and not every 10 centimetres like they used to do in the past). A precise knowledge concerning the pavements will allow the municipality to predict the extension of areas that can be affected by high waters, to calculate the distance between houses and to optimise the utilisation of trestle bridges for permitting the transfer of people and goods. The administration will also be able to use a photographic and planimetric survey for its maintenance works of water, sewer, electric and telephone networks present in the delicate underground of the historical centre.
-
COPYRIGHTS 2002-2006 AGI S.p.A.

Photo: 42-16491185 Corbis Royalty Free Photograph
====================================================================================
And...a few weeks ago, I wrote about the 10,000th visit being made to Weird Venice. Well, we've blown through that and are closing in on 12,000! Thanks to all who've been visiting!

Crowds

2006-10-05T11:14:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been reading about crowds in Venice, in all of Italy actually. If this photo from the webcam is any indication, there are some crowds.

Anybody in Venice today? Did you run into crowds?

Get Ready to Pay to Play in Venice

2006-10-02T20:17:00.000-04:00

As the following article says, a tourist tax may be coming to visitors to Venice. It's fine with me; I don't mind paying for the privilege of spending time in Venice. I think people who come in for the day should be charged 10 euro!

Venice prepares to tax tourists--Mayor says it's the only way city can stay afloat (ANSA) - Venice, October 2, 2006

Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari said on Monday that a tax on tourists visiting the lagoon city was definitely on the cards.

Cacciari said that 2007 budget plans approved in Rome this weekend by the centre-left government appeared to contain practically no funds for Venice, either for routine work or special projects such as the Moses flood barriers.

But it does contain a provision for 'city taxes', allowing municipal authorities to impose a levy of up to five euros a night on tourists.

This could prove a useful way of lessening Venice's cash problems, Cacciari said.

"We'll see what form to give it but it was inevitable that we would move in this direction. We'd already decided on something like this anyway," Cacciari said.

The mayor said his administration has already discussed such a toll with representatives of the tourism sector, who agreed that it was necessary if the city was to deal with the volume of tourism it now attracts.

Some 15 million people visit Italy's most romantic city every year, bringing in cash but also stretching its infrastructure and resources to the limit.

"The money from this tax must be used to improve services, for example transport or street cleaning," Cacciari said, adding that on Saturday the council would discuss possible approaches.

Venice receives special funding from the Italian government partly because of its status as an important city of culture and tourism, but also because of the specific problems connected to the fact that it is gradually sinking into the lagoon. Certain important restoration initiatives are also paid for by Save Venice, a New York-based organisation which collects funds from people who love the city and want to preserve it.

Cacciari complained that the government's new budget seemed to have ignored projects which had already been approved in the area of restoration work and home building for Venice's inhabitants.

"To keep the current projects going we need at least 100 million euros," he said.

He also said the government had "gone silent" on the matter of the Moses flood barrier system devised to protect the city from increasingly frequent high tides.

Part of the costly system is already in place and, in the wake of recent opposition to it, urgent decisions need to be taken on whether it should continue, the mayor said.

These decisions could only be made if the government organised meetings immediately with experts and local administrators, he said.

© Copyright ANSA. All rights reserved

Happy 10,000!

2006-09-24T22:27:00.000-04:00

I must confess--I'm late to my own party!!! Sometime in the early hours of September 12, Weird Venice had its 10,00th visitor! Since then, the sitemeter's been clicking and we're closing in to 11,000. Thanks everyone--I love having you visit.

Special thanks to the photographer, Peter Fox Harrison, for use of this great fireworks photo. Here's Peter's story about the photo: "The photo is a composite of two shots. The first was taken in Venice in April 2005 on a Wednesday at dusk. The camera was a Nikon D70, exposure was about 15 seconds at f16. The fireworks are in the UK on November 5, 2005 in a dark cold muddy field at my local pub. I was standing on my own on top of a hill while my friends huddled around a warm bonfire, exposure probably a couple of seconds f8. The Venetian sky was ok but nothing special, so I had the idea of putting a firework behind the campanile in Photoshop, to make it more striking. I dropped a few firework shots in until I found one that worked."

It works--and I think it's the perfect photo to celebate 10,000! Now I'm gong to sit back and enjoy the fireworkds. To see more of Peter's work, go to www.fiatluxphotos.com.

Pigeon Problems (Again)

2006-09-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

I can't ignore it any longer. The story posted below is showing up in papers all over the world. So I figured I'd join in and post it here. I've never been able to understand why people what to have pigeons climb all over them. What about pigeon poop on your clothes or in your hair? Yuck.

September 14, 2006
Tourists love them, but Venice wants to clean up lagoon city's pigeons
By COLLEEN BARRY

VENICE, Italy (AP) - Just a handful of corn and the pigeons of St. Mark's Square swoop.

Nothing says "I've been to Venice" better than a photo snapped with pigeons perched on arms, shoulders, head, breast. Multiply that by, perhaps, a million times a year.

The constant feeding has created a pigeon problem in the lagoon city and feathers are flying. The pigeons are dirty. They carry disease. They are ruining the city's glorious facades and spreading filth in the piazzas. And the mayor wants action.

"In Venice we have a difficult problem, because the birds find food everywhere, and there are millions of tourists who want to take pictures with them," said Mario Scattolin, the top environmental official for the city of 800,000. "We're a small city with a huge influx of tourists."

No one knows for sure how many pigeons live in Venice's 6.4 square kilometres but the city estimates 40,000. About one-third of them pass through St. Mark's Square on any given day, Scattolin said.

Five of them perched one sunny afternoon on Constanta Aurel's outstretched arms, three on the right and two on the left. Then another settled snugly on her breast. The tourist from Romania squealed as her husband, Nicolae, shot pictures.

"It's a marvellous picture," he said. "Tourists come here to see the birds and the church. I think it's a big part of the attraction."

Venice already rounds up pigeons regularly and kills the sick ones but that doesn't seem to stem their numbers. Other attempts have included introducing contraceptives to their food supply and birds that eat their eggs.

The animal rights group LAV says the most effective method is to feed them less. But that would mean shutting down the corn vendors at St. Mark's. "They're a powerful lobby," said Massimo Vitturi, an LAV spokesman.

Still, nothing's impossible. London managed to curtail pigeon-feeding at Trafalgar Square, over strenuous public objections, and Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari is also determined to project a cleaner image of his city. A new pigeon census is planned, with recommendations on population control due by year's end, Scattolin said.

But two separate ordinances appear to be at odds with each other. One forbids the feeding of pigeons. The other grants concessions to sell bags of corn to tourists - 100 grams for US$1.30).

"There have been pigeons in St. Mark's Square for a thousand years," said vendor Gianni Favin. "To see the piazza without pigeons is like seeing a tree without its leaves."

"It's not true that the pigeons are ruining the buildings," he said, motioning to a grimy arcade front. "That black is caused by smog."

Nineteen families live off the corn sales, Favin says, working two shifts a day at nine stands, with one vendor off each day. On a nice day he makes more than US$10, he says, on a rainy day, a tenth of that.

"I understand there are too many birds and that they are dirty," he said. "The city makes us pick up the bags. We do it for inconsiderate people but we can't keep on top of all the trash," he said, walking into the piazza to pick up a discarded paper sack. "Where are the city sweepers?"

Favin says if the city revokes their licences, the vendors will do what the sellers of counterfeit purses do - throw out a blanket with their wares and grab them up whenever a police officer appears.

Geoffrey Humphries, a British-born artist, sat in the piazza painting a watercolour of St. Mark's Basilica for an exhibit next month in Washington, D.C. "I first came here 40 years ago, and at 2 p.m., the bells would ring and a city employee would come with a bucket and feed the birds," Humphries said. "So my canvas would all be covered in feathers."

He's all for diminishing the pigeon population. "They are flying vermin."

Dreary Day

2006-09-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

It looks like a rainy day in Venice today. This is from the Citta de Venezia webcam. Anyone in San Marco this morning?

Biennale Features Ideas to Rebuild New Orleans

2006-09-12T21:16:00.000-04:00

From the Turkish Daily News:

"After the flood: Building on higher ground" shows 10 projects designed by nine Americans and a Turkish architect to reconstruct New Orleans which was flooded when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the city on Aug. 29, 2005, overpowering protective barriers that buckled under the huge weight of water.

"A year ago, just after the hurricane, the city was devastated and there were (rebuilding) initiatives in every which direction. We launched this competition to make people work together on a post-Katrina architecture," the exhibition's curator Christian Bruun told AFP.

"This is not just about a basic reconstruction. The whole relationship between architecture and the environment must be reconsidered," he said.

"New Orleans is condemned to flooding and hurricanes so we should explore new ideas and use new technologies so that for once and for all we find a solution to allow people to live there," Bruun said.

Among the projects displayed on the pavilion's walls is an adaptable house on stilts sitting three meters (yards) above ground.

Another architect imagined a house that would rise above the ground only when a weather alert had been issued.

Follow the link at the top of this post to read the entire story.

To find out more about the Biennale, go to its website.

No Posts Today

2006-09-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

9/11 rememberance.

Chinese Film, Affleck and Mirren Win at the Film Festival

2006-09-09T22:26:00.000-04:00

Chinese Movie, Affleck Win Venice Prizes
Sep 9, 6:27 PM (ET) By LUCA BRUNO

VENICE, Italy (AP) - The Chinese movie "Still Life," a surprise entry set against the backdrop of China's gigantic Three Gorges Dam project, on Saturday won this year's Golden Lion - the top award at the Venice Film Festival. Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck took the top acting awards.

Mirren was named best actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' "The Queen." Affleck won best actor for his role in Allen Coulter's "Hollywoodland," which dramatizes an investigation into the death of George Reeves, star of the 1950s TV show "Adventures of Superman."

To read the full story, go to My Way News.

Photo of the Golden Lion comes from the La Biennale website.