The bitter bora has moved on, so several hundred locals and passersby enjoyed bright sun and vin brulé as they affirmed their continuing opposition to the size and number of massive cruise ships that come and go via the Venice lagoon. Venessia.com joined group Fuori le Maxi Navi dal Bacino San Marco (Big Ships Out of San Marco Bay) and Comitato No Grandi Navi to organize the event; there was vin brulé, a papier mâché Campanile and riotously-colored boat, plenty of costumes, stilt walkers, and music; there were sign up sheets to gather support and lots info on why everyone’s so mad. Afterward the group formed a procession to San Marco, drawing the attention of everyone they passed along the way. You can make a point and be entertaining at the same time, right? Here, you better…
Only in Venice. The organization “Fuori Grandi Navi dalla Laguna” (Big Ships Out of the Lagoon) invites costumed demonstrators to gather on Friday, February 17 from 2:30 p.m. on to raise their voices against the number and route of oversized cruise ships that traverse the Venetian canals.
If you’re here for Carnevale, feel free to join in: there’ll be music, vin brule, and a few surprises, as always. Un’esperienza unica.
Venite numerosi—come one, come all! And don’t forget your mask.
The winter of 2012 has brought meters of snow and arctic temps throughout Italy and the rest of Europe; weeks of sub-freezing temps here in Venice have turned the lagoon into a concoction resembling a frozen margherita without the tequila.
Water taxis banned from airport access due to motor-damaging ice (the larger Alilaguna are running, however); ice-breaking motoscafi working to keep channels open for the rest of the fleet; the opening Carnevale sfilata rowing parade was posponed a week due to icy temps and 20 to 30 mile-an-hour winds. This is the winter I experienced when I first moved here over seven years ago, the one I braced for in subsequent winters, but the one which has only just returned this year.
It’s a challenge, but Venice and Venetians take it as it comes, recounting prior winters just as cold and colder, decades and centuries past, engineering appropriate outerwear (furs, furs) to survive errands and market shopping, using the cold as an excuse for a hot chocolate (literally, mind you: hot, melted, chocolate), or an extra Carnevale fritelle or galani pastry (merita), one more ombra in compania as we make plans for when the cold snap ends.
On a more intimate scale, I spotted a pair of devoted mallards who make their home in a neighborhood canal. They’d apparently been out for a “stroll,” but were having difficulty avoiding the ice on their return to the rio dell’Orto. I hope they made it. Forza, coraggio…
Free holiday concert features Berlin Philharmonic first violinist Laurentius Dinca and the Accademia Musicale di San Giorgio, Fondazione Cini Orchestra.
A Documentary Project of LivingVenice.org.
On a sunny day, watch schools of fish bob by the underwater webcam of the CNR sea tower in the high Adriatic.