A little summer night music
Aug 7, 2010 Events & Offerings
Archivio Fano and La Municipalità di Lido present:
The 3rd edition of LidoMusicAgosto
Four concerts of
celebrations, recurrences, and memories, historic and artistic
at the Chiostro di San Nicolò at Venice Lido
August 21, 23, 27 e 30 at 8:30 p.m.
This is the third edition of these four marvelous concerts; if you’re in town and looking for something live, classical, and non-Vivaldese, might be just the €3 ticket. They’re organized in collaboration with the Municipalità Lido Pellestrina and hosted by the Ristorante Nicely and the Hotel Ca’ del Moro. Whether you go for the concerts or for the cloister ambience, you won’t be disappointed.
Saturday, August 21
By Chopin
Celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of grand Polish composor, soprano Patrizia Zanardi and pianist Monica Cattarossi perform music of Chopin, Gounod, Bellini and Donizetti in the course of a concert-spectacle conceived and conducted by Giorgio Appolonia, with readings by Claudio Moneta.
Monday, August 23rd
Opera and chamber music: famous, rare, and overlooked
Korean tenor Yeong Hwa Matteo Lee and pianist Mattia Ometto enliven this rich concert e presented and conducted by Valentina Lo Surdo (a conductress of Radio 3 Rai) and featuring music of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, Francesco Paolo Tosti, Guido Alberto Fano, Ce Dong-Sun.
Friday, August 27
Music and Poetry of United Italy before the German Culture
Alessandra and Massimiliano Genôt (violino and piano) perform music of Giuseppe Martucci, Guido Alberto Fano, Leone Sinigaglia and Johannes Brahms, interwoven with poetry of Giovanni Camerana, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Arturo Graf, Guido Gozzano, Giosue Carducci.
Monday, August 30th
Ella von Schultz Adaïewsky: A Russian Musician in Venice.
Soprano Giulia Sonzin and the pianist Andrea Rucli perform music of the intriguing Saint Petersburg composer who spent long periods in Venice during the late 19th century. Presented by musicologist Umberto Berti.
Entrance is free for Lido residents; €3 for everyone else. All concerts begin at 8:30.
Take the vaporetto to Lido; San Nicolo is a 10-minute walk, or you can also take the bus.
For more info (in Italian) see archiviofano.it
Kids ride free on the ACTV
Jul 24, 2010 Instructions for Use
The Venice public transit company ACTV just announced that beginning September 1, kids under six years old can ride the vaporetto (water bus) and other public tranportation for free. This includes traveling kids, too.
The significant discounts offered by VeniceConnected.com with seven days or more advance purchase notwithstanding, outfitting little ones with pricey passes always seemed un po’ esagerata, a bit too much. But in an agreement announced Friday afternoon, ACTV said in these recession-conscious times it was going to try to do its part to curb transit fees.
Those traveling before September 1 will still have to pony up, but September should be bring welcome relief for traveling families.
p.s. Don’t forget too, about the €4 Rolling Venice card which entitles 14 to 29-year-olds to purchase the €33, 72-hour vap pass for €18, and includes a variety of other discounts, too. Purchase both on-site at any Tourist Info or HelloVenezia office.
Venice Redentore 2010: a one-night, in-town getaway
Jul 18, 2010 Events & Offerings, Vita venexiàn
The Comune estimated that there were over 110,000 visitors a Venezia for the Festa della Rendentore, most of them no doubt expecting to swelter in the oppressive heat that’s turned the city into sauna in recent weeks. A temporale, or intense storm, was predicted for about 11 p.m., just a half-hour before the half-hour long fireworks display was to begin; as disruptive as it would have been, if it in the end had provided any heat-relief I don’t think anyone would have complained.
It turned out to be nothing of the sort. As we were hanging the last of the vibrant lampioni (decorative lanterns) on our battela in Canal Grande, a not terribly ominous layer of cloud cover swirled overhead, providing a welcome shield from the afternoon sun. When it moved on — we could breathe again. Oxygen. Dryer air. Fewer gradi. Ready for the Redentore.
After a particularly taxing trip navigating the Grand Canal among boats of every shape and size, each filled to the brim with revelers, we rounded the Punta della Dogana and moored in the space reserved only for craft arriving by oar. Behind us, strewn along the fondamenta of the recently-renovated Punta della Dogana, a private dinner party with live music (American pop standards) was already in full swing. There will be many other nights like this, and I’ll be standing here with someone new…
After lots of food, traditional and otherwise, and even more chatting and general reveling, in our own boat and among the others surrounding us, it was finally time for the big show…sans temporale, fortunately.
(You can find larger versions of these photos on the Facebook page gallery.)
Fill up and download at free Wi-Fi cafe
Jun 22, 2010 Instructions for Use
Just a note for travelers to Venice (with apologies for not getting this posted sooner):
There is free Wi-Fi to be had at the cafe Tappa Obbligatoria on the Strada Nova between Campo San Sofia and the calle Ca d’Oro. Free. Just show up and connect.
They also have outdoor seating, great panini and tramezzini sandwiches, a few hot primi, and even a small room in the back for hiding out. So, you can fill up while you catch up.
If anyone discovers any more of these gems, please share.
(By the way, it’s just as “obligatory” to grab a refreshing gelato just down the Strada toward Campo Santi Apostoli on the same side…)
Tags: free, strada nova, venice, Wi-Fi
Cruise passengers (and there’re lots of you), rejoice and be moved.
Jun 9, 2010 ACTV, vaporetto, & city transit, Instructions for Use
The Peoplemover tram, inaugurated in late April to great fanfare, transfers passengers comfortably and sustainably in three minutes between Piazzale Roma and the Tronchetto parking facility. It is a welcome transit option for the masses of travelers and workers alike who come and go by car daily from the mainland. At its opening though, the Peoplemover was missing only one thing: the intermediate stop that services the Marittima cruise terminal. (Actually, the stop itself had been completed…but the tram just cruised on by.)
Never fear. As of now all tram stops are fully functional, meaning Marittima cruise passengers too can now reach Piazzale Roma quickly, comfortably, and economically.
Passengers just follow the sidewalk from the terminal parking lot to the tram stop; about a two-minute walk. Tickets are vended (€1 each, machines take euro coins or cash) from the machine on ground level. There’s an escalator or elevator provided to reach the tram platform, where every eight minutes (time to arrival is displayed on an overhead LED) a quiet, climate-controlled tram will arrive to ease passengers either to Tronchetto or (more likely) Piazzale Roma. There they can pick up VeniceConnected passes, purchase vaporetto tickets, hire a taxi, or walk to the city center.
The buck now stops here….and it’s a very convenient buck, too.
______
The Peoplemover is operational during the following hours:
Mon – Sat:
7a – 11p
Sun and holidays
8a – 10p (summer)
8:30a – 9p (winter)
Tags: peoplemover, Tronchetto, vaporetto, Venice arrival
