Recent Articles
Splashing in the Venetian New Year
Jan 1, 2010 Vita venexiàn 4 Comments
An estimated 30,000 people, undeterred by the high-water forecast, amassed to joyfully herald in the New Year yesterday evening as the ankle-deep tide washed over Piazza San Marco. Half of the revellers came from the mainland, the Comune surmised; the other half were locals and in-town lodgers. From the photos it looks like most donned rubber or plastic boots or even garbage bags to ward off wet feet while enjoying the festivities and the spectacular midnight fireworks display.
Here are are the photos from New Year’s Day Gazzettino. Now, don’t you wish you were there?
AP photo credit Luigi Costantini
Ba-aaaah-uon Anno!
Dec 31, 2009 Vita venexiàn 1 Comment
A friend from Greece (Mama Mia was shot on her island, for heaven’s sake) just sent me this photo. What it has to do with New Year’s, I’m not sure, but aren’t they the cutest things?
So, bah-ba-ah-ah-aah, 2009, and best wishes to all of us for a happy, properous – or maybe just even less challenging – 2010.
(Ba-aah…)
The sounds of sirens: acqua alta or Santa’s sleigh?
Dec 25, 2009 Vita venexiàn 3 Comments
The traditional, all-fish feast at a friend’s 4th floor home on Christmas Eve was interrupted by the audio warning for the event we’d already prepared for: the arrival later that evening of the 150cm (five-foot) tide:
“Disquieting,” was the word they used to describe the sound; inquietante. Fortunately, the sirens were followed not long after by bells from the San Marco campanile signaling the beginning, consecration, and end of midnight mass. Much more hopeful and comforting, they were. Between them and the capesanti, spaghetti con peoci, gamberi, tonno, pesce spada (scallops, spaghetti with clams, shrimp, tuna, swordfish), and Pan d’Oro, our spirits were lifted in short order.
By the time I left at about 1:15 am, the water was ankle-deep at the Ponte dei Giocatoli. It deepened just before I crossed into Campo Santi Apostoli, dried up along the Strada Nova, approached calf-high on the Misericordia.
The water’s still rising as I write, and will be til about 4:30 a.m. Good thing I’d taken my boots with me to dinner…
As I nod off to sleep, I can’t help but think of all the trash left on the streets that will be floating through the city canals on Christmas Day. Now, that’s disquieting. There oughta be a law.
In the meantime,
Merry Christmas to all…
and to all a dry night!
Does the Venetian lagoon ever freeze?
Dec 20, 2009 About Venice 2 Comments
In 1929, it did. How cold was it?
This cold. Walk-from-Fondamente-Nove-to-Murano cold.
1929 was a harsh winter for all of Europe…Venice included. A voga friend uploaded this archival video of Frozen Venice; they’d not experienced anything like it for over 100 years. (Check his YouTube site for more historic footage.)
Can you spot the vaporetto di una volta, from once upon a time?
After running a few errands and making it back inside just before my nose fell off, I’m still refusing to believe we’re gearing up for a similar experience this winter.
Speriamo bene (Hoping for the best)…
Michela’s gone iPhone with Venice eatery on-”tap” app.
Dec 10, 2009 Vita venexiàn 8 Comments
We knew she’d do it; it was only a matter of time. Michela Scibilia, one of our most reliable go-to girls for Many Things Venice has made it that much more convenient to have her eating and drinking preferences at the tip of your fingertips…if you have an iPhone, anyway.
TapVenice Eating may not be the most imaginative title ever, but it certainly forthright and more English and SEO friendly than Osterie e dintorni. That’s the perfectly logical title of the first Italian pub by Michela that I picked up over fourteen years ago to find my way around consumable Venice (the English title is Venice Osterie). Since she has also penned Venice: Botteghe and A comprehensive guide to the island of Murano. TapVenice could be the first in a series…ya think?)
Not surprisingly, the app is very well-organized and quite navigable: her recs are listed in alpha order, but you can also perform a multiple-criteria search: look for something near your current location, with outdoor seating or good wines or a kid-friendly spot, say; and of course, set your language for English or Italian (that’s right, locals rely on her too). There’s also a glossary for any “foresti” – Italian or otherwise – who might not be familiar with Venetian foods and dishes.
From the list, you can click on any eatery and discover a photo, description, relative price range, address, telephone number (reserve, please…and then show up), closing days, with both on- and offline maps, which means you don’t have to be online to get a locale’s location.
I’ve downloaded and installed the TapVenice app, I’ll be testing it out in the next days and will note any idiosyncrasies, should I find any. With Michela’s track record I don’t expect to, however.
For more images and info, click through to the TapVenice Eating web site. The app is $2.99 and available on the iTunes Store.
Any plans for additional formats, Michela? IMWTK… 
Peek inside Palazzo Dario
Nov 21, 2009 About Venice Leave a comment
Everyone knows the exotic Palazzo Dario and the unhappy ends met by some of its owners, as endlessly recounted in guidebooks and Grand Canal tours. You may also have spotted the inscription on the garden wall in Campiello Barbaro behind it, installed there by one-time-owner and extensive renovator, the Contessa De La Baume-Pluvinel:
In questa casa antica dei Dario,
Henri de Régnier—
poeta di Francia—
venezianamente visse e scrisse—
anni 1899-1901.
“In this antique home of Dario,
Henri de Régnier — poet of France —
‘Venetianly’ lived and wrote —
from 1899-1901.”
You’ve probably only seen the inside, though, if you’ve inquired about purchasing it.
This Corbis gallery of photographs by Massimo Listri offers a rare look at the palazzo’s extraordinarily opulent interior. You can see how someone might be tempted to risk their fortune to live there.
Finally, for more background on this intriguing Palazzo, take a look at scholar Diana Wright’s notes.
