I was afraid this footage that Marisa passed along wasn’t getting enough visibility…although looking closer, this youtube user has a begun posting a series of Venetian archival film, and it’s just marvelous (just look how calm that water is). This is from when vaporetti were vapor-powered?
Gondola, schmondola. Last Sunday, September 29th, the Remiera Cannaregio held their first ever all-woman regata for its own members, le Donne NeroVerde (thus the green shirts). I didn’t feel confident enough to participate, and although I regret it, I would never have gotten these great pics to share with the gang if I had. The majority are not pros, or agoniste — heck, we’re not even Seria B — although you’ll easily spot the more experienced among them. They are instead enthusiasts in the truest sense of the word, as you’ll see by the looks on their faces. Che divertimento.
We’ll have to find another photographer the next time though, perchè la prossima volta, ci sarò anch’io (I am so there)!
If you’d rather, just scan the photos in the gallery below:
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(Music credit: “Alegria” from Cirque de Soleil).
The massive center section of the Ponte di Calatrava, the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal that will connect Piazzale Roma with the Ferrovia (train station), was ported up-rio just before midnight on Tuesday, August 7th, before numerous fans and revelers (along with some less-than-enthusiatic onlookers), all positioned along the Canal at their outpost-of-choice to take in the spectacle. As for us, we waited at the Accademia Bridge for our first glimpse, then once the procession had past, maneuvered ourselves to below the Rialto as Calatrava & Co. maneuvered themselves around the first curve. We then tracked the bridge and its entourage under and beyond the Rialto (by far the most difficult passage, I think), and then, as we arrived in the Campiello Remer for some parting shots, I heard a voice overhead: Nen, Nenna! It was Liviana, gathered with some friends in an empty apartment (she rents them) above the Canal. Vieni su!
Bentornato! After ten years of restoration conducted underneath a series of imaginative scaffolding coverings that included depictions of the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building and Tower of Pisa, the newly restored Torre dell’Orologio, or Clock Tower, was celebrated back into our company on May 27th, from 10p to midnight in Piazza San Marco. This photo of the moors here is from their web site, and is definitely a “before” image, as they’re gleaming now…
A few photos from the event. One of my favorite parts were the guys that scaled the walls of the campanile…it seemed if they were moving underwater as they rapelled out in slow motion, in time to the music. I’m so sorry there’s no soundtrack.
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The tower origin dates from 1453, with significant replacements and modifications to the interior movments occurring in the mid-1700s and again in the mid 19th century.
To help preserve these intricate workings, visits to interior will no longer be permitted. But once the restoration is indeed completed, the giant Moors will finally once again be tolling the hours for us from high above, perhaps for another five hundred years. I hope to go this evening, if a recent bout with the flu doesn’t make me reconsider. (Didn’t know you could vogare with a fever, did you?) If I make it, I’ll take photos… And by the way, the Venice Gospel Festival began last Thursday with a gondola concert, is continuing with workshops and competitions, and will finish with a concert of over 300 voices in the San Marco Basilica, no less, at 4:30p on Sunday, May 28th. What a marvelous and surreal event that will be!
It’s a brilliant day here; it’s also -3, or about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I just looked out the window to the canal below, and noticed a film skimming the surface of the water surrounding the boat where some workers are loading materials for a massive garden they’re refurbishing. What, I thought indignantly, is that some sort of detergent residue oozing out of their boat?
Nope. It’s ice.
People sometimes ask if the canals ever freeze over. Well, I certainly have never seen it myself, although I know they have from time to time…but not often. There’s a depiction by Gabiel Bella in the Querini-Stampalia of people skating on a solid-surface lagoon, so obviously, it’s gotten a lot worse than a skimming of ice! The lagoon is fairly shallow where the ice is showing up in the above photo, so I don’t imagine we’ll be frozen over here anytime soon. Supposed to snow on Thursday, though.
That’s a great little collection, by the way, in the palazzo and museo Querini-Stampalia on Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Gabriel Bella is less of a Venetian master than a master chronicler, and provides a delightful opportunity to relive a little of i tempi passati, times gone by. There are paintings of political events, the Doge’s Palace in action, ceremonies, festas, pastimes, etc. There’s a depiction of the Tiepolo revolt (you know, the Vecia del Morter), a marriage at the Salute, one of the famous fights on the Ponte dei Pugni, and one of my favorites, the Ridotto, the notorious 17c gambling house that was practically the ruin of the Venetian nobility, so much so that they finally ordered the Ridotto closed (and where in order to play you had to wear the famous bauta costume, comprised of the white larva mask, a tricorno trimmed in white lace, and woolen cape).
The Querini is far too often overlooked by travelers. Stop by to see the Bellini family portrait (in the guise of Gesù being presented at the Temple), painted by Giovanni (he’s the one looking at you), and the spectacular renovation by genious architect Paolo Scarpa, just for starters.
What does that have to do with ice, for heavens sake? Oh well, back to work…