Venice-Art-Tours Blog

Odds and ends about Venice...

VOGALONGA RACE... This past Sunday was held a long boat race (oars only): S Marco-around Burano - down the Grand Canal to S Marco. Not really a race, a sort of fun endurance contest, although there is a race component for the very serious boaters. Gets many locals (Venetians and terra firma), but also Italian, English, American, and other rowing enthusiasts. Some boats have 20 rowers, but also there are kayaks.  Some sensible rowers stop and have lunch in Burano before continuing. Get the idea?  Here's a boat going by our house in Venice.

NO PIC-NIC... Last month the City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting eating and drinking in St Mark's Square except at the 3 cafes (Lavena, Florian's, and Quaddri's). The reason was that hordes of tourists (mainly day-tripping Italians who bring their lunches with them, but also foreigners who buy take-away food) look on any public place as a picnic ground. Besides the litter it causes, it also blocks crowd movement as tourists sit on any available stair or open surface. The city hired six "policemen of decorum" who are to enforce this. Ahem.

A few days ago I was in S Mark's Square and the area called the Piazzetta dei Leoncini, adjacent to the Basilica, was covered with "diners". I saw no police on patrol whisking away paninis and coke bottles, and no summons issued. Just when you thought, aha, action...nope. In fact, debate at city hall is continuing, gnawing, as it were, at the problem of what constitutes eating and drinking...a swig of a plastic bottle? A candy bar? A throat lozenge? A tablecloth? It's the Venetian way, nothing happens. We see it daily with the African bag sellers who purvey counterfeit (illegal) products and who seriously (illegally) block the streets, often in the spaces in front of the very shops which sell the legitimately licensed merchandise. Venice refuses to arrest or even chase them, some say, for fear of being accused of racism(!). Although it's not approaching Glastonbury proportions, the St Mark's Picnic Ground (Leoncini) and the St Mark's Bazaar (Calle Marzo XXII) are thriving. "Hey, who's got the pepperoni?"  or "Hey, Baby, wanna buy a bag?"

CHOCOHOLICS ALERT...There is a newish (8 mos?) chocolatier in town called Visio Virtu (Vice and Virtue).It is on the calle perpendicular to the calle leading to/from the S Toma vaporetto stop. While I do not have the affliction of chocoholicism, I must admit their stuff is exquisite. All kinds of chocolate including pepperoncini chocolate for hot heads. There's thick hot chocolate to drink but also thick cold chocolate to drink (and not chocolate milk), an unusual thirst quencher, I guess for fanatics. Art lovers may appreciate their chocolate sculptures which are far superior to anything at the Palazzo Grassi (Pinault) or the Guggenheim. People at Visio Virtu are sweet, too.

GRAVE EVENTS...There are 20 regions in Italy, similar to states in the USA. Venice is situated in the region called The Veneto. In fact, its headquarters is in Venice on the Grand Canal. The Veneto, because of its industry and the solid work habits of the northern Italians, is one of the richest and most productive and prosperous. Last week, apparently, the Regional Council of the Veneto, late at night, voted themselves a new benefit: €15,000 of funeral expenses. "I don't think it's outrageous for Councilors to have their funerals paid for, as recognition for 10 or 15 years of public service," said Veneto regional council president Marino Finozzi. But now that it hit the papers, other councilars are trying to dig themselves out of the hole. That's a funeral gondola in the pic.

BEST STANDUP BREAKFAST in Venice is at Tonolo on the corner of the Crosera and Calle S Pantalon in Dorsoduro between the Frari and Campo S Pantalon. The people there are the friendliest and most efficient in Venice. Too many superlatives? Go to the back and, although it may be crowded, the blond woman making the best cappuccino in town will notice you and ask you what you'd like. Like most bars there will be a pastry, but Tonolo has a very wide, freshly baked selection, including sfoglia di mela, an apple thing in a flaky pastry, my favourite. Not enough superlatives.

 

Calatrava Bridge - addendum

Last week's blog featured the so-called fourth bridge to be erected across the Grand Canal.

The day  or two after I wrote it, Mr Calatrava himself was interviewed in the national newspaper, Corriere della Sera, and he said some interesting things, such as:

The increased costs and delays are due to the Commune of Venezia who undertook construction and installation responsibilities. This was in stark contrast to the other 25 bridges he has designed and built around the world where Calatrava handled the entire project.

Calatrava states that the delays are solely due to the Commune of Venice which always selected the lowest bidder despite the fact that the companies selected were manifestly unqualified. The lowest bidder mandate is in compliance with Italian law even if some of the bidders had no experience in bridge buildng and never even worked in steel before, or they were too small or under-financed to undertake the project.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves...

The longest bridge in the world...

The Calatrava Bridge, named after its Spanish architect, is intended to be the 4th bridge spanning the Grand Canal, specifically connecting Piazzale Roma to the train station. It is a high tech project, highly futuristic with components including istrian stone, glass and steel. It is 94 metres long and 6 to 9 meters wide. It is the longest bridge in the world because it has been under construction for well-nigh 12 years! This week we found out its new arrival date is early next year (ahem). Since 1994 it has been rumoured to be arriving soon. Soon never came.  It is sitting in our suburb of Marghera undergoing changes, vetting, etc.

At Piazzale Roma, our bus terminal area, there are professionally done (years ago) large signs heralding the bridge's arrival, signs which have faded in the sun and rain and which no one regards without shaking his head. The area is an unfinished building site. The latest fiasco is that it has been determined that the canal bank area which will support the bridge may not, in fact, be able to support it. The cost has kept more than pace with inflation. Originally set at €4.7 million, new extimates are at €12.70 million plus.

Here is Wikipedia's take: "lights will be set in the floor of the bridge to create a path of light spanning the canal, clearly visible at night.The structure will be accessible to the disabled: a cabin for transporting the disabled will be hidden in the pylons at the base of the bridge when not in use, appearing only when it is needed. The structure will have room for two and travel along a track, stopping at the top of the bridge to permit enjoyment of the view (!!). The futuristic "walkway" will be a highly evocative addition to the Venetian landscape, with its architectural evidence of over a thousand years of history. The hi-tech components of Calatrava's bridge will provide the city with a prominent landscape and provoke viewers with its ostentatious modernity. (exclamation points mine)"
Those of you who had hoped to see this 4th bridge may wish to email me in a few years for a progress report.

Finally, speaking of bridges, lately  Mayor Cacciari has suggested that the Accademia Bridge be replaced and since Venice has no money for that, he would like a sponsor to come forward and he even mentioned Bill Gates as a possibility. Guess it would be called, according to my friend Mike Hurak, the Accademia-Microsoft Bridge, Powered By Google.

What Kind of Weather is this?

Great Weather. It was not the reason we moved to Venice but, boy, what serendipity it is. I guess we were always consciously and subconsciously aware of the miserable weather in England. Driving to work from Cambridge to Stevenage every day, half the time in a uniquely British meteorological phenomenon called Freezing (or Frozen) Fog, was not the conscious reason we left England...or was it? I mention this because here in Venice we have had four weeks of nothing but sun. What glorious weather, 18°-25°. Clouds? Omigod, there's one, quick, photograph it! Farmers are complaining, alas, poor sods. 

Ten minutes ago the first raindrops in a month landed. I am not worried, sol will return subito.

Congratulations to Francis (Frank) O'Halloran who turned 50 on Shakespeare's birthday. A lovely chap with hundreds of friends: shown below from his altana on the Giudecca.