Pali...

                                                

                         Pali, old and new.

 

Pali are the long wooden poles to which Venetian boat owners tie their crafts. They are installed by the city and paid for by the boat owner...and you gotta have one. Unfortunately, they deteriorate in about 4 years and need replacing, paid for by the boat owner, but provided by the city at about 300 euro each.  Solution? Plastic Pali, colorised to look like stressed old-fashioned pali. And they never rot. They are popping up all over Venice, and the city is not installing them, individuals are; and the city is livid. Livid because the new ones are not traditional, and, also, they are not part of the city's income stream. The new ones cost about Euro 500 each, but they last forever, until stolen. Also, they are manufactured to look very much like wood. So next time you are in Venezia, take a look at another way the city is changing.

Remember that line from the movie, The Graduate?  Plastics. There's the future. Plastic gondolas?