René Seindal

Yesterday I was paddling around Venice with a German couple and their daughter. The girl was almost mesmerised by the crabs scuttling around on the walls and steps on the rii, so daddy picked one up to show her, then put it down on the kayak so it could get on with its life.

I tried to get a photo of the crab on the kayak, but the camera wouldn’t obey, and I missed it.

At least I thought I missed it.  When I zoomed in a bit I found that I had caught the crab in mid jump

This evening I felt I had deserved another ice cream, since I had been very productive at the computer. I had been down for one in the afternoon, but why not two on a warm and sunny day.

I go down to the Gelateria S. Stae, 50m down the salizada, I say hi to the girl behind the counter, who remembers me from the afternoon, so I tell her that I’d been working hard all day and that I feel I’ve deserved a second ice cream of the day.  She asks what I’m doing for work. I answer “kayaking in Venice”. She starts jumping up and down, screaming “Its you. Its you”. I no doubt looked rather baffled, but she was delighted with her discovery, so I just waited for the explanation.

They had realised that in this modern world, if you don’t have a web site, you don’t exist, so they have started making a web site. In preparation of that, they entered “Gelateria San Stae” in Google, and found the above photo, which I had taken and uploaded to Flickr a while ago, to express my delight that I had a quality ice cream place near my new home. Via my Flickr profile they arrived at Venice Kayak, where there’s a photo of me, hence the “Its you. Its you” cry

I was then forced to leave a stack of my cards for their clients, and to accept an ice cream on the house, which I reluctantly accepted   Their sabaglione, called Venexiana, and an ice cream with pear grappa are really good.

They’re restoring the back side of the Palazzo Ducale and the corresponding side of the Prigioni Nove, both facing the Rio Canonica. The Bridge of Sighs  connect these two buildings across the canal.

To get funds for the restauration works they have sold advertising rights to the façades being restored, and the sponsor have clad them in blue.

It makes a paddle down that rio an almost surreal experience, and even if the Bridge of Sighs is still visible, it just isn’t the same experience.  On the other hand, we  can hardly complain that the city is maintaining our common heritage.

Most mooring places in Venice are given in concession to private or commercial users by the Magistrato delle Acque, the magistrate of the waters, and they’re not supposed to be used by any others. This is not always respected, and the concessionary of this space have had enough of free riders.

The sign reads: “Don’t moor (here), or at my return I will untie your boats, leaving it to its destiny. Tired of moving boats. Concession N. XXXX”

Seen in Rio di S. Severo, May 17th, 2009.

Houses are close to each other in Venice, and apartments often a bit dark because of the narrow streets.

Here’s the view from my bedroom. The salizada below is even rather wide compared to many calli around the city.

(view out, view left, view right)

In 1978 two Venetian men in their mid twenties rowed around the lagoon of Venice, photographing all the abandoned islands there.  The result was a book with photographic documentation of the state of abandonment of each island.

Recently, some thirty years after, the book has been republished, now with a English parallel text and some recent pictures of some of the islands.  Some islands are in a  better state, but others are much worse.

As a frequent traveller in the lagoon this book was a must have, and  I bought it a few days ago.

Many of the islands in the book are places I have been many times, and as recently as this week I have been to S.Giacomo in Palude, Lazzaretto Novo, Sant’Ariano and La Cura, taking my own photos of the state of disrepair or recovery of each.  As a historian it is very hard not to be intrigued and curious about the ruins and the past of these islands, and this book is a great help in understanding why the islands are like the are now.

Here are a few picture I’ve taken in the last week from some of the islands (left to right: S.Giacomo in Palude, La Cura and Sant’Ariano):

I still haven’t read it all. Many of the texts are reproduced from old descriptions of the lagoon islands, mostly 19th century texts, and the Italian is quite hard to read. The English text is a lot easier, but it feels almost like cheating

The book is:

Isole abbandonate della laguna veneta
The Abandoned Islands of the Venetian Lagoon
by Giorgio and Maurizio Crovato,
London (San Marco Press Ltd), 2009 (orig. 1978)
ISBN 0955813867

Ten percent of the price will go a Venice related charity, depending on where in the world the book is bought. In Italy the money goes to the association that takes care of the Lazzaretto Novo island, which has been recuperated and restored since the first edition of the book.

I have a quite decent camera in my mobile phone, and often take photos where I go, but I also often forget to download them to the computer. I did that today, and here’s a selection of point-and-shoot photos from we left Denmark in early April until now here in Venice.

The phots are in chronological order, from April 2nd until May 14th.

We met this rather violent viking lorry somewhere in Germany – every surface was covered with painting of savage vikings murdering and pillaging. Notice the monk being attacked on the beach.

Its a bit tiring driving long hours, so I  had a nap on a lawn somewhere in France.

Fancy a nap with your head on this pillow?  We spotted it in a parked car in Port de la Selva in Spain.

At the symposium dinner they prepared a special Catalan drink which had to burn for a while before being drunk.

Paella is good – we shared this wiith a bunch of Sicilian friends, Nigel Dennis and one of his coaches.

This is a patisserie in Carcassonne, in the city below the walls.

This fellow we met at the markets in Nîmes. I smiled back and walked on

The Pont du Gard just outside Nîmes.

In Venice I found a place to stay in the city, and here is all my stuff in two Ikea bags as I wait for the vaporetto at Piazzale Rome.

The apartment is close to Campo S. Giacomo dell’Orio, which is a very cozy place.

There’s a small supermarket at S. Giacomo dell’Orio, and one day I found this fellow tied to the old well outside the shop.

There’s a small war going on Riva degli Schiavoni. The area is full of tourists, and therefore also of illegal immigrants selling counterfeit goods, like  designer bags and belts. The local shop keepers have put out signs warning people not to buy the counterfeit products, and complain loudly that the police don’t do anything.  The other day there were some policemen on the bridges, and the immigrants had moved somewhere else.

This is an Italian monument, but still with a fiece lion of St. Mark’s.

I know this guy who’s having and ice cream on the steps at Campo S. Stae. There’s a very nice gelateria in the Salizada S. Stae about 100m behind the church.

In the Salizada S. Stae there’s a house with model wind mills on all of the first floor. I have no idea why.

One day on the vaporetto stop returning from the Lido to Riva degli Schiavoni they had these huge water bags lying on a platform. It wasn’t clear why, but it might be a stress test of a new vaporetto platform.

I saw this beagle at St. Mark’s. He’s French, thirteen years old and in fine health.

Walking down the Salizada S. Stae you hardly notice the campanile towering over your head.

There are many rowing regattas in and around Venice during the summer, with various kinds of boats participating.

The Regata di Mestre is the first of the season, and it was held last Sunday, May 10th.

My initial plans were to watch it from a kayak, but Mother’s Day intervened causing friends to stay home, so in the end I walked to Sacca San Girolamo in the Cannaregio area, from where I had a good view of the canal where the race had to pass.

Mestre is a city on the mainland, but the race started from Murano north of Venice, touched the NW corner of the city in the Cannaregio area, before heading towards towards San Giuliano on the mainland, on the outskirts of Mestre.

I was watching at the mid point, so I didn’t get to see the finish, and I still don’t know who won.

I’ve just heard from Justine than she and Berry have arrived safely in Fertilia, thus finishing their circumnavigation of Sardinia.

Not clever finishing on May 1st. May 1st is a holiday in Italy and everything is closed

Congratulations to Justine and Berry. Sardinia is such a fantastic place, and I can’t wait until I hear more of their adventures.