René Seindal

I’m not quite sure what to think about this, but I’m fairly confident a lot of Venetian rowers wouldn’t like the way these gondolas are punted rather than rowed.

http://www.gondolagreg.com/2011/12/more-gondolas-in-egypt.html

Unless you’re in the police

The entrance of the Arsenale is across a small bridge over a narrow canal. Officially the canal is closed to traffic, if not for any other reason that it is too narrow and the bridge too low for most boats.

Most of the navy people guarding the entrance don’t mind our passing under the bridge, but every once in a while some particularly obnoxious official will claim that the area under bridge is military even if the canal is clearly public and well outside the marked military area.

Still haven’t seen a crab in uniform under there, and they’re plentiful, so I don’t believe the annoyed officials and pass anyway.

The entrance of the Arsenale (the navy docks) in Venice is guarded by two huge lion statues, the most beautiful and majestic animal statues I have ever seen.

Ambulance speeding down the Canal Grande – whenever you here a siren there you better move out of the way.

We later saw the ambulance at Campo San Barnaba, where they picked up a little boy who was hurt, but not more than he could walk on board the ambulance and there was no siren on their return.

There’s a speed limit of 5km/h in Venice, for all private motorized vessels.

This seems to have missed that memo, though.

A few photos from a 6am paddle yesterday morning.

I often tell people that if they get too playful when we’re kayaking, and forget to take the traffic in the city seriously, but on these photos, taken at 7.30 in the morning at a very low tide, it does look like I’m wrong.

We spent a day in the mountains on Sunday, for a walk up to one of the refuges, on a rather grey and sometimes rainy day. The clouds were beautiful, though.

More photos after the fold.

(more…)