We have said goodbye to our old gondola. It has become impossible to keep it well, so we have donated it to the museum on the Lazzaretto Nuovo
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Goodbye Gondola
Category: Rowing in Venice
Short video of me rowing dressed as a 1950s US Army colonel
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La Ruvida
Today we went rowing in Venice. Is a hard job, but somebody’s got to do it.
This year’s Regata Storica was held on September 6th, and we went down to look in our gondola, which we moored just opposite the Erberia close to Rialto.
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Gondoliere practise
Waiting for the Carnival procession on the Canal Grande at the traghetto San Samuele we enjoyed the view of two gondolieri practising the manoeuvres they need to do the operate the traghetto. They needed to turn the boat repeatedly and fast, to navigate the current and waves the other traffic caused and to enter the […]
The Venetian carnival has just started, and one of the first events is the Festa dei Veneziani, which more or less implies that the rest of the carnival is not for or of the Venetians, which is also entirely true. The first part of this feast is a procession of Venetian rowing boats through most […]
Antonio Vivaldi, the composer from the 18th century who wrote The Four Seasons, also wrote operas to be performed in Venetian theatres. They were rather modern for their time, and one of Vivaldi’s critics published a pamphlet against him, called “Il teatro alla moda“, which has an interesting incision on the cover. It shows a […]
which is fair enough, as she’s Venetian. Video by René Seindal, music by Beethoven, Sonata no.8 performed by Daniel Veesey.
There’s another type of Venetian rowing using two oars. It is probably less well know than the one oar type used in the gondolas of Venice. Voga alla valesana involves using two oars simultaneously, crossed. It can be quite tricky.
We went rowing inside the area of the ancient navy docks of the Venetian Republic and took some videos. Here’s one of me rowing Venetian style, voga alla veneta, in our small sandolo.
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A day a-rowing
Last year we bought a small Venetian rowing boat, a s-ciopon, which is one of the smallest traditional Venetian boats. Usually I just fool around in the lagoon near the Certosa island, but yesterday I took it to Venice. I rowed over to the bus terminal at Piazzale Roma to pick up Martina at 19.30 […]
My winter project this year is to learn how to row a gondola well enough to move around the canals of Venice. For now, however, we’re rowing in the area of the Certosa, Vignole and Sant’Erasmo Islands in the lagoon.
Maybe one of the best things about the Regata Storica is that practically no motorboats are allowed. The Canalazzo returns to some of its original splendor, full of slow and elegant movement, blurred reflections and magical light.
The main event of the Regata Storica is no doubt the men’s race in gondolini, which are very slender gondolas designed especially for racing. The race has for years been a two team match, between the cousins Rudy and Igor Vignotto (this year in the brown boat) and Ivo Tezzat and Giampaolo d’Este (orange). The […]
A caorlina is a traditional Venetian cargo boat. Originally they were rowed by two persons, but now they’re almost exclusively used for racing, with six oarsmen. Even if they’re big and heavy, with six rowers they’re still fast.
The main race for women during the Regata Storica is fought in mascarete, which is medium sized sandolo traditionally associated with female rowers. In the last years the race in mascarete had been dominate by the couple Luisella Schiavon and Giorgia Ragazzi. With this year’s victory they have won five Regata Storica in a row, […]
The first race of the Regata Storica appears to me more about participating than winning, even if the rowers might think otherwise. Our maybe there were just several races with a lot of participants passing in close succession. There should be a race for young rowers in pupparini , which are beautiful long slender sandoli. […]
The initial part of the Regata Storica is a pageant of Venetian boats. Local rowing clubs have some really remarkable boats, like gondolas with 10, 12 or 14 oarsmen, or a peata which is a huge cargo boat used on the rivers. Some boats are from associations that try to promote Venetian rowing like Viva […]
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Regata Storica 2013
The Regata Storica is the most important rowing event in Venice. It always takes place on the first Sunday of September, this year on the first of September.
