René’s old blog

This site is some twenty-five years old, and it contains lots of ancient stuff, much of it utterly dated and useless.

Sorry about that.

If anything, I post very unevenly, and about whatever occupies me.

Some featured posts

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Most recent posts

  • Lagoon turtle

    Lagoon turtle

    There aren’t many reptile species in the lagoon of Venice. The lucertole are all over,there are snakes on some islands, and apparently one species of pond turtle, though I’ve never seen one of the those. Yesterday, however, I saw what looked like a different kind of turtle. We were paddling across the Canale delle Navi,…

  • New blogs on the Paddling Planet

    I’ve been sitting on some updates for the Paddling Planet site for a while, but now they’re all in. The new ones are: Kayak Noise Marc Charron’s Blog My kayak Adventures Kollbergs Kajakblogg The Seven Settlements I’m sorry for the belated updates, but the Venetian waters have been more severely underpaddled that I had anticipated…

  • Pied a terre – Venetian style

    Pied a terre – Venetian style

    One day as I was paddling through some of the smaller canals in the sestiere S.Marco, close to the Fenice, I spotted this little sign in a window directly on the canal: The sign reads: “Pied a terre of 50 mq, completely restored with high quality details”. Even though I was looking for a place…

  • Jump

    Jump

    At high tide the water in the canals at Murano is clean enough for the local children to swin and play in the water. The kids were jumping from the bridge in front of the medieval church SS. Marie e Donato.

  • Shiny luxus yacht

    Shiny luxus yacht

    There’s a place at Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, in the Bacino S. Marco, which is used for mooring shiny luxus yachts – some of which are very shiny. S.Marco reflected in the side of a yacht Myself and two others with S.Giorgio Maggiore in the background, reflected in the same yatch.

  • Vogalonga 2009

    Vogalonga 2009

    The 35th Vogalonga was held on May 31st, on the Sunday following Ascension as tradition dictates. The Vogalonga is a 30km non-competitive “race” through the city of Venice and the lagoon. It starts a 9 from St. Mark’s with a cannon shot, and proceeds around Sant’Elena, past the islands of Certosa, Le Vignole, Sant’Erasmo, San…

  • Crab jumping for it’s life

    Crab jumping for it’s life

    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…

  • Two weeks and already notorious
  • Bridge of the Skies

    Bridge of the Skies

    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…