Tag: Venice
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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…
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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…
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Severe warning
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…
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A room with a view
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)
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The Abandoned Islands of the Venetian lagoon
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…
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Phone unloaded
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…
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Regata di Mestre
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,…
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St. Mark’s paddle
April 25th is the day of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice since his relics were taken to the city in AD 828. I haven’t heard of any official celebration, maybe because the day coincides with the national celebration of the liberation of Italy after WWII. Anyway, Marco (not San Marco, just Marco 🙂…
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Dear Venice, happy 1588th birthday
On Annunciation Day in AD 421, on the 25th of March, three Roman tribunes from the nearby Roman city of Padova participated in the consecration of the St. Giacometo church at Rivus Altus in the Venetian lagoon, thus formally founding the city of Venice. In the years that followed the Roman Empire broke down and…
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Theme park Venice
Venice used to be a big city. Actually, it used to be a small empire, but that’s a few centuries ago now. Venice grew slowly from 130,000 in 1861 to almost 175,000 persons in 1951, but since then the city has almost collapsed, with an exodus from the city on water to the city on…
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Poor gondolieri
The gondolieri of Venice are a poor bunch, working day and night and hardly managing to scrape a living out of their business. There are only about 400 professional gondolieri prowling the canals of the city with tourists. The official rate is €80 for 40 minutes, and a further €40 for 20 minutes more. This…