Buongiorno Venezia

not only high tides. also sulphation is a menace for Venice. The sulphur emissions of engines operating in the city are causing marbles and stones to get more fragile than ever. imagine marble turning into chalk.

a Committee for Public Health is trying to inform people and have them sign a petition, also with a public demonstration held yesterday - which was not so successful because of the rain.

according to studies, the present rate of the corrosion will put the palazzi in real danger in few years, and the committee is asking to replace the polluting engines. if you had thought that venice was safe against air pollution, because there a no cars after piazzale roma’s border, then think of ships, cruise ships and motor boats (and the close industrial area), and you’ll figure out the size of the problem.

rumors are that a few of the best known hotels in venice are for sale. and it’s no secret that a lot of typical bars and restaurants, and hotels in venice have been bought by chinese companies. at the beginning the residents cried out at the “scandal”, then they got accustomed. chinese have some similarities with venetians, as both peoples mind to make money (since the times of Marco Polo, they found a way to understand each other doing business, and in such a great way).  but i am digressing.

what i was commenting about is the existence of rumors. if they are retreated, it is likely that the news is not (yet) true. but the rumor has some authenticity in it, as it testifies a probably real ”intention”. venetians like to talk so much, and talk so much, that it is easy to the to have the real news slip from their mouth, sometimes on purpose, sometimes unintentionally (maybe with the help of some prosecco wine).

in the end: are these rumors true? probably it is: in venice, saying “there is no negotiation” is the equivalent to saying that “negotiations are on (and just in case, if you have a better offer……. show up.)”

but beware of news, in these period: the April’s fool (in italian Pesce d’Aprile that is April Fish) is still swimming around!

so Alexandra made it, she is the first woman gondolier. but a private gondolier. only a half victory.

update of April 4: in response to Clodia’s comment. i understand it’s kind of shocking and may not be not very feminine to see a woman rowing like a man in the Grand canal. i think this is all about breaking barriers (and making money: don’t forget it’s a great adveertising campaign for the hotel which hired and supported her).

yes, we are surprised. there are contradictions, always: in italy we may be more or less proud of one existing woman gondolier, whilst we begin hearing stories of (how many?) of immigrated women who cannot decide about their own future because “other cultures” (which are only excuses to some men’s power) state that women are inferior beings, which can be segregated, used, beaten and abused. women fought hard to get their independence, and it’s not over. in italy we want to look forward, not backwards, and have different cultures enrich each other. so if Alexandra can be an example of an independent life, i applaude. even though i truly prefer a smiling guy to drive me in the gondola

about gondolas:

http://www.veniceword.com/gondola.html

spent nearly the whole day in rice fields today. not far from venice… i’ll tell you more about this later on. it rained and rained in past days, the brown clods were soaked in the very moring., when the sunshine began warming the earth up, the water slowly evaporated, and you could see transparent clouds a few centimeters above the earth, all over. but the most impressive thing was the total silence, as no one works in the fields in this season.

had risi e tastasale  for lunch. well, this is not for vegans…

i’ll never forget how two young boys helped a couple with the husband’s wheelchair this morning. quite heavy rain, the slippy ground and a bridge to pass. A wheelchair with a heavy man on it, unable to move by himself. The man kept on “apologizing” while the guys around him had become 4 people, who were heading to school and work, and did not understand much of his English. But no words were necessary. “We had not noticed the bridge in our map”, the Dutch couple  said; they had rented a small apt in Santa Croce, and were trying the shortest way to the IUAV, our Architecture University, so they had expected the path to be smooth. But the short way may not the best one in Venice.

Accessibility is still a fancy word in Venice. modern laws and restrictions apply to brand new activities only (one of the reason why we are still waiting for permission to open our new office in venice, is that whilst the Italian law obliges us to provide entrance accessibility and one accessible bathroom, at the same time the Safeguard may forbid it for the sake of the integrity and beauty of the palazzo. Everyone understands this is a contradiction, and the solution is (i guess) spending a long time in meditation. meditate, people, let’s meditate. Ommmmm…..

“It is my intention” Mayor Massimo Cacciari said, “to entirely rebuild the Accademia Bridge which, in my opinion, is a wooden piece of junk. The municipality is tired of spending millions of euros on its maintenance every few years.” To journalists’ questions about the cost of the project, the mayor replied that “money is the last of the problems because the world is full of architects who would design the new bridge for nothing and of sponsors who would back the project financially.”

hope it works better than the fund raising for the carnival. btw, did also architect calatrava work for free at the new 4th bridge?

the talk of the town. as many others, last week we were informed that a group of music students in an educational tour from different parts of the USA was arriving in Venice in a couple of days and planning to do some performing at Piazza San Marco and maybe join a small group of young local musicians. The problem is that they needed 3 cellos (didn’t take the ones from there, because it was too expensive and maybe they feared some damages in the trasportations, and maybe some troubles with customs). Their parents in the States started to search the cellos for rent in venice, via phone and mail. Anyone from Conservatorio to the Tourism bureau was alerted. We were too, at VeniceWord.com . The concert was planned for Saturday night, March 10th. A cry for help

What happened? Everyone started calling friends, shops, institutions, with the result that the same people were called several times in the day. So when you called someone, he or she regularly answered “I already know. and the answer is no”. No? why?

i’m reporting, so please do not shoot the pianist.

first of all, Venice is neither NY nor LA. it’s a small town with 50,000 residents (less than pigeons, 60-70,000). so you cannot expect to have the same services you would find in the States.

No cellos for rent in venice, simply. and there seemed to be a very low budget for the rent (this was the passed-on word: not hard to believe, as they were students): otherwise, mountains would have been moved to bring in cellos from anywhere, Milan or Rome.

to venetians, the inquire was considered not so far from a lending request. But: cellos are expensive, personal, delicate instruments. the less expensive cellos cost about 600 euros (made in China: who would use them in a concert? an expert told me), the “regular” ones cost thousands of euro (would you lend yours to an unknown student?). More: the 10th of March is Saturday, and even admitting that some artist could lend a cello, Saturday evening is usually already booked for concerts.

we did not hear from them again. no idea what happened. given circumstances and time, i guess they were only able to rent some guitars. too bad, if so. many people were really willing to help (me included), but there was nowhere else to ask to.

end of the story (and lessons to learn, for anyone): lesson one, collect as much information as possible in advance, for any plan and travel. lesson two, do not expect red carpets. and bring your own musical instrument if possible!

When high tide (”acqua alta”) comes to Venice, so do the catwalks - raised platforms that let pedestrians walk above the water level. The catwalks have some drawbacks, however. They float when the water level is higher than 120 cm., and they tend to be slippery. To overcome these problems, a new catwalk prototype is being tested. It’s made of wood and WPC, a thermoplastic polymer, it doesn’t float, and it provides surer footing. The prototype was presented to the mayor last week, and a dozen are being installed near the city hall to test their effectiveness.

the mayor’s sense of humor is legendary. he is so sure that the MOSE won’t work against acqua alta….  anyway, well done.

On 20 February, Shrove Tuesday, the Carnival ended with splendid fireworks over the S. Mark’s Basin. This was a record edition thanks, in part, to Spring-like temperatures, and the last week accounted for more than 600,000 visitors (870,000 for the entire Carnival period).

You wouldn’t believe it, venetians shopkeepers found the way to complain all the same. the 870,000 people did not spend enough money for their tastes.

Last week Venice hosted a day-long meeting about tourism and the Italian art towns — Florence, Naples, Rome, and Venice. The meeting was attended by the Minister of National Heritage and Culture, Francesco Rutelli and, obviously, the four cities’ mayors.
A dispute arose between the Minister and Venice’s mayor, Massimo Cacciari, who accused the Italian government of giving Venice too few financial resources because so much has already been allocated by the flood-prevention MOSE project that the town doesn’t want

oh oh.. this dispute is getting so absurd. can you imagine, being obliged to have a new — say — very expensive bathroom built in your own home, without your permission and with money which could have been yours? (maybe as yearly eternal contributions against acqua alta?)

but why don’t we break it into small pieces, merchandise it and get CASH for venice? :-)))