Amerigo Vespucci in Venice

The Amerigo Vespucci is a tall ship of the Marina Militare, named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Its home port is Livorno, Italy, and it is in use as a school ship

Colours Coordination in Burano

Burano is a pretty island in the northern part of the lagoon of Venice, Italy  with a current population of about 2,800 inhabitants. It consists of four individual islands, which are separated by narrow, 10 meters wide, canals, rio Pontinello in the west, rio Zuecca in the south and rio Terranova in the east. Burano is famous for lace-making and for its brightly-colored fishermen’s houses; the island is a photographer’s paradise.

What do I really think about MOSE

he MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, Experimental Electromechanical Module) is a project intended to protect the city of Venice, Italy from floods. The project is an integrated defense system consisting of rows of mobile gates able to isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when the tide reaches above an established level (110 cm) and up to a maximum of 3 m (9.8 ft). Together with other complementary measures such as coastal reinforcement, the raising of quaysides and paving and improvement of the lagoon environment, these barriers will protect the city of Venice from extreme events such as floods and from morphological degradation. Work on the project has been under way since 2003 at the three lagoon inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia, the gaps connecting the lagoon with the sea and through which the tide ebbs and flows. The project is being executed by engineers at FIat

In 2006, the incoming government of Romano Prodi announced that the project was "under review" for budgetary reasons. However, the project was reinstated the following year.

...on Venetians Gondoliers and why I decided not to work with them.....

Gondola rides are a must for every tourist visiting Venice. However, there are two main guidelines that one should keep in mind: if you find it too expensive, don’t go through with it, and if you think the price isn’t too steep, make sure you understood what the gondolier said!Venice has official rates for gondola rides, and the standard cost per boat not per person is €80 for a 40-minute ride. Exceeding that time will merit €40 per 20 minutes. At night, especially after 7pm, prices can reach €100 for 40 minutes. A gondola can carry up to six people.

These are the official prices.....and I am pretty sure there are honest gondoliers...that do apply them. Unfortunately more often then not the average requested price is around €100/120 the time is much short...even just 20/25 minutes. There have been recent cases, where Tourist have been charged €400!!! It is simple a case of reading local and national press...to find out

Why I have decided not to work with them.....

If I board on a Gondola I classify as a Professional Photographer and I or my clients are charged a minimum of €120 to €150 for 30 minutes, this is based on the assumption that this is a Special Service and that I as a photographer will charge my clients much  more simply  due to the fact I am taking pictures on a Gondola!!  This is absolutely bollocks....as a photographer I do not charge my clients based on where they want their picture taken but on my time and number of images... to me it does not make any difference if they choose for they background a wall of bricks....A factory...a bridge or a Gondola!! if you try to explain this to a gondolier (most of them being really rude and arrogant) you will end up being insulted!

As I was saying above ...and I know it is wrong to generalize, most of them are absolutely pure 100% rude.... I had cases of clients insulted or treated in a very arrogant way. They truly believe they rule Venice and nobody is as good as them...despite that most of them make their good money in Venice..pretend they love this city.....but then  live on the mainland!!!

For the above reasons I have decided not to be part of this scam, I do not want to be robbed or my clients be cheated....and rather be working with a nice Sandalo!  I will inform of my decision the President of Associazione Gondolieri and him or any Gondolier is more than welcome to reply and contradict me!

The above stock image shows the difference between a Sandalo and a Gondola

38th Venice Vogalonga

The Vogalonga is an act of love for Venice and its waters, for its lagoon and its islands, for rowing and its boats. The Vogalonga retains over time its original purpose: to disseminate knowledge, awareness and respect for the essence and culture of our city.The Vogalonga is a celebration for the entire ‘people of the oar,’ and today, just as in the beginning, it is a peaceful testimony against the wave-motion, so dangerous for the city and the lagoon.

More images can be found here

The Dragon and The Snake

I never would have found this thing if I hadn't seen it in a book first...and a colleague in helping me with good directions!! It's very tucked away and even with directions, I had a hard time finding it.

"This work has an interesting symbology. The figure brings together in a single symbol two aspects of the Cosmos: the dragon is yang, active principle and divine power; while the serpent is yin, the principle of reproduction and primordial water. The intertwined double spiral represents two directions of one movement: balance and imbalance, birth and death, the initiation of death and the rebirth of new being. The rings thus mark the mid-line between yang and yin, an alternative twofold expansion and the point of balance between two opposing cosmic forces."

S Maria della Pieta' o della Visitazione (XVIII sec.)

While on the trail of Canaletto I "discovered" la Pieta' .First foundation was of the fifteenth century but its actual aspect is due to architect Massari who completely rebuilt it in the 1745.The facade has a classical style, with a bas-relief above the main entrance representing the La Carità, a work by the sculptor Marsili (1800).

A few images from today shoot are here

The Church has a egg-shaped plan with a vaulted ceiling; sideways there're two choirs where once were played concerts by the woman whom used to live in the institute that stands from the side.Church has an absolute importance because of the presence of Gian Battista Tiepolo's works, the Fortezza e la Pace on the ceiling of the entry and the Trionfo delle Fede painted on the ceiling of the church, a real masterpiece by Tiepolo representing the crowning of Our Lady by the God's hand.

Carletti Risotto

MAKE THE STOCK: In a large saucepan, combine the water with the onion, carrots, leek, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and cloves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate, cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Strain the stock into a medium saucepan, cover and keep warm.

MAKE THE RISOTTO: In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add half of the minced shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carletti a handful at a time, stirring between batches until wilted. Season the baby greens with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the vegetable oil. Add the remaining shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook over moderately high heat, stirring to coat the grains, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the warm stock and cook, stirring constantly, until nearly absorbed. Continue adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until it is nearly absorbed between additions. The risotto is done when the rice is al dente and suspended in a thick, creamy sauce, about 25 minutes total.

Stir the wilted greens and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the risotto and season with salt and pepper. Serve at once, passing the cheese at the table.

Hidden places.......

“There’re three places in Venice magical and hidden: one in calle dell’Amor degli Amici, a second near the Ponte delle Maravegie and the third in calle dei Marrani, near San Geremia in Ghetto Vecchio. And it’s here that the Venetians took refuge when they are tired of the constituted authorities, in these secret courts in which there are doors that lead them forever to beautiful places and other stories … ” (Hugo Pratt, Corte Sconta detta Arcana).

Anita and Jade, portraits in Venice

A really beautiful and amazingly friendly couple from Down Under and visiting Venice@

America's Cup in Venice

Finally today with few of my Venetians colleagues managed to get a glimpse of few of the boats of the America's Cup .

The AC45, a rigid wingsail catamaran, is the precursor of a new generation of America’s Cup boats.

Able to reach speeds of around 50 km per hour, the AC45 is also agile enough to guarantee tactical and competitive races, such as those to be “designed” by the America’s Cup Race Management.

How does Venice work?

Venice, Italy, “stretching across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy,” may be one of the most amazing places in the world to live. Fans of Donna Leon’s fictional detective Guido Brunetti come to know it as a land of good food, water taxis and alleys that dead-end at the water.[vimeo 21688538 w=400 h=225]

Venice Backstage. How does Venice work? from Insula spa on Vimeo.

Having said that Venice is not just a stage set. It is also a city with a resident population, which has productive activities, transportation and services. But how does the “Venice system” work? How do the tides in the lagoon behave? How are the canals formed? And the embankments? What’s under the buildings?

Saint Theodore or Todaro

 "Right Theo, it's been great, but can you pack your bags now? We've got a new patron saint and, well, he just happens to be one of the blokes who wrote the Bible. Heard of it? It's a cracking read! Plus his symbol is a winged lion, which is lots cooler than some dead crocodile, don't you think? No hard feelings, mate!"

I am not sure if this is how it went....but for sure  Theo wasn't very pleased... Having said that the original statue is not the one on the Column but the one if the Square of Palazzo Ducale!  Anyway I love the crocodile ...so cute!

Saint Theodore of Amasea treading upon the sacred crocodile of Egypt. Perhaps he killed it with the holy hand grenade of Antioch...

Saint Theodore was a Byzantine saint who was the former patron saint of Venice. When Venice and Byzantium fell out, he was replaced by Saint Mark. He still tops one of the two columns at the southern end of the piazza San Marco

Venetian Knobs

...no no I am not talking about the obnoxious people governing this country I am just referring to the beautiful mainly brass knobs of Venetian doors......

Few more images are here

Venice in a day

There's no doubt that Venice is beautiful - but if you want to see it in an even more beautiful way (without getting on a plane), you could do a lot worse than watch this timelapse video of one day in the magical city, from sunrise to sunset.Created by Swiss Vimeo user Joerg Niggli, it's a three and a half minute mini-masterpiece that'll make you miss ol' Venezia even if you haven't actually been there.

[vimeo 40977797 w=500 h=281]

Red Light (Spells Danger)

While sailing in the Lagoon at the entrance of  "Canale dei Petroli" I saw the two lights for the tankers. The red one caught my attention and reminded me the Billy Ocean song......

Red light spells danger Can't hold out much longer Cos red light means warning Can't hold out I'm burning No, no, no

It is estimated that one third of a large oil tanker's load would be enough to provoke a true ecological disaster in the lagoon and also in the Adriatic coast. The presence of oil tankers is thus an enormous risk for the lagoon of Venice.

Carpaccio at Scuola S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni

While working 24/7 on a book about Canaletto...and being only at the 2 chapter out of 9 and well behind schedule  I fell in love today with Carpaccio and in particular with this painting

The works dates to Carpaccio's mature period, when he was called by the "scuola" (guild or corporation) of the Schiavoni (Dalmatians) to executed a cycle of seven paintings on the stories of patron saints (George, Jerome and Tryphon) and evangelic episodes.

The work portrays the traditional episode of St. Jerome appearing to St. Augustine to announce his imminent death and departure to Heaven. Carpaccio portrayed the African saint in his studio, in the moment in which he is distracted from his reading by the voice of Jerome, coming as a luminous shape in the window near the desk. The room is that typical of an acculturated humanist of the painter's age, depicted with his usual attention to details.

The room is grossly rectangular, with a painted ceiling. Augustine sits on a bench over a pad, covered with green cloth and lined with studs; the desk is supported by a candelabrum. Some of the books show musical lines. Under the window is are a file and a hourglass. Other elements depicted include measurement instruments, precious caskets, a bell, a shell, an armillary sphere, vases, bottles and others.

In the center is a niche with an altar, where, as shown by the curtain moved aside, are Augustine's liturgic objects: a vest, a mitre, the crosier and a thurible which hands from two candelabra. At the side of the altars are two twin portals, with fine decorations in Renaissance style. The left one is open, and shows a small room with a window, according to the taste for different lightning sources inspired by the Flemish painting: this had become popular in Venice after its use by Antonello da Messina in paintings such as St. Jerome in His Study, which Carpaccio could perhaps observe and study. Here is a further number of details: a table with three couples of crossed legs and covered by a red tablecloth, further books, and, on a shelf running for the room's perimeter, several scientific and astronomical instruments, including Regiomontanus' astrolabe which, at the time, was owned only by John Bessarion, to who it is likely to have inspired Carpaccio for the saint's representation.

On the left two long shelves, housing more books with gaudy covers, a series of antiques (vases, bronze and others), a candle basement shaped as a lion paw (another is placed symmetrically on the opposite wall) and, below, large volumes, a seat and a prie-dieu. In the center of the room is a Maltese dog and, nearby, a cartouche with the artist's signature and the date.

Seeing this painting reminded me that I saw at the British Museum the preparatory work of the very same painting...and is here as you may see there was and ermelin!

Deborah and Andrea Pictures in Venice

Deborah and Andrea visit to Venice and portraits session

Canaletto sketches on show @ Palazzo Grimani

‘Canaletto. Il Quaderno Veneziano’Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Castello 4858 (Santa Maria Formosa), Venice1st April – 1st July 2012

The title of this unique exhibition runs to ‘Canaletto. The Venice Sketchbook/Notebook’, albeit that the original sketches were loose sheets, bound only in the 19th century. The core of the exhibition is these said sketches of Venice, probably dating from a brief time period, and giving a fascinating insight (via notes, scribbles, comments on light, colours and settings) into the modus operandi of this great artist. Also on show are numerous other pieces – sketches, scribbles, drafts – from collections both private and public.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV3WspW6I1o&w=560&h=315]

NO Cruise Ships....in Venice

The protest against the Cruise Ships was held today on the Grand Canal and just after the Punta della Salute....for pure coincidence...a large...no a very LARGE Cruise Ship...the Cunard Queen Victoria was crossing St Mark's Basin....

Few more pictures of today protest organized by Comitato NO Grandi Navi are here. I just realized I took the pictures in Southampton few years ago when the Queen Victoria was named and pictures are here....

As usual was a very well organized and behaved protest!