The 11th century Church of Santa Fosca on Torcello Island. The Islands of Torcello in the northern area of the Venetian Lagoon have a history older than Venice herself. This group of islands, was the first area to be inhabited by the fleeing Veneti after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the Barbarians, led by Attila the Hun invaded Northern Italy in the … Continue reading Mosaics And Flamingos On Torcello
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There are some places in Venice that you just have to see, The Doge’s Palace and The Basilica of St Mark for a start, but these grand places are not all that Venice is made up of. I have put together a short list of some simple ways to get the feel of Venice under your own steam and in your own time. #1 Take … Continue reading Things I Love To Do In Venice
Venetians have been moving about their watery city in gondolas since the eleventh century. These beautiful boats have flat bottoms which make them ideal for use in the shallow lagoon and canals. “A gondola is always black, is 10.85 metres long, has a beam of 1.40 metres and weighs about 700 kilograms. In the 1500s an estimated 10,000 gondolas of all types were in Venice; … Continue reading The Most Famous Boat in the World
When we were first searching for a property in Venice, we saw some beautiful apartments on the ground floor with little courtyards and gondolas slipping past. But the thought of owning a ground floor apartment and acqua alta happening when we were home in New Zealand filled us with horror! So we purchased Ca’Grisostomo on the first floor with a little balcony over the canal.However, … Continue reading Surviving Acqua Alta in Venice
Enjoy this wonderful view of the Rialto Bridge at different times of the day as locals and tourists get on with life. Venetian time is GMT+2 hours. Continue reading A Live Stream of the Rialto Bridge, Venice
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It really is devastating to stand in front of this hopelessly sad, magnificently carved Winged Lion in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice. This monument is dedicated to the great sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and houses just his heart. The Lion’s book is closed, a symbol of the wisdom of the artist that has been carried away, his tail wrapped around his body, his eyes … Continue reading The Saddest Lion in the World
I think one of the greatest pastimes when travelling pretty well anywhere in the world is to be able to settle down at a café with a nice cup of coffee and watch the world go by. The thing is, when you are in Venice, or any other fabulous place in Italy, there don’t seem to be many places called a Café. They are often called a Bar which … Continue reading When in Rome…..
Venice isn’t just a stage set, It’s 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? This rather hilarious but very informative video explains Venice’s fascinating workings very clearly. Directed by Nicolò Scibilia … Continue reading Venice Backstage
Throughout Venice it’s easy to find traditional wine and food in the small wine bars called bacari that serve cicchetti (pronounced chikhetteh) which are sort of like tapas – Venetian style – small nibbles of seasonal bite-sized tastes. Some of the best local food.Bacari are usually pretty small establishments with only a couple of seats so the idea is to buy yourself an ombra (glass … Continue reading Spritz and Cicchetti
It’s not everywhere that you see a bicycle heading up the bell tower of a medieval Italian town. But Apricale in Liguria is not only “One of the Seven Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”, it is also an artists retreat and this contemporary installation by Sergio Bianco in 2000 “La forza della non Gravità” (the force of non gravity) has remained a symbol of the … Continue reading Bicycles and Bonfires in Medieval Apricale
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