A foggy day in Venice town

There’s been a lot of fog here this December. It does make it inconvenient for people trying to use the vaporetti to get to work, school, and so on, because some lines are simply cancelled when the fog is too heavy.

For the rest of us, it is an opportunity to slow down, to see the city differently and to savour this difference.

La Strega (The Witch) emerges out of the fog near the Giardini vaporetto stop.

There was no calcio (soccer) being played today.

The bells of the campanile sounded muffled in the thick fog.

I’ll take the fog over persistent rain any day!

Reflections

These are especially for you, Andrew Petcher.

High tide can affect Piazza San Marco very quickly, and produce some interesting reflections.

These are from Forte Marghera, Mestre. You won’t see many tourists there.

Inside the Arsenale, Venice.

Downside up.

Coming back from the Lido.

At Hasties Swamp which is not far from my town, Dismal Swamp.

Miscellany.

Visible means of support

These massive supports are found on a section of the walls of the Arsenale. They’re doing a mighty fine job. If there’s an architect in the crowd, could he/she please tell me the correct term for these?

The north entrance to the Arsenale

This photo of a portion of the Arsenale was taken during an all too brief helicopter flight when I was last in Venice.

 

An art exhibition earlier in my stay had provided the opportunity to get into the northern entry to the Arsenale, and the chance to prowl around that part of the site. (You can click on any of the images to enlarge them.)

The spirits of the men who had worked here seemed to imbue the area with a special feeling.

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By chance, I found that the masegni (paving stones) that had been removed for the work on the campanile in Piazza San Marco, had been brought here for safe keeping . Each one was numbered, and photos had been taken to show where each stone had to be replaced.

Another broken promise and an explanation

In February during my last visit to Venice, I saw this shrine site, on the wall of the Arsenale, Campo della  Tana. The shrine itself had been removed for restoration.

According to the sign, the restoration work was to have begun in December 2012, and was due to be completed by the end of March 2013. (The estimated cost was 7.904,11 euro. I’d like Peter, if he happens to read this, to give one of his considered breakdowns for this estimate.)

Well, I went back at the end of March, the end of April and also on 14 May, the day I left Venice. Needless to say, the site looked exactly as it did when I first saw it in February.

If anyone is going to Venice in the near future, I’d love an update on this situation. IF the restored shrine is back, a photo would be appreciated.

PS: I have had an answer from Daniela, Italian teacher extraordinaire, re the name “calderer”:

Calderer is a person who makes big pots to boil food (and in the past also the laundry). These pots are called “caldaie” in Italian so the name calderer comes from the name of the pots.

The final “-er” is the same as in English: writ-er (the person who write), etc. (I can’t remember other examples, but I’m sure you have a lot). In Venetian dialect (and in other Italian dialects) there are many words of people who make a job that end in -er. Maybe you know the word “bechèr”, the Venetian word for butcher, or “caleghèr” (shoemaker).

You know that in Venice a lot of calle have the name of the job that people made in that area.

A walk on the out side

If you take the vaporetto lines 4.1 or 5.1 from the Giardini/Biennale stop, heading towards Murano, one of the options you may never have thought of is to get off at the Bacini stop, and walk to the Celestia stop. I really do wonder sometimes why I hang around with you, when you don’t think of things like this. But, I shall persevere, you do have many good points that endear you to me. (Well, I can think of at least one …)

So here’s what happens if you step outside your little comfort zone and get off at the Bacini stop.

Turn to the right and walk along a path that looks like it will lead you to a dead-end. What, you don’t trust me? Just when you think you’ll have to turn back and wait for a vaporetto in that lonely,  windswept northern lagoon area, you find a doorway in the wall to your right.

Once you overcome your timidity and go through the door in the wall you’ll see a nice walkway ahead of you. Those are domestic residences you see to your left.

And, away you go, along the outer wall of the Arsenale.

You get a whole new perspective on this portion of the northern lagoon, with a glimpse of Murano in the distance.

It is difficult to grasp the scope of the structure that was (and still is) the Arsenale. It certainly holds a special place in my imagination.

This (huge) part of the Arsenale seems to be used for storage of some type. You really do have to come here, do this walk and see how darn big this place is.

When you get to the end of this walk, you can opt to wait for the next vaporetto at the Celestia stop and see where that might take you. Or, you can turn to the left, walk through this arch, and find another adventure, just around that corner.

The Arsenale, Castello

I had hoped to be able to see more of the Arsenale this year, with  vessels competing in the America’s Cup World Series to be moored there, and the public allowed into certain areas.

Alas, there are rumours that the plans for the inclusion of Venice have  been scuttled (or perhaps scuppered). If that is so, I’ll just have to find another way to burrow my way into this tempting portion of the history, I guess.

Here is some of what I did see when I walked through the parts of the complex that were accessible to we mere mortals, during the Biennale of 2011.

A sky so blue, it can hurt your eyes

And the walls came tumbling down

I’m not sure whether this was part of the Biennale. I think not, it was tucked away, out of sight.

The long road to … what?

Where was I?

Who can work out where these photos were taken?  It was an interesting day, again.

I do like Castello!

Some of the houses had remnants of wood in their structure. Their photos seemed to lend themselves to a touch of sepia.

And then, I had a glimpse of part of the Arsenale works.

Castello, part 2

Today, they were starting the process of stringing the cables from the Campanile to the far end of the Piazza, for the Flight of the Angel, to take place on Sunday.  The Gran Teatro di San Marco, with its stage, sound equipment, lighting and seating for the lucky ones, is well under way.

Meanwhile, this was the third day in a row that I spent in Castello. I wandered mainly in a  small area, bounded by Rio di San Daniele, Rio delle Vergini, the Canale di San Pietro and Rio di Sant’ Anna.

I found so much to enchant me, I’m having a difficult time deciding what to show you.

Here are some paired offerings. The first photo shows a bricked in former window. On the other side of the door was the twin to it, but not bricked in.

Then, there were two lion heads on either side of a door. One has had the task of clenching a wall support in its jaws, the other has suffered the slings and arrows of age, erosion and decay. 

Not really twins, but two views of an attractive door handle.

Here are two of the lions who stand (or sit) guard outside the entry to the Arsenale. The first one has suffered the indignity of having a prosthetic head added at some time. The other suffers from SBS (Square Bottom Syndrome). It was once butted up against the wall of a balcony.

An old friend bobbed up, Federico, the bridge builder!

This graffiti, on paper, is slowly degrading. Goodbye, Sig. Starfighter.

Castello has its own pissotte, here is one of them.