12/31 -- Explore Venice, Part 1

We headed out to walk to our first event and explored some of Venice on the way. It was founded after the fall of Rome on a series of marshy islands, which allowed the coastal residents to evade the marauders. Over the years, the buildings were created on top of submerged logs which petrified in place. For centuries, the islands were often enlarged  and transportation was normally by boat, as there were only 4 bridges. Now there are footbridges everywhere and Venice is devoid or car noise, but there is a lot of motor boat noise, especially on the wider canals. The number of of gondolas has reduced dramatically from a high of eight to ten thousand to about 400 - 500 today. Now there are only 4 families still making and maintaining gondolas. We were fortunate to visit both a gondola maker and an oar/forcola  maker.

Each little island was centered on a campo (field) where people could grow things and a fresh water system using rain water and a unique catchment layout. Today, the campos are still the center of activity.

Entering the main campo near our hotel. They are always centered
on and named for the church there. This has a community garden,
so still sort of functions as a farm.

There is a bit of street art here that is intended to be ephemeral.
This is a take-off on a Modigliani and shows the woman under
water and blowing bubbles, It is part of a series he has created
and the paper is already tearing off in the corner.

This sign decries the presence of huge cruise ships in the lagoon
near the city.

Boffo was an author of erotica.

Behind a window, this large poster says "Let's get
up, let's get it back. Flooding here is common,
but occurred for higher and for more consecutive
days than in the past.

There are no powered vehicles in the city. Every thing is barged in
like this and wheeled in handcarts to its destination.  Trash goes out
the same way -- picked up in handcarts and wheeled to barges
for dumping. It seriously increases the cost of living here.

A Banksy painting

St. Bartholomew

Eventually, we got to one of the four remaining gondola factories and the only one run by a woman since her father died last year. She talked to us about the process and the reasons behind the nine different kinds of wood that go into each boat. It is hard to see how they survive -- it takes months to build one and they sell for only about $40,000, including the cost of labor and materials.

An old boat in the shop for maintenance

The outside of the 'factory'

Firehouse for four fire boats

Next we visited and oar and forcola maker, also  a woman. The gondola industry is very male centric and even though she is a successful gondola racer, on-the-water licensing tests are always conducted so that she fails. Because of the old boy network, there is no way she can effectively challenge the result. Even though this visit was billed as oar-making, the focus was on the forcula or specialized oarlock for gondolas. The top rounded slot is the main oar lock, but the forcula is cleverly built so that there are three other areas to rest the oar on for propulsion, depending on the situation. Because it it rowed by a single person, it needs a stroke to keep it going straight which looked very similar to the J-stroke a single canoe paddler uses.

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After lunch, we went for a gondola ride. Jim and I got lucky and got the two seats in the back with plush backrests. Gerry (right) and her daughter Denise sat on  little side benches and Allesandro took the front. The other boat got two musicians -- a singer with an accordian accompanist -- who serenaded both boats as we glided along the canals for an hour.

Once we were done with our official program, Alessandro led me to a shop to install the SIM card that I had purchased in advance for my travel phone. Using my new GPS capabilities, I led us through the maze-like streets back to our hotel. Having this capability in this city was totally key to my willingness to venture out on my own. Otherwise, I might not have strayed far from the Grand Canal and the vaporetto I knew would take me back to the hotel.

In front of the Rialto Bridge

At the hotel, we got dressed for our New Year's Eve dinner. The two daughters on the trip decided they were up for watching  the midnight fireworks, and Jim and I, the two moms, and another traveler headed to the hotel to try to catch up on our sleep.