Boats in Venice

Orion loves large vehicles of all types. His love of "gucks", as those of you with small boys in your life may know, is completely and strongly self-motivated--a fact that I did not believe was possible to this extant before having my own son.
One wonders to what extant trucks and the like fascinate Venetian toddlers, as there is no way to drive any cars or trucks through the streets of Venice. Instead, Venice has the equivalent in boats, that must travel through the canals to assist and transport the citizens of the Serenissima. (This post is mostly for Orion, for now, although Italo Calvino is not far from my mind.)

Instead of fire trucks, you have fire boats (luckily still red):Instead of taxis with wheels, water taxis:
Here's the police station, with blue police boats:
This was far away, but there is a barge with a cement truck and another construction truck traveling through the Giudecca canal (leaving no doubt as to how high construction costs are in Venice):
Here is a shipyard, with gondolas on the mend:
An ambulance:
A water bus, or vaporetto:
And, my favorite, the produce boat, with particularly good fruits and veggies:


This boat has always been there during my visits, near Campo Santa Margarita and a wonderful gelateria (try Cherry and Tiramisu mousse--always order two flavors--at least--at a time).

Venezia

View from the Rialto, my first day in Venice in April.

Dan and I always take our picture together by the Tetrarchs when we're in Venice together....although I was by myself, I thought I'd keep up the tradition. (None of these pictures are very good--I only had my phone camera with me. But many more before me have given Venice her due in photographs, so I show here only a minimum of my trip.)
Even more than the few months I spent in Venice, living on the Giudecca, I tried to live like a local, shopping at the Rialto (above; I forgot to take a picture of the fruit stands and my fish and cheese stand pictures are even worse), commuting via traghetto, or a gondola shuttle across Canal Grande (below; one stands during the ride), patronizing gelaterie and pasticcerie, and visiting friends.

I just can't get enough of Venetian Renaissance facades of colored marble, as in S Maria dei Miracoli (below) and the Scuola San Marco, still a working hospital.
Venetian Gothic, too, is lovely, as in Tintoretto's parish church, S Maria dell'Orto (below) and Ss. Zanipolo, just to the right above (where the Bellini family was buried).
He's buried in the church; here's his memorial. I saw plenty of wonderful Tintoretto paintings and Bellini paintings and scuplture and prints and drawings and altarpieces; that's why I was there, and why I love my job.
I also visited San Michele, the island cemetery. I'd wanted to go for a decade, but never had the chance. It is really beautiful, an extended garden, with graves of veneziani and a few famous people. I said hello to Stravinsky and Diaghilev.



A few more pictures, from Ca d'Oro, with its funny collection but the last Mantegna; the university, where I spoke for a conference (the Renaissance Society of America), my primary reason for the journey; my apartment was just behind Goldoni's house; this apt gave me access to a Grand Canal door and view; watching the boats from my slippery little platform eating a gelato was a pretty amazing experience.









And finally, a hint for you, dear reader, on what else preoccupied yours truly in Venice. (And no, it is not that Italians spend a fortune on their kids' clothes, although that is true.)


(For another hint, see my trench in the photo above, and for the last hint, see my posts for the last time I was in Venice, Sept. 2007.) Any guesses?

Orion Pictures, Easter and Silly ("obe")

I took pictures of Orion for Easter but then forgot to bring the camera to the Egg Hunt. Oh well. Doesn't he look smashing?! What a charmer.


And some silly pictures of Orion wearing his lion towel, which he calls his robe ("O-adan's obe").


I know you're actually waiting for pictures from Venice....