words and pics about living and raising a child in Venice
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Sleeping Hard, Rialto
26 May 2018, midnight: even in the fantasy-land and playground that is Venice, with mainland kids coming into the city on weekends to drink and urinate and vomit in the calli, social reality sometimes intrudes.
Last night we made the mistake of walking home (to our apartment in Cannaregio) through Rialto and the madness of the Strada Nova and the Fondamenta Misericordia. In previous visits we'd managed to avoid the worst of the weekend hordes, but now I completely understand why Venetians hate them so much. We haven't seen much of the social reality you depict here -- certainly less than in previous years -- maybe because of Covid? In any case, this post felt very timely.
I never found the regular weekend crowds especially awful--except for the large bachelor party groups which often make nuisances of themselves and some bars expressly prohibit from entering--but when there's some kind of "special" event, like those late-night events held more and more frequently at the Rialo fish market, that's when calli are most often treated as toilets. It would get so bad at times that an older neighbor of ours would appear at regular intervals throughout the night at her front door with a hose to wash away the urine. As for social reality, those who have it hardest are usually well aware that they need to keep out of sight in Venice--or simply out of Venice entirely, as there aren't many options to pass unnoticed.
Only seen this sort of thing once in Venice - but in English cities, you're hard put to avoid it sometimes. People who love Venice and are fortunate enough to live there, must really feel dirtied by that sort of thing. Do the police not move them on?
Having lived in Venice for nearly 11 years I never felt dirtied by the presence of someone so unfortunate as to sleep in the street. On the contrary, those usually responsible for "dirtying" the city, lowering the quality of life, making it difficult to live in, almost inevitably sleep in quite comfortable and even luxurious accommodations. And no, the police, alas, never "move on" these actual low lifes.
Last night we made the mistake of walking home (to our apartment in Cannaregio) through Rialto and the madness of the Strada Nova and the Fondamenta Misericordia. In previous visits we'd managed to avoid the worst of the weekend hordes, but now I completely understand why Venetians hate them so much. We haven't seen much of the social reality you depict here -- certainly less than in previous years -- maybe because of Covid? In any case, this post felt very timely.
ReplyDeleteI never found the regular weekend crowds especially awful--except for the large bachelor party groups which often make nuisances of themselves and some bars expressly prohibit from entering--but when there's some kind of "special" event, like those late-night events held more and more frequently at the Rialo fish market, that's when calli are most often treated as toilets. It would get so bad at times that an older neighbor of ours would appear at regular intervals throughout the night at her front door with a hose to wash away the urine. As for social reality, those who have it hardest are usually well aware that they need to keep out of sight in Venice--or simply out of Venice entirely, as there aren't many options to pass unnoticed.
DeleteOnly seen this sort of thing once in Venice - but in English cities, you're hard put to avoid it sometimes. People who love Venice and are fortunate enough to live there, must really feel dirtied by that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteDo the police not move them on?
Having lived in Venice for nearly 11 years I never felt dirtied by the presence of someone so unfortunate as to sleep in the street. On the contrary, those usually responsible for "dirtying" the city, lowering the quality of life, making it difficult to live in, almost inevitably sleep in quite comfortable and even luxurious accommodations. And no, the police, alas, never "move on" these actual low lifes.
DeleteWhat I meant was the SITUATION that leads a so-called civilised community to let people get to such a stage. Sorry if I was unclear.
ReplyDelete