#1 Vaporetto Line, Grand Canal, This Evening, 6:50 pm

A beautiful early spring Saturday turned into a mild evening, but there were few people here to see it.

A couple of hours before the above image was taken a local kayaker was lured by the nice weather into the Grand Canal--in clear violation of Italy's strict injunction to stay at home--and from what I could tell just barely managed to escape being hit with the 3,000 euro fine that is now levied for such infractions.  

Clammers, North Lagoon

Today is a frigid, windy day that we're (once more) spending inside; seemed like a good day to visit my folder of never-posted images.

These were taken 16 February, 2019.

The Rialto Bridge, Unpeopled: Thursday, March 12, 10:30 am

Ruga dei Oresi, seen from the crown of the Rialto Bridge on Thursday, March 12, 10:30 am.

Donna Leon has said that the moment she finally admitted to herself that Venice had become too packed with tourists for her to bear living here full-time any longer occurred on the Rialto Bridge.

She was crossing the span when she tripped, and instead of falling to the ground--which would have been unpleasant enough--she found herself held up by the densely-packed bodies all around her-- which was, in fact, even more unpleasant.

In recent weeks, since Venice (and Italy) began taking measures to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there would be almost no one on the Rialto Bridge to catch Ms. Leon's fall. And this new reality, with all of its implications, turns to be the most unpleasant situation of all.

The latest regulations on movement in the city dictate that, except for the most dire necessities, residents are expected to do all of their shopping within 200 meters of their dwelling.

These images of the Rialto (except for the last) were taken on Thursday, March 12, at 10:30 am--on a mild sunny morning when the Rialto Bridge and its environs would have been filling up, if not already filled up, with tourists.

The shops on the bridge would have been opened, as would all the stalls bordering Ruga dei Oresi, on the church of San Giacometto side of the bridge. Tourists would already be lining the bridge's parapets to gaze upon the Grand Canal, or photograph themselves in front of it. A line of vendors' carts would serve as a center divider on Salizzada Pio X, and mass tour groups would clot Campo San Bartolomio.

Seen day after day, for far too much of the year, these kind of sights wear upon some residents, causing them finally to flee the city,

But, as it turns out, there are much worse, more dire reasons to flee the city than tourists.   

Having to jostle for a view from the parapets has become a thing of the past

A view of Salizzada Pio X from the Rialto Bridge

Shuttered stalls line the approach to the Rialto Bridge

By way of contrast, and as example of what drove Donna Leon from Venice, here's the Rialto Bridge just before 1 pm on May 17, 2019

Without A Ripple, Grand Canal

Housebound (with Book), Grand Canal, Today

This Evening's Rush Hour--Without Any Rush

5:58 pm, not a soul in sight

Except for brief trips to the market for food we've been staying home for the last few days, as directed by Italian authorities. But this evening I had to walk across town to pick up a prescription, so armed with my resident identity card; the required auto-declaration form downloaded from a government website, printed, and filled out, attesting to the fact that I was venturing out for a necessary and appropriate reason; and my camera, I walked to and then through Piazza San Marco, then down the Riva degli Schiavonni to Via Garibaldi. All of these places should have been crowded on a fine early spring evening just before and just after 6 pm, but none of them (as you can see) were.

Gregory Dowling, long-time Venice resident, novelist (whose three Alvise Marangon mysteries provide a wonderful fact-based fictional introduction to Venice of the 18th century), scholar, translator, and Ca' Foscari professor, offers an excellent overview of what it's been like to live in this city since the coronavirus first started making itself felt here in his post "A Few Notes from Venice in the Time of Coronavirus."

5:52 pm, Le Mercerie: shops all closed, calli empty

6:12 pm in front of the Palazzo Ducale

6:15 on Riva degli Schiavonni

6:21 pm: A (closed) hotel of one's own

6:25, further along Riva degli Schiavonni

Via Garibaldi at 6:28 pm

6:34 pm, just off Via Garibaldi: "All will be well" says the rainbow banner

Riva del Vin, 5:45 pm, Today

A mild, pleasant Friday evening in early spring: only one person on the Riva del Vin beside the Grand Canal, and only one person on the Rialto Bridge in the background