Festa della Santa Maria della Salute, This Evening

Almost as important as the vendors of candles at this festa are those of balloons; no Venetian child goes home without one.

The crowds and traffic on Rio Terrà ai Saloni extended to Fondamenta Zattere

The view down Rio Terrà dei Catecumeni

If the Venetian Republic could be said to have had a "state religion", this was its primary sacrament: a profitable transaction.

In the background is Titian's painting of the Pentecost, with each disciple being lit like a candle by the Holy Spirit

The day after tomorrow (Friday) I'll post more photos of the all-important candles inside the church--and those seemingly indefatigable youths who tend to them.

Greetings from...

We've been here in Cortina D'Ampezzo since Thursday with almost no internet connection--which is rather nice--so please excuse the absence of posts. We return to Venice tomorrow or Monday. But lest anyone think I've abandoned the theme of this blog check out the picture below. It's not your typical depiction of the lion of San Marco: in fact, I've never seen the beast bear such a striking resemblance to William Shakespeare. But it is another reminder of how very diverse were the holdings of the old Republic.

Festa di San Martino Nocturne & 3 Songs

At my son's small Waldorf pre-school (or asilo steineriana, as it is called here) the Festa di San Martino is a nocturnal one and lanterns made by the students in class replace the clanging pots and pans of the usual daytime celebrations in Venice--an example of which you can see here:

http://veneziablog.blogspot.it/2011/11/what-racket-festa-di-san-martino.html

The use of lanterns is typical of German celebrations of the holiday, but the plan this year at my son's school was to incorporate a distinctly Venetian element into the procession with the use of boats. I was going to be one of a few parents who would row the students--who'd be singing the songs you see below and shining their lanterns--in three traditional wood boats (specifically mascarete) along the canals of Canareggio.

The weather, however, did not cooperate. There were high winds and rain throughout most of the day and, though both had diminished somewhat by the later afternoon, the weather as evening approached was still too wet and windy to make the prospect of a boat ride very appealing (or safe).

So I didn't end up with any photos of the boats as I'd hoped, and the large enclosed garden in which the kids walked and sang was so dark as to make picture-taking almost impossible--as you can see above.

But, well, I can offer you the songs below, so that any of you who may be in Venice for next year's Festa di San Martino can be fully prepared to join the singing--as, incidentally, my son almost never does.

Alas, aside from Lucio Battisti's "La canzone del sole", Sandro's favorite song to belt out is one he learned from a friend whose family has lived in the lagoon for nearly 1,000 years--about a grandfather with uncontrollable flatulence.

   

SAN MARTINO

Nella nebbia fitta fitta, ogni bimbo ha paura

Anche il cielo si oscura e la notte presto vien

Se mi trovo per la strada, io accendo il lumicino

Che il prode San Martino ha donato ogni bambino

San Martino, cavaliere, ti ringrazio per la luce

Che per strada mi conduce e mi illumina il cammin

Nell’ampio cielo le stelle brillan come fiammelle;

io, piccolo bambino quaggiù,

rivolgo gli occhi al ciel lassù.

IO PORTO LA MIA LANTERNA

Io porto la mia lanterna, la porto sempre con me

In cielo brillano le stelle e qui Lei arde per me

Col lumicin io vo’ in cammin, rabimmel rabammel rabum

Ad uno ad uno ce ne andiamo piano piano

Su bimbi a casa torniam, su bimbi a casa torniam.

LANTERNA

Lanterna che brilli nella notte scura

Dimmi dove andare, dimmi dove andar

Senza luce nel buio, non posso restar

Lanterna, lanterna.

After the Storm, San Marco

photo credit: Joe Lay

As I post this we are actually right in the middle of a storm, so the title is wishful thinking at this point.

Two weeks ago we had the highest acqua alta in two years (140 cm above sea level). This morning it has been even higher: 150 cm, for those of you keeping score at home (as they used to say on radio broadcasts of American baseball games).

Not knowing the state of things this morning, Jen and Sandro went to Via Garibaldi to find that their normal rain boots were not high enough for the waters there--which had, in any case, closed all of the stores that are usually open for a few hours on Sunday morning. In Piazza San Marco a little flat-bottomed sandolo would be the only good way to get around. Though, actually, the water is so deep a motor boat would also work.

The photos above and below were taken by a visiting friend near the end of September, after one of those sudden late afternoon storms that can seem so refreshing in late summer and early fall. Today's storm is a low gray one, and gives little hope of concluding with such dramatic lighting. I think we'll be looking at a dim early sunset today, when the sun, who really hasn't bothered to get out of bed today anyway, simply burrows deeper under the cover of clouds and calls it an early night.

But we're going to a San Martino Festa this evening, so perhaps something will come of that. We'll see--and hopefully I'll get some photos so that you will, too.

photo credit: Joe Lay

Ponte dei Pugni, This Evening (5:30)

Photo credit: Sandro

This evening Sandro took his first photo using a tripod, which you can see above. 

Then to better understand the function of a tripod, and something about the way a shutter works, we experimented on the vaporetto ride home with long exposures, no tripod, and very wiggly hands, which you can see below.

One of Venice's most recognizable landmarks, usually.

I know Sandro liked the tripod, as he likes anything mechanical, but I'm not so sure he didn't like the wiggly approach even better.

Barca Bassa, Not Acqua Alta, in Dorsoduro

For the last two weeks every new day has seemed to bring a couple more periods of acqua alta, but considering the fact that the water level in the above photo is well within the bounds of the canal the trouble confronting the owner of the above boat is not high water but a problematically low boat. 

I asked someone who lives on the above fondamenta if the boat was abandoned, but he assured me it was not. Though falling water is generally considered much less newsworthy here than rising tides, we've had a lot of rain recently and my informant warned me that the above is the predictable result of simply neglecting to bail your boat. 

Early Spell Checker as Painted by Tiepolo: Cappella Sagredo

"Do I need an iota right here?"

What writer wouldn't appreciate the kind of editorial assistance depicted by Giambattista Tiepolo high up on a pendentive of the Sagredo family chapel in the church of San Francesco della Vigna?