Dining all'Aperto on the Grand Canal, Tonight

Six Views of Sunday's Regata Storica

It's the colorful pageantry of the corteo or boat parade before the races that draws most of the tourists, who then tend to disperse....

...and miss the excitement of races like the 6-man caorline (above), whose first 3 boats were tightly packed from start to finish.

On their way to their tenth Regata Storica victory, however, Anna Mao and Romina Ardit dominated from the get-go, leaving the rest of the field to compete for second place

The gondolier above appears to be the only one capable of besting the indomitable duo of Rudi and Igor Vignotto on their way to their record 15th Regata Storica victory. But in actuality, having inexplicably lost track of the race's progress, he's rowing as fast as he can to get out of the course. His passengers, however, as one can't help but often notice of tourists, have absolutely no clue as to what's going on just behind them.

Too Close for Comfort at Today's Regata Storica

One agonista reacts angrily as the gondolino of two competitors interferes with his oar as they approach the Rialto Bridge

More images tomorrow.

Day For Night

A huge lightning flash (out of the frame at left) lights up the Grand Canal during a tumultuous storm in the wee hours of this morning.

Dog Days of Summer, This Afternoon

Though the days of the Dog Star, Sirius, actually stretch only from July 3 to August 11, the star's influence on certain people seems to extend beyond this period, judging from the two pictured above.

Nourishing Local Life: Disnar per la storica 2017

Preparations for next weekend's Regata Storica kicked off last night with Disnar per la storica, a wide-ranging event consisting of free community dinners (what are called "pot lucks" in America) in fourteen different locations around Venice, including Lido, Sant'Erasmo, and the mainland. (Disnar is a Venetian word for "to eat").

The dinner for our neighborhood was held in the Rialto Pescheria and it was pleasant to see so many residents gathered to enjoy an extended meal, with live entertainment and a film of Venetian rowing, in a place so often over-run by mordi e fuggi (bite and run) tourism.

Any song about living in Venice, as the one being sung above, can't help but include among its frustrations (as you can see in the projected lyrics) the waves, litter, human waste and diving that spoil the canals and the dog crap in the calli.

Rio del Duca