Venetian Blinds

January 26, 2007
The city of Venice is a group of islands off the coast out in the Adriatic Sea where people went to escape the Huns and the Christians after the power of Rome fell, like around 500. It became the capital of the world for a few centuries around 1500; with a population as international as NY is today.

Now it is a revered and romanticized city of residents who have evolved their own dialect. Transportation and technology have developed on a unique path also. One must get around by boat, things are carried by boat; there are all sizes and functions of boats. On the bits of land, one must walk. Wheeled vehicles are unusable as there is a bridge with stairs every block (which are actually all individual islands).
There are no bicycles and only unwise tourists have baby strollers.

An artist/architect friend of Simonetta's was going to be away, and she let us use her apartment in this former city-state (real name Venezia) where the experiences of Giacomo Casanova have become famous, and only slightly distorted to fit the style of the day. The apartment is in the center, on a canal, on the top floor of a building from the 1300s. It is finished modernly and has a nice little terrace on the roof overlooking a nearby square and bridge.
It has stone tables, wacky spiral stairs,

sleek wood shelves, stone floors, and a great library.
We went to the nearby supermarket, got food, and had lunch on the terrace.


The apartment was so nice, we stayed in as much as we went out.
The sound of boats going by is lovely. From two floors up, the motor sounds are soft and the shush of the wake is more present. There is an occasional radio. I regret not taking pictures of the garbage men going by with a small crane on the trash boat; but I did get a picture of the ambulance pulling up to the opening in our building that eventually leads to the street. Sorry, no body.

We met up with a group of artists and went to a gallery opening, then to its owner's home where there was more exhibition plus party. It amazes me that old and worn Venice is still such a pinnacle of contemporary art.

Of course most of the houses have Venetian blinds. But they are usually outside the windows. While the city is centuries old and much of it crumbling, I can see that old and worn out is considered good. Many things are built of not the most durable materials, and maintenance which would preserve areas is not done.

Most of the businesses cater to tourist whims. There are, however, plenty of real stores selling washing machines and vacuums or carpentry materials. This balance reminds me of life in New Orleans.




In Italy there are many broadcast tv stations. They often play recent and good Hollywood movies (well dubbed). They have many more movies on tv than we do. You don't say please or thank you when ordering from a restaurant or retail store. Eating lunch standing up at a bar (which is really a coffee shop) is normal. Cars park in any direction on the street. Scooters and motorcycles filter thru traffic like blowing sand.

Love,
Brian