Videos:
Start of Regatta Storica boat procession
Today,
Sunday, was the day of Venice's big waterborne event known as the
Regatta Storica (Historical
Regatta). It opens with a procession of vintage boats from the heyday
of the Venetian Republic all propelled, of course, by oars much as
the ubiquitous gondolas are still moved and maneuvered around
Venice's extensive canal network today, and by people decked out in
period costumes riding on the boats.
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old gondoliers never die,
they just sing away |
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| no motorcycle cops around here |
Being
in Venice at this time, the colorful event is not to be missed and we
discussed where the best place for viewing the event (without paying
for grandstand seats) would be. We thought the Accademia bridge might
be a good spot, but I argued that everybody else would think so, too.
We also thought that the stone steps in front of Santa Maria de la
Salute church would be an excellent spot to view the start of the
pageant that begins in the canal in front of the Doge's Palace and
St. Marc's Square. To get to the church required walking around to
the Accademia bridge and crossing it and doubling back on the
Dorsoduro side of the Grand Canal.
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| no fire trucks either |
We
crossed the bridge early on the way to have lunch in Campo San
Barnaba (made famous as the place where Katherine Hepburn falls into
the canal in David Lean's film Summertime).
The Accademia bridge was getting pretty crowded when, after lunch, we
were heading for la Salute church. The stone steps there were already
more than half taken by people waiting for the pageant to begin. We
were able to stake out some fairly good spots at the top of the steps
and sat down to await the start—still a good hour away—while more
and more people began to arrive.
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| a few of the nuns |
Among
these later arrivals was a group on nuns carrying chairs. At first they were behind a couple rows of people sitting and standing behind us. Little by little they pushed their way forward forcing people to move aside and make way until they arrived directly behind us when a couple of them tapped us on the shoulder indicating that they wanted
us to move out of their way as well so they could get better ringside seats.
I guess being nuns, they thought they would be automatically deferred
to, but we only moved a little and apparently were still blocking
their unobstructed line of sight. I could sense their annoyance but
had no intention of giving up my view of the parade after waiting
over an hour, when it got underway . . .
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| the lead boat in the pageant, presumably the Doge's boat |
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| fantastic bow ornamentation |
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| period costumes aboard the boats |
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| selfies? |
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| lady gondolier? - a rare sight |
The
parade continued to pass along the canal, vibrant with color and music
and we were thoroughly enjoying the show—almost until the end—when
a couple (a man and a woman) began berating us for standing and
blocking the view of the holy nuns.
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the blonde who couldn't
mind her own business (in green) |
That ended my equanimity and I
got into an argument with this couple, flatly refusing to move when
actually “ordered” to sit down by the female half of this
dynamite duo because the saintly nuns couldn't see. Why not just wave a red flag in my face? My counter
argument was that we had arrived long before these sisters
passive-aggressively forced other people to move while they
comfortably ensconced themselves into their chairs and, furthermore,
if I sat down “I” wouldn't be able to see. The lady got very
huffy and tossed her bleached curls when she understood that I was stubbornly not going to comply
with her demands, but she finally shut up.
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overcrowded Accademia bridge
Dorsoduro side |
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| the other side |
The
pageant being over, we soon left the arena to the other combatants.
We had no choice but to return by the Accademia bridge since all
water traffic had been suppressed for the regatta and we couldn't
take a traghetto (ferry gondola) across the canal. The bridge was
horrendous—like rush hour on a Los Angeles freeway—a crush of
people inching their way across. It took half an hour to get to the
other side.
All
in all, a really satisfying day—no irony intended.
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