Heavy Traffic

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It became a bit chilly this afternoon, after several days of great weather, but never mind-- I've been sitting out on the balcony or perched in an armchair in the living room where I can watch the world cruise down the Grand Canal. It's a traffic-heavy day with work boats and barges, water taxis and vaporetti (water buses) all competing for canal space. Dean wonders: is there canal rage? We see boats converge on the same spot in the canal all the time, but we've witnessed no accidents as of yet. This morning, though, on a long walk through Cannaregio, we saw a boatman on a transport barge exchange words with a gondolier. The Cannaregio canal is so busy, in fact, that we stopped just to watch the traffic: water taxis, transport boats, gondole and other watercraft all cruising at a snail's pace. Then the fire patrol, sirens blazing, came up the canal, bringing everything to a halt and causing Dean to remark, in typical Los-Angelese: "It looks like the 710."

Mornings are busy, but late afternoons and early evenings even busier; those who work on the mainland are heading home, and the day-trippers, too. A large percentage of tourists who visit Venice don't actually stay in the city, but visit for a day while staying in digs nearby. And, of course, many tourists who come to Venice take a gondola ride. Cruising past the Guggenheim (our next-door neighbor) is on the agenda for the gondoliers, and so we get gondole piling up outside our house. Just now some of them pushed off our boat dock. Three, four, five or more gondole will gather and pause; one gondola will typically boast a singer and an accordion player and so they cluster for musical interludes. Lucky us! Some of the singers are really terrific. But please don't ask them to sing "Volare". We just can't take it anymore.

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Photos

Heavy traffic
Gondolas and gondoliers

Water taxi
These boats are all over the city. They are licensed (though this one may be private) and hold up to seven or eight people and are used like cabs in any other city. This guy's taxi has a nice touch of red.

Heavy traffic
Looks like a close call...but it happens all the time. This water taxi darted in among these three vaporetti and came out ahead.

Less heavy
Heading across the canal in a traghetto, a gondola for simple transport rather than a recreational ride.

Private boats
There are many Venetians who have their own personal transportation.

Rower.
Always, always, the water takes on the palette of colors from the surrounding buildings and the play of light from the position of the sun in the day, and the lights at night. Always, always, beautiful.

Work boat
Building materials--mainly lumber--make up the cargo here.

Work boat
An empty boat, heading out.

Heavy traffic
This fireboat left a traffic snarl on the Cannaregio canal.

Heavy traffic
More traffic in Cannaregio

Heavy traffic
Slow going in Cannaregio

Heavy traffic
And the wake left behind. This was taken from the back of our vaporetto, and yes, I got wet!

Heavy traffic
As the evening begins, a group of gondole gather under our windows.

20150312_183554
Nighttime traffic outside our living room window.

Comments

[peggy langhans]

Beautiful! Would that the 710 would look this good! I love your blog, Adrienne. Thank you.