Santa Regatta

Santas grace the Grand Canal.

Thanks to my childhood Best Friend for catching that post.

A rose in Venice ...

... blooms in the Piazza San Marco.

"You don’t think Venice is so modern until you try to make it look like it was 700 years ago."

Filming Marco Polo.

ADDED: Here's Marco Polo's Venetian home:

Venice, Italy, April 1984. Okay, that looks 700 years old.

The Quieter Side

Via Garibaldi, Venice, Italy, March 1984. Explore a different part of town. "The street (actually a filled-in canal) is unusually wide, so you really feel like you're on solid ground."

The Castello neighborhood also is home to one of our favorite restaurants (although we've not visited it ... since 1989).

Get away from the crowds.

Venice, Italy, March 1984. It's Carnevale season again in Venice. 

(My Carnevale photos are here.)

It's time for the Venetian Regata.

"As soon as the gondolinos cross the finish line, all the spectators' boats try to leave at once. It's about as convenient as everybody trying to get out of a movie theatre within five minutes after the end of the film."

Garbage Disposal

Venice, Italy, June 1989. Here's another image that shows a non-touristy part of Venice.
 
The photo also illustrates one Venetian habit. People hang filled garbage bags out their windows until pick-up day. There's a plastic bag suspended over the canal in the photo's top left, and a blue bag is visible below the bridge. I understand this custom diminishes garbage odors in the home, but it's odd: consider the geranium-filled window boxes decorating the same walls against which people suspend trash. The disposal of garbage remains a contentious issue in Venice today.

Venetians and Their Dogs

"There is a strong local conviction that bottles of water prevent dogs from whizzing on public surfaces."

The Patriarch of Venice

Venice, Italy, June 1989. Mr. Irene and I noticed this plaque in the Basilica of the Madonna della Salute. The plaque reads, "On September 16, 1972, Pope Paul VI paid homage to the Madonna della Salute here[,] pausing in prayer with the Patriarch Albino Luciani[,] later John Paul I."

Pope John Paul I was pontiff for thirty-three days before he died

"The boy is finally taking his frog elsewhere."

I am not making this up reports on Venice's decision to remove a controversial statue from the Punta della Dogana.

Venice, Italy, June 1989. Here's a view of the Punta della Dogana when a traditional, Venetian lamppost decorated its tip.

Napoleon and the Serenissima

I've occasionally touched on the arrival of Napoleon in Lithuania.

Here's a good look at how Napoleon's arrival affected another favorite place of mine—Venice.

Acqua Veramente Alta

"Acqua alta" is a normal occurrence in the Republic of St Mark every November. But this is a little extreme, even for Venice.

Thanks to my friend Kris for pointing this out to me.

UPDATE: Here are some on-the-scene observations from "I am not making this up."