Boats and Loads

The difference between Venice and the rest of the world is that in Venice everything travels by boat. There are exactly zero motorised wheels in Venice, and no bicycles or tricycles or any other wheeled cycles. There are trolleys, I could do a whole post on trolleys - trolleys for wheeling shopping home, trolleys for rubbish collection, trolleys for delivering post. But really it's the boats that define the city by their difference. Here's a selection of boatloads that have impressed me, some might be repeats from earlier postings, apologies for double ups.

An early mind-blowing boatload was this concrete mixing barge.

Seeing a photocopier on a boat outside the kitchen window not long after we moved in caused much hilarity.

And the load of coffins much fascination. 

Why they unloaded at our calle I don't know. There are numerous funeral homes in the near vicinity, but this would by no means be their closest drop off point. It made for a good breakfast spectacle for us anyway. 

The florist down the calle opposite our bedroom has a regular barge delivery of flowers and plants, fresh and faux.

A digger barge out the window was less lovely.

Possibly my favourite boats are the green grocer boats.

All the forgotten suitcases?
This ain't no water taxi but it sure is a lot of luggage.

A funeral home boat arriving for a pick-up at the ospedale.

And another making a delivery out to San Michele.

This coffin is travelling unaccompanied but often when transported they are flanked by large black-clad men, looking like a surreal Venetian Sopranos scene.

So here begins the rush to get out some of these post subjects I've been accumulating. We have only two weeks left in Venice now, I can hardly believe it. It has been such an incredible place to live these last six months. We've had a summer to remember (and wish we could return to) for the rest of our lives. Now we are about to embark on a winter holiday through Italy and beyond, but I imagine it will be difficult to find anywhere else as quite as special as this. For a start, there is none of the frantic stress overriding a place where you never have to contend with cars.

Our plans post-Venice so far are for three weeks travel through Italy - starting in the mountains, heading down to the west coast, over through Tuscany and Umbria, and south to Naples and Pompeii. We'll then have a week in Rome over Christmas, a week in Berlin over new years, a week in Istanbul before we fly home, and a week in Tokyo en route. Any and all tips and recommendations you have would really be appreciated - villages we shouldn't miss, places to eat, cheese to buy, whatever you've got.

I will try to keep blogging as we go. It may be that there is a little flurry of posts every now and again when we find ourselves settled somewhere for a few days with a good internet connection. But so long as my camera recovers from the jam it's in at the moment, the photos will continue to build up and I'll have to organise them eventually.

Please write soon, we really love hearing from friends and family.

18 November 2011