Pink Palazzo

This might look like an ordinary reflection shot, taken in Venice. You've seen hundreds, many better than this, I'm sure. But I have put a little bit of extra work into this - see if you can figure out what I did.
It's in Castello

Well, I managed to get them side-by-side this time. These are the last numbers in Cannaregio and Castello that Randy mentioned. Since these were taken I 'm pretty sure there has been a bit of a clean up of the graffiti - that was the reason I was not not going to post them.

Antepenultimate

I wasn't going to post this, but Randy's last comment on Last (Number in San Polo) has forced my hand. [You can see two examples of the difference between Venetian and Italian on this nizioletto - Sestier, not Sestiere, and Crose, not Croce.] But the point is that the last number in Santa Croce is 2359. (It's hard to see behind the wisteria, but it is 2359.) I'm afraid that this is another of the rare examples of ombra.net getting it wrong. Ombra says this number is on Ponte de la Chiesa o Galliccioli, on the Rio de San Cassan (Rio di San Cassiano), but it's actually on (or, rather, next to) Ponte Giovanni Andrea della Croce o de la Malvasia. I don't know where Randy found the last number in Santa Croce recorded as 2347B, but ombra only finds 2347A (in Campiello Giovanni Andrea de la Croce) (and 2348 - 2358 on Ponte de l'Anguria, the Ponte Privato del Civico, which is between the two bridges already mentioned). Another thing I have not figured out is that houses are not generally on bridges, but may be next to bridges.
Randy is quite right about the last numbers in Cannaregio and Castello, but the name of the bridge between them is Ponte Rosso. I'll post a couple of photos shortly.
Btw, 'antepenultimate' is just a word I like - it has no real connection to the photo or to the discussion.

The View from the Other Side

I thought you might like to have the full picture.

The Invisible Refuse Disposal Operative

Just for a laugh. This might have been taken anywhere, but I promise it was taken in Venice.

Last

Each sestiere, apart from one, has a sign like this on the building with the highest, or last, number in that sestiere. You must have seen the one on the side of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, with the last number in the sestiere of San Marco. The sestiere that doesn't have such a sign (so far as I know) is Dorsoduro. [In white, in case you want to find the answer for yourself.]

La Partigiana Veneta

La Partigiana, by Augusto Murer. The original statue, by Leoncillo Leonardi, (in the Giardini Pubblici) was destroyed by a fascist bomb in 1961, four years after its installation. This was installed in 1964 on a setting designed by Carlo Scarpa. It was supposed to float, but the mechanism failed after a few months. The area had been under restoration for a long time. It was re-opened on 6 June 2009.

Tomb at the top

The tomb of Doge Francesco Morosini, who died in 1694, is covered by the largest funeral slab in Venice (18 ft by 15 ft or 5.5 m by 4.6 m). He was doge from 1688 until his death. Some hold him responsible for destroying the Parthenon, but I think it was the Turks' fault for using it as a powder magazine. He brought back two of the lions now outside the Arsenale from Greece as war booty. The tomb is in the Church of Santo Stefano.
Have you sometimes come across 'San Stefano' as well as 'Santo Stefano'? As far as I can make out, San Stefano is Venetian, and Santo Stefano is Italian. The reason for 'Santo' is that 'Stefano' begins with 's-impura', i.e. 's' followed by a consonant, which also calls for slight differences in the definite article in Italian. I don't know how a letter can be impure.
On the subject of saints, have you ever thought it odd that they seem to have a Saint Cross (Santa Croce), a Saint Trinity (Santa Ternità or Trinità), or a Saint Moses (San Moisè) in Venice (and elsewhere in Italy, I would suppose). When we use the word 'Saint' in English we think of it as applying to a person who died after the time of Christ. But if you think of 'San', Santa' and 'Santo' as meaning 'holy' or 'sacred', then Holy Cross and Holy Trinity and even Holy Moses do not seem so strange.
P.S. Did you notice the previous two photos were posted exactly 12 hours apart?

For Good Luck

You should have no problem finding this attractive bridge. It you enlarge the image you will be able to read the nizioletto on the wall. You will also be able to see more easily the pair of hooks hanging near the corner. Venetians touch the hooks as they walk by for good luck - obviously, not all Venetians, but some Venetians do. That's not just something I've read in a book, I've actually seen a couple of people touch them in the very short time I was standing nearby.
What are, or were, the hooks for? One of the streets nearby is called Calle del Traghetto, and I've read that there used to be a ferry (traghetto) from near here to Murano. Many years ago, people used to ride horses (or mules) in Venice, before all the humpback bridges were built. If they were taking the ferry, they would need to tie the reins of their mounts to something, so that they would be there when they got back. That's what the hooks were for. I cannot say whether it's true, but that's what I've read.
I have no idea why it might be considered good luck to touch them - perhaps one of you can help me out.

What a corker!

Today's photo is a little unusual, I hope. This tombstone is in one of the cloisters of San Francesco della Vigna. It is the grave of the gastaldo, or leader, of the calafai (ship-caulkers) of the Arsenale. The bas-relief shows a ship of the time, shored up in dry-dock. I think the fact that this man was worthy of such a tomb shows the respect that was accorded to workers in the Arsenale.

I turn to stone

I told you I wasn't very computerate, didn't I? I thought I would delete the photos I had put onto VDP from ImageShack, since they didn't need to be there any longer. Wrong! Well, they are back now, though some are smaller than before - I think because I took them straight off my computer, rather than going through ImageShack. I have put a better photo of the electrical shop window in place of the original one.
Now, you should all know where today's photo is. So I don't think the first person to comment will spoil it for anyone. But can anyone name the cat that died?

How to find a place in Venice

The two photos above (I'd like to have put them side by side, but I don't know how) are of Campiello del Remer. There is a bar/trattoria here that has many recommendations. But how do you find it? If you use Googlemaps, you will be taken to one Campiello del Remer in San Polo, just south of the Church of San Polo. It's not that one. If you use ombra.net, [go to Venice Street Guide and enter 'campiello' in 'Type', and 'remer' in 'Name'; click 'submit'] you will find that there are at least three campielli of that name. Unfortunately, ombra cannot find more than one feature of a given name in each sestiere, whereas those familiar with Venice will know that you can find several features with the same name - e.g. pestrin, pistor, mezzo - in each sestiere. You may know that the one we want is in Cannaregio. [If not, this will take longer.] So you will click on the campiello in Cannaregio, and the map that appears will show you a spot near San Marcuola. This is not the one we want! [You could check on veniceconnected.] You will see that the search found 15 street numbers listed as being in 'Campiello del Remer'. If you click on the arrow to get the drop-down list of numbers, you will see that they are in three groups - 1574-1580, 5694-5698 and 5714-5716. The first set corresponds to the campiello near San Marcuola. The second set happens to be the one we want. Click on any number in that set and 'Submit'. The map shows you the Campiello del Remer near the Rialto Bridge, which is where the above photos were taken. The third set of numbers is in the same campiello. But that's Venice for you!
This is what Jude was referring to in her comment.

Don't Look Now

This is the view I was trying to re-create with yesterday's photo. The bridge is not the 'Pont of Duretto' as the subtitles tell me Laura Baxter (Julie Christie) says. It is Ponte Storto, over Rio San Zaninovo. There are at least eight bridges in Venice called 'Ponte Storto'. It simply means 'Crooked Bridge' (as in 'distorted'), and is often used when a bridge does not cross a canal at right-angles.

Scacciadiavoli

I'm not 100% sure of the title - it means 'drives out devils' - and it is (supposedly) placed over doorways etc to keep bad luck, devils, hobgoblins, Derek Acorah (q.v.) etc out of a house. But I don't know if it should be 'scacciadiavolo'. If one is called a scacciadiavoli, how do you say two of them? Perhaps it's invariable.
Anyway, Jude suggested I reveal my secrets on how to find a place in Venice. This is the easiest type. You know the number - 2483. So go to ombra.net [which is the same as venicexplorer.net but quicker to type] and click on 'Venice Civic Number' - about halfway down the list on the left. A screen will appear with four boxes. In the top one you select the sestiere. You don't know which one it is, but there are only six to try. In this case, the number is higher than the highest number in Santa Croce, so that leaves five. But they are in alphabetical order (Venice first, then Giudecca etc), so Cannaregio comes first. Ignore the next two boxes and put the number in the last box. Click 'submit'. You will get the calle (or fondamenta etc) where this number is. You may get more than one answer if there is 2483A, 2483B etc in a sestiere. At least they will be adjacent to each other. Click on the result, and a map will appear with a blinking red dot at the address you clicked on. Make a note of where it is. Then go to veniceconnected (maps.veniceconnected.it) and put your pointer on the map as near as you can to where the red dot was on ombra. Have a look around till you find the number. Bingo! [ombra.net is not always correct, as in this case, but it only makes life more interesting, don't you think?]

A nice place to eat

I have so many photos I want to share with you, I can't wait. Tell me if I'm spoiling the whole concept by double-posting. Some of you have eaten here. It's in Cannaregio.

I was lost

Sorry! I'm a bit late with this. In response to a couple of suggestions, this is the first mystery photo. I can give one helpful piece of information - it's in Castello. The problem with this is that the first person who answers correctly sort of spoils it for the rest. If you are able to change the text colour to white, you could write the answer in white, so people would only see the answer if they click over it. If you know where it is, then you could email me, but what's the point? - there are no prizes. If you think you know where it is, you could check with veniceconnected. If you have no idea where it is, I'll try to remember to give the answer in a couple of days.
It should be easy to guess which film this was from, given the limited choice I told you about in my earlier post.

How much is that socket in the window?

This is the window of a shop that sells electrical items and door-knockers. I first saw it in "Italian for Beginners". It's a lovely film, even though the Venice section is only the last ten minutes. It is my hobby to find film locations (if they are in Venice). It started with "Don't Look Now", and has extended to "Brideshead Revisited", "Death in Venice", "The Wings of the Dove", and the aforementioned "Italian for Beginners".
The shop may be found on the Fondamenta de la Misericordia, Cannaregio.

Venice's winter casino

This is my first attempt at posting a photo on VDP, so please forgive any mistakes. My words will not be as erudite or poetic as Pierre's, but I'll do my best. My digital photos of Venice have been taken since about 2007. Since then I have only been to Venice in April/May, July and September/October, so I will not be able to post photos appropriate to the day.
So, here goes! This is the Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi. Richard Wagner died here in 1883. I hope you like photos taken at night.

Let me introduce you...

Dear Friends,
Some changes and good news in Venice Daily Photo: my friend Bert, whom most of you have known for years for his witty and learned comments on the blog, has agreed to stand in for me for a while.

Bert, as you have noticed, has a huge knowledge of Venice and is keen on sharing it. I'm sure that you'll love to follow him in the calli or campi of la Serenissima.

I'm glad to let him be your guide for a while.

The reason for my momentary absence is, as some of you know, that I have to dedicate more and more of my time to my main website and my passion, USA-Decouverte.com which is more and more demanding.

So let us follow Bert and let's resume our wanderings in Venice

A Presto.
Pierre

PS : And, by the way, if some of you have sites or blogs, I'll feel extremely gratified if you honour me with a link towards USA-Decouverte in your pages.
And did you know? In USA-Decouverte, everyone can post their own pictures about the USA. Don't hesitate if you feel like doing it.

Half fairy tale

"This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism."
Thomas Mann

Pasta

Multicoloured hearts...

Hunchback

A famous sculpture in Venice. Where is it? What is it? Well I'll let you tell us what you know (and I'm sure you know a lot) about it.

Written by Bert about this picture : this is the famous Gobbo (hunchback) di Rialto, in Campo San Giacomo di Rialto. A wider view would show steps behind him leading up to a low platform above his head from where decrees were read. In this respect it was similar to the Pietra del Bando at the corner of San Marco. It was carved by Pietro da Salò in 1541 (da Salò, fl 1535-61).
The interesting thing is that, if you look closely at this gobbo and at others that support holy water stoups in churches (in Verona, at least), you will see that his torso is not deformed in any way. He is not actually a hunchback!

Looking for the Sun

In winter, people are always keen on going for a walk and make the most of the few rays of sunshine of the season. That's why the Zattere is so busy in the afternoon.

Happy New Year

Back to the blog. Sometimes it's good to go away for a little bit. But now I'm back. So let's start again, until my next escape, not before the end of June now. To all of you, my dear friends and followers of this blog, a happy year 2011, full of explorations, of dreams, of discoveries...