28th Venice Marathon October 27, 2013

Quite a bit of fog greeted us Sunday morning, and I knew right away it might be a blessing in disguise for the 28th running of the Venice Marathon. Last October on race day we had Aqua Alta. Not so good for the participants. This day seemed a bit more optimistic, weather-wise. I'd been excited for race day for a couple of weeks already, ever since I watched construction teams erecting the temporary bridges over the 13 bridges along the course in the city of Venice.

People who wander around Venice this time of year have the notion that the ramps are for the assistance of handicapped people, and comment how nice this is to have. What a great help in toting luggage up and down the bridges. I am quick to remind them this is not permanent, and is only intended for the Marathon runners to make the up and down of bridges easier. None-the-less, the arrival of the ramps starts to get me in the mood.

In previous years, I've taken up a position at the San Basilio vaporetto stop, in Dorsoduro, which is one of the first good vantage point to catch the racers coming into Venice. After watching the first set of very fast runners, I'd wander down to Nico's, grab a table and a cup of tea and spend a few hours cheering on the rest of the runners as they made their way down the Zattere.

This year, I chose something a little different. Since I now live so close to Giardini, where the finish line is, I thought it might be very interesting to see the race from a new perspective. Also, my hairdresser, Simone, had been training to run the Marathon for the first time ever this year, and he had suggested I catch him at the finish line. So, that was my plan.  Unfortunately, poor Simone suffered an injury to his left knee 2 weeks ago during a training run that was going to sideline him this year.

I calculated, based on previous race times, that it should take the fastest runners about 2 hours to reach Giardini. I set off a little before 11 am, taking the #1 vaporetto to Giardini.  I knew that the finish line was going to be right after Via Garibaldi, so my plan was to exit the vaporetto and walk up the street to that spot.  The #1 was making regular stops, except for the San Marco Vallresso stop which was closed all day to allow the runners to come over the temporary bridge and run into St. Mark's square.

My great plan was stymied before I got very far!  Once I disembarked from the boat, the entire street to my left leading from Viale Garibaldi up the waterfront was blocked off- for the race, of course. I had to walk up Viale Garibaldi and then up Via Garibaldi to reach the waterfront. I figured by the time I got there any good spots along the racecourse would be occupied already. Not to be daunted, I made my way to the Riva.

Someone up there was looking down on me because there was a small opening along the barricade at the bottom of the last bridge the runners would run over, just yards from the official finish line.
I grabbed my position.  I was in a great spot, and also close to the race announcer who was doing a play-by-play commentary, sort of.  He was announcing what the official race time at each kilometer break , for example at 35 kilometers, at 37.5 kilometers, at 40 kilometers.  From him, I knew exactly when the "elite" men's group, comprised of the first 5 runners, had crossed over the Ponte di Liberta into Venice.  He announced the positions of these first 5, so I knew the Kenyans were in front, and an Italian runner was in 4th place coming over the bridge.  His running commentary made the short wait a bit more entertaining, especially as the men were running over the Grand Canal and into St. Mark's square.  This announcer was issuing his commentary in Italian, German and English, but his comments in English kept a grin on my face. He'd say things like " Lalli, the Italian runner, is in 4th position. Would we like him to move up?? Yes, People!"

Right after the men exited St. Mark's and were making their way down the Riva degli Schiavoni, the announcer reported that one of the racers from Kenya had developed some sort of problem and was now walking. He'd lost his early lead, sadly. The announcer got the crowd going, yelling, "Masai, Masai, come on!, We're with you. Come on , Masai!" , as well as encouraging everyone to cheer for Andrea Lalli, the Italian runner in this elite men's group.

The first two men off the last bridge in front of me were Kenyans, with Machichim in first place. Third place went to Andrea Lalli. Fourth was Masai, doing a slow run/limp, with another Kenyan runner in fifth.  Unfortunately, between the last bridge where I was, and the official finish line, Masai lost his 4th place finish to the man behind him who loped past him. Two hours and 9 minutes to run 26 miles!  I have no idea how they do it.  One of the reasons I love watching this marathon so much is the fact that I will never be running anything like this. I'm lucky if I can do a slow run down the street anymore, what with my arthritic knees!

    First place finisher, Machichim from Kenya

Third place to Andrea Lalli of Italy

Forza *in Italian means force, strength, power, or  spirit)  is often yelled at soccer matches and other events to encourage the participants. Just as we were waiting for the runners to hit this last bridge, the ship FORZA passed my vantage point. Certainly apropo. 

After the first wave of elite men completed the race, there is a bit of a lull waiting until the remaining several thousands of runners make their way towards the finish line.  I met Mike for a bite of lunch on Via Garibaldi, then headed up for Rialto by vaporetto. The boat went under the temporary bridge, I caught sight of several runners on their way over the Grand Canal. Many of them were stopping to take photos! I can imagine this is quite an unusual race course, and a unique opportunity to run over one of the most famous canals in the world.




Runners crossing the temporary bridge between Dogana Point and San Marco

My next year plan is already in swirling in my head.... thinking about volunteering to be along the race course, hopefully on the Zattere.

It's Acqua Alta time, it's Acqua Alta time.....

Just last week I noticed that the walkways (passerelle) had been brought out of storage and placed strategically around the city, in anticipation of the first Acqua Alta (high water) of the season.

I just checked the weather forecast for tomorrow and guess what!!  Tonight around 12:30 am and again tomorrow around 12:30 pm we're going to get to use those platforms.  Although the forecast is only predicting 105 cm in Venice which means it will only be in the lower areas of the city, it will certainly be in St. Mark's square and Rialto.  Get the boots out everyone!  Happy Acqua Alta season to all!

Yesterdays mission ---accomplished.

(This photo has nothing to do with the topic of this blog, other than the fact that I snapped it on the way to my mission yesterday, and it made me happy)


Procrastination is my middle name. I think I've admitted to it somewhere in my blog before. I ought to join a 12-step program for it- Procrastinators, Anonymous. Is there such a program at Betty Ford?? Yesterday, procrastination came and bit me on the rear end yet again. You think I would have learned by now, but no....

The thing I procrastinate about most here in Venice is dealing with the Italian government. If I have to do anything... ANYTHING..where I have to brush elbows, shoulders, fingertips even, with the Italian government in any way, I am going to put it off until there is absolutely no putting it off any longer. Well, guess what, yesterday was that day. There was no way around it, I had to go deal with them. It takes all the will power in the world for me to gear up for it. I can predict it will end in no good. My stomach starts to churn, my nerves kick in, I'm just a royal mess. And this is quite unlike me. Normally, I don't take crap from anyone. On this side of the Atlantic I have been conditioned to be a bit less assertive. Maybe that's a bit more cooperative. Docile even. Whatever it will take to get through with the least amount of agony.

I spent the entire first year of our lives here in Italy dealing with the Italian governement. Days and days and days of horrendously painful experiences going head to head with some clerk at some sportello   (counter - you know the ones like at the Department of Motor Vehicles in the US?) at some agency in some city somewhere in Italy. Venice, Bologna, south of Bologna, the whole region of Liguria- I was there. None of them were very happy experiences. And as a result- my dealings with any Italian agency become an occassion for me to put my middle name into practice. I procrastinate.

Yesterday I had to pay a visit to the Anagrafe office near Rialto. The Anagrafe is the Italian version of the Department of Vital Records in most states in the US.  I had the forms I needed all filled out, I thought I was ready, and set off nice and early for what I predicted would be a long morning. Happily, the office was almost empty when I arrived. Me, another girl, and an elderly couple already in place at Sportello numero 7.  I took my number and took a seat. With it being so empty, I thought this wouldn't require much waiting. Wrong. The little old couple were still at Sportello numero 7 over 35 minutes after I took my seat. I also needed Sportello 7, and so did the other girl a few seats over. Patience, Karen. Just find some patience. Too bad I never learned to whistle!

I kept myself busy scanning the internet (yes, thanks be to God, there was internet reception inside the building).  Finally, it was my turn.  I take my spot in front of the glass divider at Sportello numero 7, hand over my forms, and make sure I tell the guy on the other side right off the bat that I don't speak Italian fluently, but if he speaks slowly, I will understand him. Right, that didn't click because he started rattling off at warp speed as he proceeded to review all the fields I had filled in on the form. Blah, blah, blah, yes, hmm, ok... and what are the other names of the people who live in the apartment with you?  I pointed out that I had that information already filled in. Two of us.  Yes, but who else?  No one else. More people- who are they?  After several rounds back and forth, I finally got him to understand that it was only just us two- my husband and I. Ok. Fine. He asks me to hand over the identification documents for my husband, which I don't have on me. Bingo!  I knew this would happen!!!

This is the same rouse they use every time. They make sure they withhold some detail - something you need to do or have with you. When you get up to that Sportello thinking everything it's going to be smooth sailing, that you have everything possible--WHAM! They tell you something you didn't do, which requires you to go home and return another day.  Not this time. I make sure I clearly understand the documents he is asking for, get on the phone to Mike, tell him to make copies and hop on the next boat to Rialto.  I turn to the guy behind the glass divider, smile, and tell him my husband will arrive Subito (right away). I won't need to return another day.  He says Good. When he comes, you don't need to take another number. Just come to the window.

I knew it would take Mike about 30 minutes to get from Sant'Elena to the Anagrafe office, so I took the opportunity to go have myself a cup of tea at a nearby caffe in Campo San Luca.  While I sat in the caffe I had time to reflect on my adventure so far, and compared it to those of 5 years ago. Five years ago I would have turned tail and slunk out of that office so fast you wouldn't have seen me go if you blinked your eye for a nanosecond. Five years ago I would have been stammering, pointing, showing the guy a piece of paper with my Google translated questions and answers on it. Not today. I was speaking Italian, I didn't slink anywhere. I know the score at this point was still City Hall -1, Karen 0, but the day wasn't over yet and I was ready to go for Round 2.

While waiting, I also had a conversation with a lovely couple from Norway who were seated next to me. Had I ever been to Norway, they asked. No, but we have friends there. We have friends there! Listen to me!  Yes, I can say we have friends in Norway now. Venice has done this for me. I can tell you with 100% certainty that had I still been living in Baltimore I would never have made friends who live in Norway. I now have friends around the globe, in fact.  I spent the rest of my time waiting for Mike to show up reflecting on the many ways my life has changed since getting on a plane to Venice in 2008 and not looking back.

Mike arrived with the necessary copies in hand. Yes. Round 2. We go back into the office and stand near Sportello numero 7.  The guy behind the glass divider has been replaced by a woman, but she nods in our direction and mouths that we should wait a little bit. She handles one more customer quickly then motions us over.  She takes the copies of Mike's identification, then looks up and says I need copies of your Codice Fiscale and Karen's Carta d'Identita (like a tax id number and my Italian identification card). Well, we have the originals with us. No, she needs a photocopy of all of them. Why didn't Guy #1 tell us this the first time?  I bit my tougue and kept that question to myself.  She gave directions to a place in Campo San Luca where copies could be obtained quickly, sent Mike on the errand and motioned me to take a seat to wait.  No new number needed.

Ten minutes later, Mike returns with the photocopies. Two minutes after that we were back at the Sportello. One more minute and we had a printed out receipt and were out of there!

We headed over to Campo Santa Margherita to run a few errands and grab a quick lunch.  I sent Mike to our local fish monger Paolo to buy shrimp and mussels while I headed into Punto, the local grocery store for the few items I needed, with plans to meet up at the caffe to eat.  Shopping completed, I walked across the campo towards our meeting spot. Rosella, Paolo the fishmongers mother who also works at the stall, gives me a wave, and yells to me "I have your shrimp all cleaned for you!".   I did a detour over to Rosella, paid her, retrieved my package and went to meet my husband for lunch. I am loving life. Does it get any better than this???

Over lunch, Mike and I replayed the morning, noting how different it went compared to what we would have done several years ago. This mornings transaction would have turned into a 3 trip event before we had a receipt in our hands. It might have even required hauling a friend along to do some talking for us. Not this time. We stuck it out, managed it all in one swoop and kept our cool.

We even shared a laugh about the guy asking for all the rest of the names of the people who lived with us in the apartment, not believing it was only us two.  I suggested to Mike that I probably should have listed 27 Bangladeshi who throw those annoying blue lights up into the sky in St. Mark's square.  If you have been to Venice recently, you know those guys too. It would have been fun to see the expression on that Anagrafe guy's face!

We did it!!! Rowing like a Venetian- finalemente!!

I've been saying for over a year now that I wanted to learn how to row in Venetian style. Every time I see a small boat of rowers in the canal, something in me says I should try it. Every time I attend a Venetian festival where people are all in boats in the canals, I find myself wishing I were IN a boat instead of on the sideline watching the boats.  A few weeks ago, I finally did it.

My friend Sally, a British expat with similar desires to give rowing a try, and I got the guts up to schedule a rowing lesson with Jane, also an expat, from Australia, who after 20 some years of rowing in Venice started teaching others and formed an organization, Row Venice.  Bright and early on September 17, I got myself dressed warmly and on the vaporetto headed over to our meeting location in Cannaregio. Halfway there my phone rang- it was Jane telling me the weather conditions were not good for a beginning rower that morning- winds were too strong. Disappointed, I headed back home.  By the end of the day all three of us had put our schedules together and arrived on a suitable reschedule date, September 25.

September 25 dawned with gorgeous skies and fairly nice temperatures. Hmmm.. the gods had been good to me by forcing a delay it seemed. Again I donned something appropriate for rowing and set off for Cannaregio. Excited. Nervous. A little bit scared even, but ready.

Jane came down the canal rowing a traditional Venetian boat, the batela coda di gambero (or, Shrimps-tail). She tied off the boat, jumped onto the fondamenta and began giving us some basic instruction on rowing technique. Next thing I know, we were in the boat, Jane, Sally and I, rowing down the canal.  Sally and I took turns in the front of the boat rowing prua  with Jane on the back, rowing the poppa.  Before we knew it were out in the open lagoon, where Sally and I had our own experiences on the back of the boat.

Sally was a natural. Me, on the other hand, had a bit of a learning curve. Nonetheless, I loved every minute of it. Being in a small boat rowing down the back canals of Venice filled me with emotions I don't have words for yet today, more than a week after the experience. There is something uniquely magical about Venetian canals. And to be out in the lagoon.... oh my god, I cannot wait to be out there again.

Sally and I compared notes the following morning. We both agreed we felt aches in our shoulders and arms we didn't quite expect. But that didn't put off our resolve to do more rowing. Next up- membership in a rowing club and continuing lessons.

I've often wondered if perhaps I was a Venetian in another life. After being on the water with an oar in my hand, I wondered it even more. Could it be possible?




Note: Grazie to Jane of Row Venice (http://rowvenice.org/), and to my intrepid partner, Sally.

Lovers Locks in Venice - Bye, Bye

Last night I had the priviledge to join a group of local Venetians as they cut locks off the famous Rialto bridge, and about 10 other nearby smaller bridges. A European tradition of couples putting a lock on a bridge and throwing the key into the bridge to signify an everlasting love has become much more popular in Venice over the last year or so- aided by some entrepreneurial immigrants who have taken to selling locks on the Accademia bridge! They even carry a permanent marker with them to make it so easy for you to write your names and the date on the lock before you clamp it onto a historic monument.

While in theory this sounds very cute, in practice this is not good for the bridges and monuments the locks are being attached to. They rust, causing more rust and damage to the structures they are appended to. Venice is a city protected by Unesco, therefore everything, yes, everything, is a historic monument.  Therefore, putting locks on monuments is actually an act of vandalism, not to mention a real lack of respect for a city like Venice.

In effort to clean up Venice, several groups of citizens have formed Facebook pages as a method to organize activities to clean graffitti-ed walls and remove locks.  A few months ago when the bunch had a painting day in Campo San Barnaba, I was not able to participate. When this lock cutting blitz was announced, I made sure I was present and accounted for. I'm an Italian citizen and a registered resident of Venice. This is my city too. It's important to me to not only show support by my words, but also by my actions.

Here's an video of last night's activities on Rialto... have a look.

Those bolt cutters required quite a bit of muscle. While I wished I could have wielded one myself, and was quite tempted to go buy one that afternoon, I settled for holding a bag to hold the cut off locks and encouraging the brave lock cutters!  Stay tuned for the next blitz!

Regata Storica 2013

For me, one of the highlights of the year in Venice is the annual Regata Storica, a procession of 16th century style boats down the Grand Canal all filled with rowers and passengers dressed in period garb, including the Doge and the Doge's wife. The procession was to welcome Caterina Cornaro, wife of the King of Cyprus who in 1489 renounced her throne to live in Venice.

It's thrilling to see the Grand Canal void of all the everyday usual traffic as people line its sides waiting for the boat parade to begin. The procession participants begin at the Public Gardens, Giardini, and make their way up the Grand Canal,  turning around in front of the train station  then  ending at  Ca' Foscari  where the machina, the parade reviewing stand, is located.

Earlier in the morning a large pole, called the paleto,  is driven into the middle of the Grand Canal in front of the Santa Lucia train station. The paleto marks the turn around point for the race.  A rope, called the spagheto, is stretched across the starting point in front of the Giardini (the public gardens).

Later in the afternoon the regata is held, beginning with the race for young rowers, followed by the women's race,  the 6-man teams and finally the teams of 2 gondoliers.  A different style traditional rowing boat is used for each different race category:   pupparini for the youth, mascarete for women, caroline for the 6 man teams and gondolini for the 2 man "champions" race.  Excitement mounts as everyone waits for the last race of the day,with local Venetians cheering on their favorites from the sidelines.

Colored pennants are awarded to the winners: Red for first place, white 2nd place, green 3rd place and blue 4th place.

Regata Storica is always held on the first Sunday in September. Tomorrow's activities begin at 4pm with the historic procession. The Grand Canal will be cleared of traffic beginning at 3:00 pm.

The race schedule is as follows:
4:50 - Pupparini (youth)
5:10 - Mascarete (women)
5:40 - Caroline (men)
6:10 - Gondolini  (gondoliers)

I'll be out with my camera somewhere along the Grand Canal tomorrow afternoon. For now, here are some photos from prior Regata Storicas to get you in the mood.

A sad day in Venice

In my last post, I commented on the run of interesting, strange, odd, wacky, weird, almost unthinkable things that have taken place in Venice thus far this summer. Things were definitely going downhill, but today, things just fell off the cliff. Bad went to worse in a hurry this morning with the  news of a tragic accident on the Grand Canal just before noon.

Amidst all the usual traffic at the Rialto bridge, a vaporetto knocked into a gondola, sending a German family of five- mother, father and 3 children-  into the canal. The father unfortunately died at the hospital shortly afterward, having taken in large quantities of water. The small daughter suffered from a serious wound above her eye and was taken to the hospital in Padua for surgery. A tragic day for this vacationing family.


   (photo courtesy La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre)

I'm almost without words.

But believe me, there will be words today, tomorrow, in the near future as blame is bandied about by the police department conducting the investigation, the city government, you name it, everyone will have something to say. We'll talk about all that in the days to come.

Today, a life was lost, a young child seriously injured, a family forever changed, and I suspect one gondolier and one vaporetto captain will suffer nightmares for the rest of their lives. Words won't change those facts.

As small consolation, I strongly believe when your time has come, it's come. While I wish there were a way this day could be rewound and played over, with a different outcome, that isn't possible. We have to deal with the reality as it is.  As thoughts of this tragic event went round and round in my head all afternoon,  I was reminded of a similar event. A few years ago on vacation in the Dominican Republic, while attending the evening entertainment at the resort, we were all up on the dance floor doing the merengue, having a fantastic time.  Not far from me a woman slumped to the floor. The emergency doctor was called, everyone was in a panic. The woman passed away instantly due to a massive heart attack. Just like that, she was gone. Dancing one minute, dead the next. Her family made a statement shortly after the frightening incident- that their mother was having the time of her life, doing exactly what she would have wanted to do- dance.

I want to not forget that life is for living. Let's remind ourselves to get up and dance every day.

I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the family.

Ferragosto! Closed for holiday!

For the last few weeks, the closed for holiday signs have sprouted up all over the city.  Everyone is headed to the mountains or the beach for the traditional Italian holiday -Ferragosto. While technically the holiday is only one day, August 15, Italians stretch it for almost the entire month.

This summer is having a run of "stuff" happening, much worse than previous years, in my mind. I cannot recall a year being quite as bad as this one. Not weather-wise, it's routinely hot and humid here. But I think the weather might have contributed to Venice going a bit mad. I think all the summer madness began when the ridiculous ticket booth, il Gabbinotto, was erected at the base of the Campanile in St. Mark's square. That incited quite a bit of indignation amongst the locals, for sure.  

 

Next was the cruise ship that came too close to the embankment near Via Garibaldi. As if Venice needed any more cruise ship bad news!!!  

There  was an accumulation of record breaking algae in the canals and unprecedented numbers of dead fish. Weird. 

There have been crazy fights between vu compra (the illegal handbag salesmen), the local vendors and gondoliers.  Also weird.

The huge purple inflatable statue has taken up residence on San Giorgio Maggiore until November. Yes, very weird.

Gondoliers have experienced a new run of bad press through the summer months including the poor treatment of a ganser (the guy who helps people get off a gondola), roughing up some passengers at Redentore night, and the reported bad language addressed at a regular passenger at one of the traghetto stations.  The result:  random drug and alcohol testing for gondoliers. 

In the last week we've seen numerous articles in the local newspapers relating to poor tourist behavior- sleeping in the streets, riding bicycles, going shirtless, and swimming in the canals. (By the way, Venice has several rules about proper decorum in the city- one of them is going shirtless.  Riding bicycles is an offense which carries a fine.)   

(photo from Il Gazzettino)

(photo courtesy Sebastiano Scomparin)  

Not to be left out of all the summer chatter is ACTV- the company that operates the vaporettos. The boats have been running behind schedule on numerous days; they have been unbelievably overcrowded; there have been altercations between tourists and the  workers on the boats, instigated undoubtedly by the crankiness due to those late arrivals and all those crowds;  and there have been staff on board boats checking tickets and writing out fines left and right.  The latest from ACTV is the new poster announcing fines for people on the docks without a valid ticket. 

And last but not least, just two days ago, an oil spill on the Giudecca canal near San Basilio that necessitated two days of clean up, probably caused by one or more of the cruise ships in port that day. 

I seriously believe Venice is overdue for a vacation.  I expect to see one of these Ferragosto closed for holiday signs hung on Venice's front door. 

Buon Ferragosto, Tutti!!!  

Secret Garden update

Just about every morning Mike and I make a run down to our "Orto" to see what new developments might have happened overnight.  In the evenings we've been watering and weeding. Today I took a few photos so you can see the progress going on there.

 Melanzane!!!  We actually have 8 of these beauties hanging on the vine- ranging from about 2 inches to 5 inches. We want to let them fatten up a little bit more before we start harvesting, in the meantime our mouths are watering!!!  For what seems like weeks we looked at flowers on the vine, but nothing else, and thought sadly that we weren't going to get any eggplants at all. This was our very first attempt at eggplant, we had no idea what to expect, and to be honest were a bit disappointed when we saw tons of zucchini but no melanzane. About a week ago we started seeing little purple eggplants .... we have babies!!!

 Perhaps by September there just might be one ear of corn in the garden. We're just starting to see some silks appear, that's a good sign. We miss corn on the cob a lot, so we might be fighting over that one ear!!!

 There is a bumper crop of tomatos going on in the garden- lots and lots of cherry tomatoes, and these bigger ones, even some heirloom tomatoes and what looks like just one daterino plant. We've been pulling ripe cherry tomatoes off every day and popping them in our mouths right then and there. They don't have a prayer. They will never even make it up to the kitchen!

 Hot peppers, and lots of them. Have no idea what we'll be doing with them all. Any suggestions?

 This tomatoe is just about ready.. maybe a day or two more until it is nice and ripe.

This is yesterday's zucchini harvest. Last night we made 2 loaves of zucchini bread. Tonight for dinner we made fried zucchini in batter. Tomorrow it will be zucchini quiche. We're going to have to get pretty creative, cause there are new ones to harvest every time we go to the garden.

We're so lucky to have this special space, and even luckier that it had been a garden for years and years before us. There's something magical about vegetables grown in Italy, they just taste better. Must be the combination of that Italian sun and soil.  

Redentore - il giorno dopo ( the day after)

I wanted to try to share a little bit of Redentore with you. My firework photos aren't spectacular, I'm envious of some of the incredible photos I've seen on the internet this morning. I'm going to have to really practice with my night photography next year. For what it's worth... here are a few. Redentore fireworks are some of the best I have seen in my life. I just don't think anyone does fireworks better than the Italians do! 

This year we had a wonderful dinner on our terrace, then walked out to the waterfront along Sant'Elena to join the thousands of others who had already staked a spot there. Families had set up tables and chairs all along the water earlier in the day and had even hung lanterns and lights. By night, their dinners were over, everyone was ready for the fireworks. Others were on blankets on the grass in the park. There were young and old alike, dancing, singing, just enjoying the evening. 

 After the fireworks, most of the people who had gathered on Sant'Elena gathered up their belongings and headed home or to the Lido by vaporetto.
Sunday morning I headed off to Giudecca  island to Pesca di Beneficenza, a lottery type game to raise money for the church, held annually on the morning after the Redentore celebration. This has become a favorite of mine, and it's well known amongst my friends that I have no luck winning anything- except fly swatters!  I have quite a fly swatter collection now.  So--- Sunday morning it was more fly swatter time for Karen! I hopped on the 4.1 vaporetto and made my way to Giudecca.

Here's a little taste of Redentore, through my eyes......

 Here's how this works- you pay 1 Euro per ticket, hand your money over to the volunteer who is manning these bins of little rolled up papers. They pick out tickets from the bin and hand them over to you.

 I contributed 10 Euros this year, these are my hot 10 little winning tickets!

 You unravel the papers, hoping one of them is a good number!  They either have a word or a number on them. The lower the number, the better the prize.

This is a display of some of the better prizes. The motorbike was number #0001.

 And this is my stash of prizes..... a curtain and rod, a swiffer duster, 2 plastic flowers, 2 small glass dolphins, a little glass ring, a car air freshner, and a tiny little plastic keyring with a small container of playdoh attached!  No, I didn't even win a bottle of wine. And no, no fly swatter!!!!

 Here's a view of the Redentore church from the temporary bridge. Yellow paper lanterns are a tradition, lining both sides of the canal. I love the atmosphere on this weekend!

 The bridge is constructed from sections that are held in place by large pilings.

 Contributing to the party atmosphere are the nut, candy and balloon vendors stationed near the church. I always buy a bag of roasted almonds for Mike. It's become a tradition for us whenever there is some festa going on. Of course, a bag of nuts came home with me yesterday.

These are fresh , warm and delicious smelling.

And finally.....one last remnant of a special night in Venice... empty tables on Sunday morning along Giudecca canal waiting for their owner to come pack them up and carry them home.