Destination: Venice
Jan Morris Reveals her Favorite Cities
by Michael Yessis | 11.19.09 | 3:41 PM ET
She fields this question in the Guardian: What is her favorite of them all?
Dear God, what a question! To my mind cities are distillations of human life itself, in all its nuances, with all its contradictions and anomalies, changing from one year to another, changing with the weather, changing with history, changing with the state of the world, changing above all in one’s own personal responses. How can I have a favourite? Sometimes I prefer one city, sometimes another. Inconstancy governs my responses to cities—fidelity in personal matters, promiscuity in civic affairs.
Morris does have a ready answer, though, when asked about her least favorite city: Indianapolis. (Via @ben_coop)
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Yahoo! BuzzRemaining Venetians Stage Mock Funeral for the City
by Eva Holland | 11.16.09 | 3:04 PM ET
Frustrated residents carried an empty coffin to the mayor’s office this weekend, in a mock funeral procession designed to highlight the city’s dwindling full-time population. Venetian officials responded by calling the funeral stunt “premature”—not the most forceful rebuttal I’ve ever heard, and none too comforting for those of us who’d like to see the city live for a long time yet.
‘Venice Doesn’t Smell’ and Other Things You Should Know
by Eva Holland | 10.19.09 | 1:54 PM ET
Over at WhyGo Italy, Jessica Spiegel offers some blunt myth-busting and advice about Venice. That infamously mediocre, overpriced food, for instance? It’s real but avoidable.
In Venice, Will Tourists Put up With the Advertising ‘Bombardment’?
by Michael Yessis | 08.28.09 | 2:06 PM ET
As Judith Martin writes, “Venice has always been frankly and happily commercial.” But it’s also taken pride in its beauty. Now that Venice is in a bad place financially, it’s turning more and more to commercial advertising that resides on and around the iconic places we all want to see when we visit. Martin’s piece in the Financial Times looks at the possible repercussions.
Brit Lit and Venice: A Love Affair
by Eva Holland | 08.27.09 | 3:00 PM ET
In the Independent, Peter Popham has a thoughtful essay about the world’s—and, in particular, the British writing community’s—ongoing fascination with Venice. He writes: “Venice is the great seducer, the feminine city incarnate, risen like Venus from the waves and always threatening to sink into them again; demanding to be rescued, to be immortalised yet again by pen or brush, even though already, 250 years ago, one jaded visitor complained it was a city ‘about which so much has been said and written—that it seems to me there is nothing left to say.’”
He wraps up the essay with a list of artistic Brits who’ve gotten caught up in the city’s charms, from Lord Byron to Elton John. I’d add Jan Morris’ “Venice” to the list of worthy titles Popham mentions.
National Geographic on ‘Vanishing Venice’
by Eva Holland | 07.29.09 | 12:22 PM ET
The latest issue of the magazine includes a lovely story on the city, and the rising flood of tourists that threatens to destroy it. (Via @italylogue)
‘How Much are Venice, the Everglades, and New Orleans Worth?’
by Eva Holland | 07.02.09 | 9:31 AM ET
Andrew Sullivan points the way to a Matt Steinglass post about the limits of measuring climate change damage in economic terms:
There will be no Everglades in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is marginal. There will be no Venice in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is tiny. There will be no New Orleans in 100 years. The economic cost of that change to US GDP is extremely small. ... But the worth of many precious things cannot be measured in money.
Indeed.
Beyond the Gondola: Kayaking in Venice?
by Eva Holland | 06.24.09 | 4:05 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland If you think about it, paddling on the canals of Venice makes a whole lot of sense—and yet, you don’t see many kayaks competing with the gondolas and vaporettos. WhyGo Italy checks in with a Danish entrepreneur who aims to change that.
My only question: Will kayakers be allowed to pack bag lunches?
Venice, Italy
by World Hum | 06.03.09 | 12:36 PM ET
Members of traditional Maori group "Waka Huia" perform in San Marco square, as part of the opening of the New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The Biennale, one of the world's major art festivals, is traditionally held every two years dating back to 1895.
Morning Links: Venice Cokes Up, an Epic (Paper) Plane Video and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.25.09 | 9:44 AM ET
- A Turkish Airlines 737 crashed in Amsterdam. The AP reports nine people were killed.
- Iraq’s National Museum—the one famously looted in the early stages of the Iraq war—reopened.
- Venice turns to Coke to “safeguard its artistic heritage.”
- The landslide winner of Freakonomics’ contest to find a six-word motto for the U.S.: We Are Too Big to Fail.
- Video: One hell of a paper airplane flight—with a quick glimpse of a New York landmark. (via Very Short List)
- Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” has a new Facebook application.
- The Economist on “the first British-built steam train in almost 50 years.”
- Felipe Fernández-Armesto on the 1,047 page Encyclopedia of Exploration 1850 to 1940. (via Passport)
- ESPN sideline reporter Stacey Dales apparently quit her job because she didn’t want to fly coach. Boo hoo, right? There may be more to the story—Dales hasn’t confirmed the initial report.
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Italy on the Cheap
by Eva Holland | 01.30.09 | 10:13 AM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Jessica at Why Go Italy recently offered up her “must-see” destinations and activities in Venice. It’s a thoughtful, off-beat list—think “get lost” instead of “take a gondola ride”—and best of all? Most of her suggestions are free, or close to it. Meanwhile, Eurocheapo dishes on how to land a free, guided tour of Florence’s Duomo, courtesy of the city’s Center for Art and Culture.
Cheap and enlightening: what more can you ask for?
Venice, Italy: St. Marks Square
by World Hum | 12.14.08 | 4:38 PM ET
REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri This month's floods are the worst Venice has experienced in 20 years. But travelers were urged to see St. Marks via walkway, or buy high water packages -- room and rubber boots for 190 euros.
Venice: Souvenir Vendors Could Go the Way of the Pigeons
by Eva Holland | 12.05.08 | 6:21 AM ET
Look out, Venetian vendors of cheap tourist tat. Your canal-side stalls (“fully-fledged examples of urban decay,” according to the city council) are the next target in the city’s ongoing crusade against all things ugly or rude. Local authorities in Venice have already showed the flocks of pigeons and shirtless, napping tourists who’s boss.
Venice ‘Paralyzed’ by Worst Flooding in 20 Years
by Michael Yessis | 12.02.08 | 5:20 PM ET
The Times of London reports that 95 percent of the city is underwater. Travelers are being warned to stay away, though some who are already in Venice are reportedly making the best of the situation.
‘Too Many Memories’ in Venice
by Eva Holland | 09.29.08 | 2:00 PM ET
The Sunday Observer recently published a powerful essay about the author’s first return visit to Venice following her husband’s death. “I was living in a new house in London, had new friends, had a new, more profound relationship with my daughters, and had visited new places,” Sheila Hancock writes. “But fear of looking back on our lives together was beginning to limit my horizons. I needed to venture to a place where in the past I had been supremely happy with John. I decided to go to Venice.” Update: Unfortunately, the essay is no longer available.
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