Fluttering laundry with colors of the Italian Flag
Our first visit to Gatto Nero was in January of
1995 with a group of great friends, and oh, that is a whole story in
itself. As we were lingering over the
end of a very long and delicious meal, our minds swirling with wine and
too-too good of a time, the Italians in the table next to
us were trying to get is to go out the nondescript back door right next
to our table. When we obliged, we were greeted with the magnificent sun
setting across the lagoon, bathing the scene in intense colors.
A wide lawn with colorful laundry hanging served
as a staging area for sports rowing boats; their varied colors
intensified by the direct sun. The campanili of Venice on the
horizon formed a lovely and idealistic vista. We waited for the sun to
set; induced with lots of wine and grappa, we hugged in groups and let
the moment take us to a very romantic and nostalgic place. Immediately I
thought of the romantic scene in Summertime when Rossano Brazzi
sped Kate Hepburn off to an outer island for a romantic interlude
where they watched the sunset across the lagoon with Venice on the
horizon.
One-man and two-man rowing is the
most popular sport in Venice. It is an ancient sport unique to Venice,
and is intensely competitive, requiring
great skill. Everywhere you look on the lagoon you see men standing in
their boats and rowing. On a separate visit to Burano in
March of 1998 with my sister Chris we took her around back to this spot
at sunset. As we were waiting for the setting sun, two
guys showed up in their club's uniform and launched their boat. We later saw them rowing in the
main canal of Burano as our vaporetto slowly moved towards Venice.
Enjoy these pictures from our
sneak-peek out the back of Gatto Nero along with some pictures of the sunset
from our return boat ride with our grandson twelve years later in
2007.
Click the picture for a larger view
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The
grass lawn facing the lagoon out-back of Gatto Nero. |
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Colorful row boats in the intense light. |
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The setting sun burns the colors of the
boats. |
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| The sky &
lagoon ablaze with color & Venice's campanile in profile. |
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| Our good
friends Diane & Leonard savor a special moment. |
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| Two rowers
launch their boat, a pupparin style with a platform for the man
in the rear. |
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| The rowers
launched into the evening sunset. |
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| Later, as we
were departing in the vaporetto, we caught the duo at their trade. |
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| Beautiful
Burano. |
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| Departing
Burano we caught its seriously leaning campanile with the
setting sun. |
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| On the way
back to Venice yours truly catches a nap with the last warming
rays of the sun while grandson Dietrich enjoys the prized seats
in the aft of the vaporetto. Ah, a nice day indeed. |
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