Winter means fog in Venice. The winter nebbia there, as it's called in Italian, is quite unlike anything I have experienced: dense, hood-on-the-head, rain-cloud-come-to-earth fog that seemed to sock us in at least every other morning. As we lived on La Giudecca, an island apart from the rest of Venice, we had to cross the wide Canale della Giudecca several times daily, a journey that fog complicated. Vaporettos were often late or suspended. And if you did finally get on one, you needed to place unnatural faith in the boat's captain, as visibility on the canale was at 0 (is there such thing as negative visibility?) and the waters were simultaneously criss-crossed by enormous cruise ships, dozens of small merchant vessels, water taxis, garbage scows and god knows what else. I used to stand outside the window of the captain's cabin, watching the surface radar over his shoulder, scanning for battleship-sized blips that were headed for our broadside. The captain didn't even bother to look up from the screen, there was nothing to see but the nebbia.
Word in today's Gazzettino about two different fog-related collisions within minutes of each other in the Bacino di San Marco, the hectic, wide-open area between the island of San Giorgio, the Lido and the Piazzetta. In the first, 5 people were injured and taken to the hospital after a vaporetto collided with a tourist boat, the Cristina II, packed with Tiawanese tourists. The Cristina II was left with an enormous gash that had officials marveling that it did not founder and sink, which could easily have resulted in loss of life. The second collision was near the Lido, and while mainly a sidescraping, the boats involved were whales -- motonavi -- and nearly collided head-on.
Another controversy: apparently numerous vaporettos are out there with faulty radar, according to the Mayor's office, and they put heat on the ACTV (the transit authority) to clean things up prontissimo.
I remember the day after the end of Carnevale in 2001, the nebbia descended on a soft layer of snow with an aqua alta. The vaporetti were all but dead in the water. I had gone to the Billa at San Basilio and the trip home involved three boats which wandered about, long layovers at boat stops, a substitute bus, and a long walk home from Ferrovia in slushy, highwater-washed walkways.
But, my travail was nothing compared to all the tourists who, after Carnevale, tried to get to the airport and fly home.
And I might add that on that day I learned a great Venetian lesson - when the boats don't run and the water is high, just sip the wine until the water goes down. I try to remember that whenever life doesn't go the way I plan.
Posted by: Randy Becker | February 01, 2006 at 09:22 PM
I remember, 3 or 4 years ago, getting the Alilaguna motoscafi from the Airport to San Marco one night. It was so foggy that the water taxis were no longer running, and in the darkness the pilot was navigating purely by radar. Which he obviously felt was best done with his sunglasses on! Only in Italy.
Posted by: Robert Thompson | February 15, 2006 at 07:07 AM
If someone has some photos of CRISTINA II,the tourist boat crashed, please contact me!!!!!i've worked on that boat years ago when cristina II was in Rimini!!!! i pray you!!!!!!if someone has a documents or photos of the cristina, in venice please contact me!!!!!! [email protected]
Posted by: Gabriele | August 30, 2007 at 01:31 AM