Veniceblog

Arriva Aperol

A couple years ago I wrote about the various forms Venetian Spritz, that bubbly, ubiquitious snort that you can find at any bar in the city. Looks like that original post is the first thing that pops up in Google when you type the search term "Venetian Spritz, which explains why I've gotten so many emails over the years from people desperately looking for Aperol, the orange flavored apertif that powers perhaps the most popular form of the drink. Alas, I had to tell them the bad news: there's no Aperol distributor in the U.S.

Until now. Just got the word from alert Veniceblog reader, Jordan, who spotted this press release from Skyy Spirits. The long night is over.

Livio De Marchi

Livio De Marchi is a Venetian master sculptor who works exclusively -- and improbably --  in wood.  He is not subtle: witness the motor-powered full-size land/sea Ferrari replica freaking out the vaporetto passengers above. Trained at Venice's Accademia di Belle Arti, he's got an international reputation, with exhibitions in Milan, Florence, London, Paris, Düsseldorf, Zürich, New York, Los Angeles, San Fancisco and Tokyo, though to be honest, I just stumbled across this today on the America Top Ten blog. Bravo Livio.

Here's a link to a photo gallery of his work that seems to have better images than Livio's official site. Check out the floating 4-seater pumpkin "pulled" by 4 wooden horses, each which rear up when the driver pulls the reins. Apparently it was a hit at Carnevale '94.