Snow Geraniums

We're getting our first snow today and yet my geraniums are still in full bloom.  It just seems wrong.

Burano

On an overcast October day, I took a series of boats out to Burano, a small island in the North Lagoon.  Historically, Burano was an island known for its lace making and fishermen.  While there are fewer lace makers on Burano today, it's still home to fishermen and artists who live in brightly colored houses.

On the way out to Burano, you pass a series of ruins on tiny islands in the lagoon:

and this tower:

There's a pretty little park where the boat docks, with this statue as its focal point:

After passing through the park, you begin to wander along the small canals and through the side streets and alleys.  My trip out to Burano was mid-week and few people (locals or tourists) were there.  The islanders were likely at work or in school while the coming storms and rain scared off many of the tourists who normally flock to the tiny islands.  It many ways it was a great day to visit.  It was a quiet oasis compared to the hubub of crowded Venice and the brightly colored buildings popped against the gray skies.

There were also a couple of fishermen sitting along side one of the main canals fixing their fishing nets.

After wandering for a bit, I decided to have lunch at a little seafood restaurant called Al Gatto Nero.

I ordered an antipasto appetizer which ended up being a seafood platter with scallops, prawns, baby squid, crab dip and an unidentified lagoon crustacean.  The baby squid were just too tentaclely too eat. I did try the unidentified lagoon crustacean (the light pink thing on the left hand side of the plate).  It wasn't bad.  It also came with a bowl of steamed clams and a glass of procesco (a sparkling wine native to the Veneto region).  The plates the food was served on were really pretty--a ring of Burano houses circled the edge of the plate and had a black cat on one edge).

After lunch I went back to wandering and did a little shopping.

As the day drew to a close, I wandered back to the water boat dock.  The park was filled with folks waiting for the boat on benches or wandering around eating gelato.

I got back to Venice just as the first rain drops started to fall, after a short detour at Murano where I picked up the boat to Venice.  It rained all that night and into the next day.  While it made for great sleeping weather, the next day would see me slogging through flooded streets and into glass blowing shops.  But, that is a tale for another time.

A Few Random Shots From Venice

There's no real theme to the shots here, but just a few I liked.

Gondola row:
A canal near my hotel that seems to be a hotspot on the gondola run. One right after another all day long comes through there.

The view from the Rialto Bridge of the Grand Canal:

Sunset Over Venice

Really beautiful sunset over Venice tonight:

A small sunset series of Santa Maria Della Salute:

Acqua Alta

In addition to darkened skies, a new moon (and a full moon) brings Acqua Alta, or to non-Venetians, high tidal waters that under the right conditions can put a large chunk of Venice under water. Fortunately, the flooding today was minor by Acqua Alta standards, with tides topping out around 1.03 meters. Now, this doesn't mean that there was 1.03 meters of water in St. Mark's Square (one of the lowest places in Venice). Only about 3 to 4 inches bubbled up through the drains at its peak. But, it was enough to get the footbridges out so the tourists could still get into St. Mark's Basilica and keep their feet mostly dry as they wandered through the square in front. In other higher places in Venice, the water merely lapped at the top of the canal banks and made it hard to pass under some bridges.

The first picture below shows what St. Mark's Square looks like at low tide, packed full of people.


The next picture below shows what the Square looks like as the tide is starting to come in around 9 am.

The final picture shows the square at the peak of high tide (incidently one of the few times during the day when you can get a clear shot the length of the square). The seagulls were out swimming on the square in places.


Lest you think Aqua Alta is much about nothing, let me point you to a link showing the worst flooding in 22 years on December 1, 2008: Bad Acqua Alta Flooding

Rainforest In The Mountains

When up in the mountains of Pennsylvania, you don't expect to stumble into a climate more commonly found in the rain forests of the Caribbean or Central America. But, as soon as we hit the hiking trails at Bushkill Falls, the pleasant 75 degree August day turned tropical, fed by the moisture from a series of 8 waterfalls. I'd hate to be there when the temps are in the 80s or higher.

The "trails" at Bushkill are a series of wooden walkways that line the sides of the waterfalls and bridges that cross them. The stairs that take you from the upper to lower falls are very steep. But, the close up views of the falls make it worth it. Well, until you have to climb back up them on the other side. Then, it's helpful to be part mountain goat--particularly when you have to climb over slippery exposed roots in the few areas where there are dirt paths.

I hope to go back this fall. I suspect that the falls will be really gorgeous once the leaves start to change. But, I leave you with one more picture of the stream that eventually because the roaring falls above.

One More Watcher

One more Amur tiger kept a close eye on us at the zoo Monday.

The Watcher Becomes The Watched

Monday, my sister Sara and I took a trip to the zoo on one of her last days before leaving for the Peace Corps. Despite being a fairly warm and humid day, the animals didn't disappoint. While some slumbered away in the summer heat, others let their personalities out on display. At times you wondered who was really watching who.

This orangatan stared at me with a bored insouciance as he sat in a shady spot next to the wall.

This Amur Tiger was barely contained violence as he prowled through one of the water holes. I couldn't help but think the tiger was mentally licking its lips while it tried to decide which one of us to eat first.

Then, of course, there were the ones that were just over it all. Even the King of the Jungle needs a nap sometimes.

This gorilla is the zoo's "thinker".


This golden lion tamarind held on tightly as he surveyed the gathering crowd in front of him.

When the giraffes weren't eating leaves, they were strolling around their paddock posing for us.

For the most part, the penguins were trying to get relief from the heat by swimming through the water; but, periodically, they would pop up on the bank.

This penguin liked to sit next to the glass so the little kids could get right up next to him.

Finally, this red panda looked so cute and cuddly, I wanted to take it home.

Butterfly Sancturary

Sara and I went up to the Bear Mountain Sanctuary in the Poconos yesterday.

Echoes of Furies Past

Most of us will never step onto a battlefield. We won't know what it sounds like when artillery whines over head so close you can feel the wake ruffle your hair as it sails by. We'll never know what it's like peer across the confusion of a smoke enshrouded field to hunt for the enemy, only to find him at your back.


But on Independence Day, just outside Gettysburg, you could imagine what it might have been like. Hooves thundered across the field. Canons roared and spewed enough smoke to dim the sunlight on one of the brightest Saturdays in more than a month.

The report of a pistol echoed across a field as a soldier dropped to march no more.

Sabers clanged as Blue and Grey clashed in an echo of a 146 year old fury.

No the South hadn't risen again, but this year's crop of Civil War reenacters had. For an hour they stormed across the field--first on horseback and later on foot as they reenacted one of the key turning points in the Civil War. The 1st Virginia Calvary of Fitz Lee's Brigade under General J.E.B Stuart's command led a charge against Brigadier-General Custards 1st and 7th Michigan units in an attempt to split them.


As the canons boomed, the Generals themselves clashed in whir of swords and a swirl of horses.


As the sounds of the final battle died away, the Union Cavalry defeated the Confederates, seizing the advantage for the first time in the war and never relinquished it again. The Confederates, beaten, but not vanquished, rallied again for another battle later in the afternoon, bringing echoes of the past to life one more time.