The Perles du Lac, as I like to call our group of leisure rowers participated yesterday to our second or even third Vogalonga. It was a wonderful experience both on a cultural and physical points of view.
Let me simply say that on our boat we were international ladies (French, German, Swiss,)… In their 50s …All well travelled and professionnal and quite different in our temper and affinities yet able to form a team and accommodate our differences to make our little boat make this amazing journey on the Venician Laguna a real success in 3 hours and a half, stopping here and there to swap seats and make sure no one suffered from this rather exciting but taxing journey.
My own team was only one of the three boats registered, the other two being an all-English team of ladies who came with their family and the third one was clearly the most experienced as 3 out of 5 rowers were rowing for the third time and was clearly the most international with two Americans, a Venezuelan a Swiss-Italian and and a Genevan !
All kinds of means of transportation were used to reach La Serenissima, train (longer but breathtaking with its spectacular arrival right into town at the Santa Lucia train station, car and plane. I tend to favor this quicker way except when I have copies to correct;-)
Weather prospects were quite glooy as you can judge from our arrival in the rain :
But the waiting is worthwhile when you finally reach the most beautiful city in the world! So beautiful that your sight is sore when you get back to reality in the rest of the world, my favorite and gorgeous Paris included…
As I knew Madama Butterfly was on at La Fenice, I persisted despite their website indicating there were no seats left. I called them and got my e-ticket in a few minutes!!
The blatant shame being that as I didn’t believe I’d make it, I was clearly looked down severely by the other opéra aficionados in their grand apparel !
The next morning after our breakfast “in piedi” on Campo San Luca..
We went to La Biennale and managed under heavy rain to video some some fascinating pavilions ….
First the Biennale Curator’s blues blood bruises… Okwui Enwezor
The other national pavilions starting with a thought provoking Israeli pavilion 
Pavillon britannique la clope, les couilles, le cul et les cons (à vous de les déterminer)
As a Sociolinguist, my favorite was the Venezuela Pavilion
And a very biased survey at the curator’s pavilion which I let you discover and comment.
Venice again
The elegant and artistic palazzo Franchetti with a glass exhibition and some seeds for our future environment
Venice always
The Vogalonga masterpiece
The exquisite Peggy Guggenheim museum
And Venice forever….
© DRM, Daphné L. Romy-Masliah
COSMO POLITIQUE 