Venice Accommodation

“Everyone has to be moving in the right position with the right timing.” It’s a novel way of looking at it, but there’s not a lot of gracefulness to our current situation – sat in kayaks, tiny specks of orange plastic being tossed about on the choppy open waters of the Canale delle Navi, a busy shipping lane on the edge of Venice, waiting for a break in the traffic. Cargo ships, luxury yachts, leisure cruisers and construction barges surge by, each of them sending out waves that rock us nervously on the water. We see our opportunity and take it, paddling vigorously between water taxis and speedboats driven by rich old men with young women sunbathing on their decks. There’s a saltiness in the air as we enter the city. Immediately inside, we come across a gondola workshop, a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into maintaining the view of the city tourists see. We glide down narrow, shaded canalways where local people have hung washing out to dry between the buildings, and pas...

Technorati Tag: venice accommodation Newspaper critics are increasingly being put off by how expensive the Venice Film Festival, which begins tomorrow, has become. One critic from Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf says that he can spend two weeks covering Toronto for the same cost of one week in Venice. This at a time when newspapers are reducing staff and slashing travel budgets. Increasingly, critics are covering either the first few days or the closing few days. The London Guardian is sending just two critics and a reporter to the festival. And those two critics who are leap-frogging each other. Baz Bamigboye, show-business reporter for the Daily Mail , tells me: “My sense is that it’s no longer special. There are fewer important films and the place has become another junket nightmare.” Bamigboye isn’t going to Venice this year. Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian agrees: “Venice is declining in importance.” A deeper problem though is Hollywood stars staying away. It’s very expensive to...