Princess Baby Bottom's Blog

Venice. Italy the city of romance where to lovers meet and fall in love. It is where you fall in love, get heart broken only to reconnect. The trees and the ponds and the transportation. the ignorant yet charming men. The ladies who are very dependent and the free spirited ones. The simple but elegant games. A Window opens and you are exposed to the city. The view from ones window. The men, children, women and elders. The smell of freshly made breads and fresh fruits and vegetables. Dining on the outdoors. Warm weather. Swimming in the lakes. In the heat of the night lovers meet for a gondola ride.

Yesterday Venice had its annual Historical Regatta, a traditional rowing competition whose origins date back to the 13th century and is held each year on the first Sunday of September. As it coincided with the Venice Film Festival, photographers were probably busier snapping pictures of George Clooney and fellow stars… so there’s not much online about this year’s event yet, but for your visual enjoyment here’s a quick selection of images from past editions of the regata (more from this gallery of last year’s event), showing both the rowers in the actual competition as well as the historical parade in traditional costumes; a few black and white images from the past (sorry, small and not good quality but still interesting): the regata in 1918, in 1956, in 1969, and in the 1970′s; and, from the age before photography, famous paintings and engravings.
posted by funambulist on Sep 5, 2005 – 7 comments

Venice equals water. Water equals Gondola. Gondola equals boats. And boats equal racing or as the Venetians call it Regatta.