It's Bullet Sunday from Venice, Italy!
• Merger. Apparently AT&T and T-Mobile are merging. How could this possibly be a good idea? One shitty network plus one crappy network does not make a good network. It just makes a shitty network crappier. And here I thought things couldn't possibly be any worse with AT&T.
• Foo. I have never understood people's infatuation with Glee. But even more inexplicable is being made to feel crazy because I don't like the show. Now, at last, I'm not alone. Just when I think that Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters couldn't possibly be any cooler than he already is, this happens. Thank. You.
• Lunar. I haven't been able to see the SUPER MOON from here in Venice despite having clear skies. I don't know if I'm looking in the wrong place or if the moon doesn't shine in Venice or what. I'm a little sad about that, because I was looking forward to getting a photo of it. MOON FAIL!
• Venice. Speaking of Venice, it's absolutely stunning here. Clear blue skies and cool air. A big improvement over my previous trip where it rained every day...
You can never have too many statues on a building!
St. Mark's Square is under construction.
>
But the beautiful frescos are still available for viewing.
Climbing up the balcony of St. Mark's Basilica.
GAH! THE SHIT IS FALLING APART HERE! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!
>
The Bridge of Sighs... now disgustingly brought to you by Toyota!
Look! It's TRON!!
Honestly, it's one McDonald's too many...
The Church of Health!
Pretty pink street lights.
A naked boy and his dead frog statue. Awesome?
Visiting the neighboring island of Murano.
Cracking angel statue.
Mustard-colored building in Murano.
Sunset over the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.
Rialto's nighttime view on the Grand Canal.
Annnnnd... I'm spent. No more bullets left this fine Sunday. Time for pizza!
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…and I thought I had my own bullet for a second. #foofail. Your photos are gorgeous, glad the weather is so nice, overcast and rain here. We missed the super moon too. Stupid f-ing clouds/rain.
Beautiful pictures, as usual. Gotta go to Venice some time…
The AT&T/T-Mo merger has one potential benefit: no more E-Plus roaming in Germany! 😉
The full moon was/is damn nice. Hope you’ll get a chance to see it later on.
I drive, and love my Toyota, but the signs near the bridge… Someone should have their head held under water till the realize that was the wrong place to put that sign!
I don’t understand the infatuation with “Glee” either. It’s a horribly written show with schizophrenic characters. The gays like it because of the gay aspect of the show, and I appreciate the awareness brought to gay issues and/or bullying, but outside of it’s a crapfest. America applauds mediocrity these days.
As usual, stunning pics.
As usual, hating on AT&T.
As usual, we agree on pizza.
You and I have similar minds with Dave Grohl and Glee! 🙂
And really – ADVERTISING @ The Bridge of Sighs?!! Sooo fucking tacky.
Still – gorgeous pics, as always!
What the hell is that cannon-looking thing sticking out of St. Mark’s Basilica? Pouring out of a water jug or something.
I think that’s where they pour the boiling oil when the heathens are at the gate?
Amazing pics. Simply stunning actually.
Taking the boat ride out to Murano & Burano is awesome. Ended up spending quite a lot of money buying hand blown glass thingies as I recall 😉
I like Glee on occasion, but it’s been very hit and miss lately — mostly miss. I agree with Groh, and think Glee’s creator needs to tone it down and move on.
I’ll be the first to admit that Venice is not on any of my lists for anything at all. But even I understand that the Toyota stuff on that one bridge can’t be good. Capitalism sucks. This is why.
I have had T-Mobile for 13 years and have rarely if ever had any issues…the customer service reps are phenomenal (and have been ranked in the top 5 providers by JD Power and associates for the past 5 years….), my plan w/data is really cheap and service is great here. Them merging with AT&T fucks up everything for me.
So yeah…I’ll be switching to Verizon.
Love the night pictures!
LOL – funny commentary and the whole Mickey D, Toyota thing is just atrocious – especially the Toyota thing OMG!!! Gorgeous photos though and what is the deal with naked boy and dead frog? It is some venetian fairy tale like the little mermaid?
The Disney version of which was totally Glee-ified before Glee existed…
In any case, brilliant photos – more more!!
When I first saw the blue walls I thought it looked cool because it must have been a beautiful mural, but knowing it’s advertising is a huge letdown. I’m not as bummed at Toyota for snapping up the opportunity as I am at the City of Venice for selling the space in the first place.
Stunning, stunning photos. This Murano is a great looking place. Love how people live there, get into a boat and just ride away.
Wait… that crap on the Bridge of Sighs is permanent? Ah, Venezia, perché?
Great photos expecially the night ones..i have been to venice several times but have never seen the statue of the boy with the dead frog.Where is it exactly??? thanks
Please understand that Toyota is paying for the restoration of Palazzo Ducale in Venice with that wind turbine and hybrid car advertisement. The city council raised 1,7 million euros (2,2 mio USD) that way during a period of 4 months.
Italy has the seconds largest state debt in Europe, right after Spain, so the government in Rome no longer gives money to finance the upkeep of Venice. It is either advertisements over the facade of every fifth historic building or a daily tax extra of 2 euros on any tourist person entering Venezia by any means of travel.
Mr. D. Morgan, the boy statue with the frog is currently standing a the tip of “Punta della Dogana”, the former sea trade customs point, opposite the Ducal Palace and the small church island of San Giorgio. The Dogana is now a modern art exhibition centre. The boy statue is controversial and may not stand for long.
You misunderstand me… I am NOT blaming Venice. It is perfectly understandable that they would seek sponsorship to help pay for the restorations. I have no problem with that. My problem is with TOYOTA. They could have sponsored the restoration by placing one advertising panel in a prominent spot instead of plastering every available space with their advertising. They really should be ashamed for being so abusive in their “generosity” which ruins the experience of visiting a classic landmark for every visitor who has ever dreamed of seeing it.
I would be SO much more appreciative of Toyota if they had placed a single panel saying “Toyota is proud to sponsor the restoration of Palazzo Ducale” then an advertisement for their hybrids. But… they chose to wrap their crap over EVERYTHING, which only makes them look like greedy opportunists who are taking advantage of the financial situation in Italy.
When you put it that way, you should at least applaud them for their honesty.
But… I’m not entirely sure that’s their motivation? It certainly looks that way, however.
The huge cloud-based light blue advertisement scheme is actually a fixed layout, which is provided by the Dottor Group, the italian firm that does the restoration work.
Every vendor, be it Coca-Cola or Toyota, simply provides their own subset and fits it into the huge cloudy sky framework, when it’s their turn. This method was to maintain a somewhat uniform effigy of the Ducal Palace, but proves too obstrusive in practice. The locals are furious about the ads taking over more and more facades in the city.
It is also notable that the copycat Venice, located in Las Vegas casino city, recently started to cover parts of their buildings in large advertiements, to maintain a vista truly similar to the real Venezia. Talk about irony!
I am a Chinese.
I have visited Venice and the bridge of sigh recently for the first time. The toyota advertisement around the Bridge of Sigh made this place of interest becomes so meaningless…. it destroyed the whole picture of it, taking a photo of it is just a waste of memory card space. It will be very difficult for me to visit Venice another time as I stay in Singapore, which means that I will not have chance to view an advertisement-free Bridge of Sigh.
I do not understand why the related authorities would have allowed the advertisement to be displayed there.
I started to boycott Toyota after the Venice visit. Hope that you will do the same. If not, perhaps you may see advertisements all around Colosseum, Eiffel Tower and Big Ben in the future.
Where is the statue of a boy with a frog? It is amazing 🙂 really 🙂 Where it stands?
It’s in Venice just down from the Church of Santa Maria of Health on the tip looking across towards St. Mark’s Square. You can see a map of it here.