Venice Vogalonga - The World’s Most Pleasant Boat Race - The Silence is Deafening

Venice Vogalonga 2017 - Photo: Cat Bauer

Update 2026: The Vogalonga continues to flourish, limited to about 2000 boats and 8000 participants from all over the world each year. Not much has changed since 2017, except the registration fee is now €30. 

(Venice, Italy) Each year, the Vogalonga, or "long row" grows more beautiful, with rowers from all over Europe and beyond traveling to Venice to participate with the Venetians in the world's most pleasant boat race. The absence of motors, and the warmhearted spirit of the rowers and the spectators, allows us a peek into how the future will be without fossil fuels. 

The silence is deafening.

Vogalonga 2017 - Photo: Cat Bauer

The concept for Vogalonga began 43 years ago, back in 1974. A group of Venetians who were rowing enthusiasts wanted to draw attention to how motor boats were damaging the Grand Canal and lagoon by the violent waves they made -- something that Venetians still fight to bring to the world's attention until this very day. 

They decided to have a long, non-competitive race, starting in the Bacino of San Marco in front of Palazzo Ducale. The first Vogalonga took place on May 8, 1975 and was a huge success, with 500 boats and 1500 participants showing up.

The Vogalonga has grown into an international event, with all types of boats and creative contraptions arriving in the lagoon for the big event. There are no winners, and you don't have to be a professional rower -- anyone age 16 and older can participate, but any age can go on the boat if accompanied by an adult. 

It is one of the most wonderful days to be in Venice.

The route is about 30 kilometers long (about 19 miles), winds out past the islands, and ends up on the Grand Canal -- one of the most fantastic routes on the planet that a rower could hope to enjoy. It takes anywhere from 2 hours (if you're very fast) to 6 hours (if you want to kick back and see the scenery) to complete the race.

Beached kayaks - Vogalonga 2017 - Photo: Cat Bauer

The event is entirely self-funded -- no sponsors, no government support -- just the €20 entry fee each rower pays to participate. These days there are thousands of participants; each year seems to set a new record. Last year there were 1793 boats and 6648 rowers; 1101 of the rowers were from Venice; 1649 were from Italy, and 3898 were from outside Italy. 

This year they say that nearly 8,000 rowers participated. With all the languages mingling in the air, it feels very European -- that beautiful European energy when the countries work together to achieve great things. 

Here is a video I made that captures how it feels when the rowers come close to the finish line:



Go to the official Vogalonga site for more information.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

The Peace of Venice? Some Surprises on Festa della Sensa 2017 - Updated 2026

Festa della Sensa - Photo Cat Bauer

Updated May 17, 2026 - It's always interesting to read a vintage post and see how times have changed. Not only was Donald Trump the president of the USA when I wrote this post nearly a decade ago, back in 2017, he is again the president today. And he is having different encounters with a different pope, this time with the American Pope Leo XIV.

Also, Luigi Brugnaro is on his way out as mayor of Venice. Local elections are set to take place on May 24 and 25, 2026. Over-tourism and the lack of housing in Venice is worse than ever. Air BnBs crank up rents and drive out locals, as rolling suitcases continue to clatter and clutter up the calli.

To put the celebration of the Festa della Sensa in today's perspective, it would be as if President Donald Trump prostrated himself in front of Pope Leo XIV here in Venice, and Pope Leo gave Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro his blessing and told him to keep up the good work. 

But one thing that hasn't changed over the centuries: after days of thunder, rain, and cloudy weather, today, May 17, 2026, on the day of the Festa della Sensa, it is a beautiful, sunny day with a calm and quiet sea.

Happy 849th Wedding Anniversary, dear Venice!

(Venice, Italy) Christians believe that about two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ physically ascended into Heaven. The Feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the fortieth day of Easter, or Holy Thursday. 

Some venues celebrate the holiday the Sunday after Holy Thursday, which is what Venice does, and calls it "Festa della Sensa."

The ancient Venetians worked the special celestial energy released around Christian holy days into their calendar, using divine power to accomplish great missions. In addition to Jesus rising to Heaven, Venice commemorates two historic events that happened 177 years apart:

1. On May 9, 1000, Doge Pietro Orseolo II rescued the Dalmatians from the Slavs. This was such a great victory that it was decreed that every succeeding Ascension Day -- the anniversary of the departure of Doge Orseolo and his fleet -- Venice would sail again out to the Lido to give thanks.

This was the prayer they said:

'Grant, O Lord, that for us and for all who sail thereon, the sea may ever be calm and quiet.'

This prayer actually seems to work because, if I remember correctly, it has been a beautiful, calm, sunny day every Festa della Sensa for the nineteen years I've lived here, and yesterday was no exception.

2. In 1177, Venice accomplished another great feat: getting Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to prostrate himself in front of Pope Alexander III in Piazza San Marco and accept him as pope, a treaty which was called the "Peace of Venice." 

Since Pope Alexander was in town, he attended the famous Festa della Sensa ceremony which, by that time, Venetians had been celebrating for nearly two centuries. The newly-recognized pope handed Doge Sebastiano Ziani a consecrated ring, saying:

"Receive this as a pledge of the sovereignty which you and your successors shall have in perpetuity over the sea."

I have written about the Festa della Sensa many, many times before. Here's a post from 2015 with links to several previous posts:

Longest Marriage in History: Venice and the Sea - Festa della Sensa 2015

We can only imagine US President Donald Trump, the closest thing we have to an emperor these days, prostrating himself in front of the current Pope Francis. However, President Trump and Pope Francis actually did meet for the very first time on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 the day before Ascension Day.
 

Festa della Sensa - Photo: Cat Bauer

Which brings us to Festa della Sensa celebrated on May 27 and 28, 2017. These days Venice has added more spice to the mix -- it gives a ceremonial ring to a "twin" community. Last year it was Florence, which has now given back the ring. This year the ceremonial ring goes to the Dolomites and the Agordina Community, connecting the lagoon to the mountains, looking 20 years to the future, imagining a different way to move and use energy.

Like the US, Venice has a wealthy businessman running the show, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, elected in 2015, who used Twitter and behaved erratically long before Trump became President of the United States. I know how weird it can get because he attacked me personally on Twitter after I, and several others, were interviewed about rampant tourism by the International Business Times.

Brugnaro has since flipped on whom and what he supports; I made peace with him during the Schiavone exhibition in December, 2015. He seems to have a sense of humor. I think he has switched tactics and is now using a spoonful of sugar, which, as Mary Poppins says, helps the medicine go down. Maybe I am wrong, but I think that after he got a feeling for the job, he is now trying to protect Venice's interests against many powerful forces in his own billionaire way.

One of the most surprising things Brugnaro has done was to award Jane Da Mosto, Saverio Pastor and Michele Bugliesi the Osella d’Oro prize on Saturday, an award named after the gold coin that Venetian doges once gave to senators. 

Saverio Pastor makes traditional oars and forcole, or oar locks; Michele Bugliesi is the rector of Ca' Foscari, the University of Venice, and a Computer Science professor. And Jane Da Mosto is, according to Anna Somers Cocks of The Art Newspaper, "a leader of the activist generation of Venetians who have refused to stand by and let their city die", which you can read here:

At last: the mayor of Venice recognises the role of the private citizen in defending Venice

Jane da Mosto wins Osella d’Oro prize

Associazione Masegni & Nizioleti -  Photo: Alberto Alberti

Yesterday was also Cleaning Day, when a group of concerned folks gets together to clean up the graffiti and other forms of destruction in Venice. Here's a post from back in 2012 that explains more about Cleaning Day and the organizations involved:

Cleaning Day in Venice

Here's hoping that Venice truly becomes a leader when it comes to manageable tourism, climate change and renewable energy.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
The Venice Gazette
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Art World Jolts Venice - Viva Arte Viva! Biennale 2017

Korean Pavilion - Venice Biennale - Photo: Cat Bauer

(Venice, Italy) When the World of Art arrives in Venice for Biennale's International Festival of Art every two years, it jolts the system with creative energy. During the opening press conference, President Paolo Baratta said that Biennale wanted the trust of the world "for the work that we do," and to induce the desire for art and architecture in the general public.

Baratta said that we are complex creatures, and that art can restore human beings. Through art we can find out about us. There is a silent battle the World of Art carries on with courage, not indulging in banalities or in ordinary life. It is an examination of the human condition.

If there is a crisis, it is in our minds. The drama is already here, and we should not fall into the trap of over-simplification. We ask artists to help us rejoin our selves with ourselves. Being human means accepting the complexity and dealing with it. We cannot be reduced to a single reality, and must reconcile ourselves to a complex reality. There is a tendency to over-simplify the world; the modern world is a complex thing we must understand.

Everything is being reduced to very few truths and very few words. We are being asked to reduce ourselves to symbols. If you deny complexity you will fall into frustration and inaction.

Baratta said that visiting the Biennale can change one's perspective on life, art, and what you think about human beings.

Ernesto Neto, Um Sagrado Lugar (A Sacred Place) Photo: Cat Bauer

Curator Christine Macel said that art has been her passion, if not obsession, forever. It is important to put the voice of the artist in the center. She embraces the artist's right to ozio, or free time -- the right to do nothing at all, the moment in which you are yourself, creating.

Much has been written about the 57th Venice Art Biennale; here's a review I like by Laura Cumming at The Guardian:

"The main international exhibition, curated by Christine Macel, director of the Pompidou Centre, steers clear of the political propaganda that dominated the last Biennale; indeed you could be forgiven for thinking it’s all rather comfortable and picturesque. Artists hang about, making music, chatting, sleeping (real and depicted beds predominate). There are tapestries, embroideries and quilted hangings everywhere; you can stitch mementoes into David Medalla’s sail or run your fingers through cascading gold mesh. So many threads can only lead straight to Ernesto Neto, another Biennale fixture, and sure enough here is another of his voluminous dangling nets. Inside sit actual members of the Brazilian rainforest tribe to which his installation is dedicated. This shocks somewhat – art as ethnographic zoo?"

Laboratory of Dilemmas - Photo: Neon

My favorite pavilion was the Greek Pavilion, and George Drivas' Laboratory of Dilemmas, a winding dark labyrinth with bits and pieces of sound installations and video clips along the way that eventually leads to the main show, a riveting video starring the fabulous Charlotte Rampling. Drivas was inspired by a piece of classical Greek theater, The Suppliants by Aeschylus (c. 470 BC), which posed the dilemma: Do we save the Foreigner or maintain the safety of the Native? And if you're thinking, Oh, not another refugee crisis installation, it is absolutely not that.

Freesa from the Tunisian Pavilion - Photo: Cat Bauer

I became surprisingly emotional after standing in line at the kiosk and applying to receive my Freesa during The Absence of Paths at the Tunisian Pavilion. A Freesa is a Universal Travel Document that allows me to go anywhere I want on the entire planet. It's Tunisia's first appearance at the Biennale since 1958; they are also issuing Freesas at Marco Polo Airport.

The document opens with a poem by Maulana Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, Muslim and Sufi mystic whose influence "transcended national borders and ethnic divisions," and whose wise words written 1000 years ago sums up the 57th Venice Biennale International Festival of Art:

Whoever Brought Me Here

All day I think about it, then
at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what
am I supposed to be doing?

My soul is from elsewhere,
I'm sure of that, and I intend to
end up there.
This drunkenness began in some
other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from anther
continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who
hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who looks out with my eyes?
What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an
answer, I could break out of this
prison for drunks.

I didn't come here of my own accord,
and I can't leve that way.
Whoever brought me here, will have
to take me home.

Maulana Rumi
(1207-1273)

Go to La Biennale for more information.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Fabulous! Philip Guston & the Poets at Accademia in Venice - To Ernest, with Love

The Line by Philip Guston (1977)

(Venice, Italy) I have eagerly anticipated the arrival of Philip Guston and the Poets. When I lived in the hills of Los Feliz, a section of Los Angeles, one of my dearest friends and neighbors was Ernest Lieblich, a wealthy German Jew who was a great supporter of the arts.

One day, Ernest insisted that we dash to the City of Hope hospital to see a mural he had discovered. He was 82-years-old and sped down the freeway like a maniac. He finally stopped in front of a decrepit building on the premises of the hospital.

After we entered the doorway, Ernest commanded, "Now turn around!" On the wall surrounding the door was a dramatic mural in poor condition.

Reuben Kadish & Phillip Goldstein (Guston) mural after restoration

Back then, I did not have a clue what we were doing, or where, exactly, we were. From Ernest's 2009 obituary in the Los Angeles Times (which I recommend reading so you can see the fabulous life Ernest led):

"Ernest Lieblich, a businessman and philanthropist with a passion for the arts who financed the painstaking restoration of a valuable 1930s-era mural and helped uncover the true identity of one of its creators, died April 4 at his Los Feliz home. He was 94.

One of his most notable efforts was the recovery of a faded floor-to-ceiling mural at the City of Hope medical center in Duarte. The experts he assembled to restore the mural by Reuben Kadish and Phillip Goldstein found that Goldstein was actually Philip Guston, a leading Abstract Expressionist painter who achieved prominence after leaving Los Angeles for New York in the late 1930s.

Philip Guston - Reuben Kadish mural City of Hope

The mural, painted in 1935-36, depicts 30 draped and nude figures representing vigorous youth to frail old age. Although cracked and grimy from decades of neglect, its beauty made Lieblich gasp when he saw it for the first time in 1996.

"He used his famous word, which was 'Fabulous!' " recalled Robert J. Reid, who was then City of Hope's vice president for donor relations. "He said, 'We must do something about this.'"

Lieblich was so buoyed by the discovery of a forgotten piece of local art history that he agreed to finance the renovation of the entire Spanish revival building that housed the mural and is now a visitors center."

Kosme de Baranano, Curator and Paola Marini, Director of Accademia - Photo Cat Bauer

Philip Guston & the Poets at Accademia in Venice

Now, here in Venice, Philip Guston has a major exhibition at the renowned Galleria dell'Accademia, a museum in a city which left a deep impression on the artist -- Guston loved the Italian Renaissance painters, but, with a few exceptions, didn't care much for the work of his contemporaries.

Philip Guston and the Poets was born in an unusual way. The curator, Professor Dr. Kosme de Baranano, is a Guston scholar who wrote a rich essay about the artist's work through the lens of five poets of the 20th century: D.H. Lawrence, William Butler Yeats, Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot and Eugenio Montale. The essay is the inspiration for the exhibition, and the poets the foundation of the essay -- though the words of the poets were not always the inspiration for Philip Guston.

In the press notes, Dr. Baranano writes:

"...His images are carriers of desire and of memory, but they are also a treasury of previously unformulated ideas. Guston's pictorial work may be understood in relation to the poetic thought of five great literary figures of the twentieth century, poets who also sought to express ideas not previously formulated. Perhaps they may, like artificial light, precisely illuminate his paintings so as to draw us into them."

East Coker - T.S.E. by Philip Guston (1979)

In one particular case, however, there is a direct connection between the poet and the artist, and that is in the haunting painting East Coker - T.S.E., an homage to T.S. Elliot and a meditation on death. East Coker, a poem in Elliot's The Four Quartets, was written in 1943. Guston painted his East Coker in 1979 after suffering from a near-fatal heart attack. "I wanted to paint a man dying."

Now that's courage.

Philip Guston died the next year.

At the end of the exhibition is the Pantheon, and some thoughts from Guston's daughter, Musa, from her memoir, Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston:

"...In this painting, the names of five artists hover in the anxious air of the studio: Masaccio, Piero, Giotto, Tiepolo and de Chirico. My father would sometimes tell a story, his half-joking, half-serious fantasy of meeting the great masters in heaven, when he had gained acceptance into the confraternity, of one of them patting him on the back and saying, 'Not bad, sonny. Pas mal.'"

Pantheon by Philip Guston - Photo: Cat Bauer

I hope the whole group is up there together in heaven, including Ernest Lieblich, smiling down on Philip Guston and the Poets here on earth.

Philip Guston and the Poets at the Galleria dell'Accademia opens to the public on May 10 and runs through September 3, 2017. Go to the Accademia for more information.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Whose Flag is it Anyway? Drama in Piazza San Marco on April 25 ends with Music

April 25 - Piazza San Marco - Photo: Cat Bauer

(Venice, Italy) In Italy, April 25 is a national holiday, Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the Italian civil war, and honoring the Italian troops that fought against Mussolini and the Fascists (Italy) and the Nazis (Germany), during World War II, putting it very simply. In Venice, it is something more: it is also the Feast of Saint Mark, Venice's patron saint. It is a politically charged day in Venice because many people in the Veneto region wish to be autonomous, which has been labeled a "Venexit." Others are more moderate, and simply wish to preserve the Venetian culture and language. So all sorts of elements get tangled up together.

On Saint Mark's day, men give a single rose to women they love. This tradition, the Festa del Bocolo, originated in the eighth century -- long, long before Liberation Day -- when the daughter of the Doge fell in love with a troubadour. Seeking to overcome the class difference and prove his worth, the troubadour went off to war. He was mortally wounded, but plucked a rosebud before he died, entrusting it to his comrade to give to his beloved. I wrote a detailed post about it in 2014, when a thousand Venetian residents formed a human rose in Piazza San Marco, which you can read here:

More Venetians than Tourists in Piazza San Marco and Open Arsenale

The flag that you see fluttering from balconies all over Venice -- the flag that waves in Piazza San Marco itself -- is the red and gold flag with the winged lion of San Marco holding an open book. The words say: "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus," or "Peace be with you Mark, my evangelist." The winged lion is a symbol of St. Mark, and the open book signifies that Venice is at peace. 

There is another red and gold flag, one with the winged lion holding a sword. This supposedly signifies that Venice is at war. (Or that it is angry:-)

Every year on April 25, Venetians, most from the Veneto, make the journey to Piazza San Marco to wave their flags. The local press labeled them the "nostalgic" group. This year when I arrived in Piazza San Marco, there was a new blue and gold flag on the scene with the winged lion holding an open book. I asked some Venetians what it signified. They said it was the flag of the land, whereas the red flag was the flag of the sea.

None of those interpretations are official. 

April 25 - Piazza San Marco - Photo: Cat Bauer

Everything was peaceful in the piazza, with people milling around as some musicians from La Fenice on stage cranked into Vivaldi. Then, from the distance, shouting was heard and a new group waving more portentous flags poured into Piazza San Marco from the XXII Marzo entrance. Their flags portrayed the winged lion wearing a black hood and holding a sword. They took over the center of the piazza, causing all sorts of commotion.

By this time, I was completely bewildered as to what was going on, and which flag signified what (I am on the Festa del Bocolo team:-). The blue and red flags seemed to get along, but this new hooded flag was greeted with shouts of "Fuori! Fuori!" "Out! Out!" I asked a man holding a red flag what the hooded flag meant, and he called them communists. Later, one local paper called them the "no-global" group; another paper described the lion as wearing a Zapatista, a symbol of resistance. Shouting ensued, but no one was violent. A handful of riot police arrived wearing blue helmets and jackets; they weren't those scary all-in-black police; they almost seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Police in Piazza San Marco - April 25 - Photo: Cat Bauer

Next, drums could be heard in the distance. This time, through the XXII Marzo entrance came soldiers wearing old-fashioned uniforms and carrying rifles with bayonets. Here comes the Cavalry! The soldiers marched around Piazza San Marco, then straight through the center of the hooded flags, who parted peacefully.

Here is a YouTube clip I made that captures a bit of the excitement:

Then the Consigliere alle Tradizioni Giusto, which translates to something like the "Advisor of Correct Traditions" and Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice, came on the stage to address the crowd. The basic message was that classic music speaks the language of everyone. That Venice was a great city open to everyone, liberated for everyone. At that point, the crowd was no longer agitated, but enthusiastic. 

Then, the musicians from La Fenice kicked again into Vivaldi, and the band played on.

Ciao from Venezia,

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Did you know there are Royal Gardens in Venice? You will soon!

Photo: Cynthia Pre݁fointaine, Vista aerea dell'Area Marciana, Venezia, 2015

(Venice, Italy) The Royal Gardens of Venice are hidden in plain sight. If you start at Harry's Bar and walk along the water of the Bacino di San Marco to Piazza San Marco, the gardens are on the left. But many people pass them by because they are in such a state of disrepair -- there is not much greenery beckoning you to come inside and enjoy a bit of nature. All of that is about to change.

I was privileged to be invited to the press conference for the Restoration Project of the Giardini Reali on April 7, 2017, which was attended by many prominent local individuals, including the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, as well as the heads of various organizations. Thanks to a partnership between the Venice Gardens Foundation, a new non-profit organization headed by the dynamic art curator, Adele Re Rebaudengo, and Assicurazioni Generali, the venerable Italian insurance company whose symbol is the Lion of San Marco, the gardens will be brought back to life.

Anna Regge, acquerello 2017, Veduta dei Giardini Reali dalle finestre del Museo Correr

Adele Re Rebaudengo said:

"When restored, the Royal Gardens will be formal and precise, in keeping with its historic nineteenth-century design, but at the same time filled with the unexpected. It will be a garden where visitors will walk in the shade of its long, centuries-old wisteria covered pergola, and, hidden from view by dense screens of evergreens, will discover the vast, intimate, timeless path that crosses the rebuilt drawbridge and leads to the Correr Museum, in a renewed dialogue with Piazza San Marco and the Marciana area. It will be a meeting place open to the profound qualities of the arts, where nature and artistic languages unite to safeguard the garden and all its living elements. ...A place for thought; silent entry into a world in which there is space for harmony, contemplation and productivity."

Piazza San Marco (from the Campanile)

Let's get our bearings. That is Piazza San Marco. On the right side, the Caffè Quadri side, is the Procuratie Vecchie, or "Old Procurators," originally built in the 12th century, then rebuilt in the 16th century after a fire. 

On the left side, the Caffè Florian side, is the Procuratie Nuove, which means "New Procurators," which were completed in 1640. In the center wing there used to be the Church of San Geminiano, which Napoleon demolished in about 1810, and built the Napoleonic Wing of the Procuraties.

What is the office of the Procurator of San Marco? 

During the Venetian Republic, the procurators were nine powerful legal officers whose duties were so complex it would take a book, not a blog post, to examine. Their lifetime appointment was the most prestigious office after the Doge. A fascinating tidbit is that even after the fall of the Venetian Republic the office of the Procurator of San Marco was not abolished, and still exists today.

Royal Gardens seen through Empress Sissi's window in Museo Correr - Photo: Cat Bauer

After Napoleon invaded Venice, he decided that the Procuratie Nuove was going to be the site of the Royal Palace, and began construction in 1808. When Venice came under Austrian rule, that is where Empress Sissi stayed, a woman who has fascinated the world for centuries.

These days the Correr Museum inhabits the Procuratie Nuove, which is entered through the Napoleonic Wing. The Royal Gardens are overlooked by the Correr Museum, the imperial chambers of the Royal Palace, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana Library

The Generali Group was founded in Trieste in 1831. The next year, they opened an office in Venice across the Piazza in the Procuratie Vecchie building, which is where they are still located today. Generali is a major player in the global insurance market. 

According to the press notes: "In 1848, leading individuals in the company embraced the cause of the Republic of Daniele Manin, a hero of Italian unification. In the midst of the struggle for unification, the company chose to use the lion of Saint Mark as its symbol, rather than the Hapsburg eagle." Generali has decided to rediscover their roots and revitalize their presence in Venice. By restoring the Royal Gardens, Generali is beginning a journey to honor the past of Piazza San Marco and safeguard its future.

Paolo Pejrone - Photo: Cat Bauer

The architect of the garden is the internationally renowned Paolo Pejrone. When I heard this, an idea popped into my mind.

I have recently become obsessed with Rosa Moceniga, an ancient rose that the writer, Andrea di Robilant, had discovered growing wild on his ancestor's property, Alvisopoli, a little town created during the Venetian Republic by his great-great-great-great grandfather, Alvise Mocenigo. Andrea had found a silvery pink rose with a strong, sweet fragrance growing in the wilderness while researching his book, Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon. He was determined to find out how the rose had gotten there, and traced it back to the time that his great-great-great-great grandmother, Lucia, had spent with Empress Josephine Bonaparte in France, which had inspired another book, Chasing the Rose, which I found to be surprisingly compelling.

I thought: The perfect circle for Rosa Moceniga would be for the rose to be part of the Royal Gardens. I sent Andrea a text message: "I am at a press conference. Generali is restoring Giardini Reali. Wouldn't it be PERFECT to include Rosa Moceniga?" Andrea responded: "Yes, it would! Ask them!"

During lunch, I found Paolo Pejrone sitting in the corner. I said, "Do you know Andrea di Robilant?" He smiled. "Yes." "Do you know Rosa Moceniga?" "Yes..." "Don't you think it would be PERFECT if Rosa Moceniga was in the Giardini Reali?" Pejrone burst out laughing. "Yes! Yes!"

Now, you are going to have to read Chasing the Rose to find out why it is so perfect, but once you do, I am sure that you will agree. Rosa Moceniga is such a strong and powerful rose that she has survived for centuries unattended, growing in the wilderness all on her own. But Rosa Moceniga's real home is in the Royal Gardens. In fact, I recommend reading the book to better appreciate how important the reawakening of the Royal Gardens in Venice is -- to have a magical, formal garden in the heart of Venice will bring nature, grace and elegance back to the soul of the city.

Francesco Neri, La Coffee House - Il Padiglione del Caffe݀ dei Giardini Reali, Venezia, 2016

The Coffee House of the Royal Gardens, where the press conference was held, and where we had lunch, will also be restored. What is astonishing is that after living here for all this time, I never knew it had ever been a coffee house!

I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Erla Zwingle, a writer and blogger who has lived in Venice even longer than I have, and whose clever blog, I am not making this up, I highly recommend. Read what she has to say about Regrowing a Garden.

The restored Royal Gardens are set to open towards the end of 2018.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog