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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Venice

Venice stories: 13 news summaries

 Venice Struggles to Stay Afloat 

Billion-dollar floodgates may fail to stave off rising tides

Sep 20, 09 4:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not only is Venice sinking, but the $6-billion floodgates designed to protect it may not do the job, NPR reports. Critics say that the 78 half-built mobile gates, designed to block off seawater when it rises, may fail to fend off sea levels heightened by climate change. And even if... More »

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global warming • Italy • sea level • flood • flooding • Venice • Moses

(Newser) - A 23-year-old mother of two has overcome a grueling entrance exam and 900 years of taboos to become the first female gondolier in Venetian history, the Los Angeles Times reports. Giorgia Boscolo's entry into the profession has caused waves among the city's close-knit fraternity of gondoliers, with some fearing she... More »

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Italy • sexism • Venice • gondola • Giorgia Boscolo

TRAVEL

 World's Most Legendary Bars 


Jun 27, 09 1:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Even the most enjoyable vacation can leave you in need of a drink, and bars make great, offbeat places to learn about the history of your destination. The staff of VirtualTourist.com shares its favorite legendary watering holes with Reuters:
  • Harry’s Bar, Venice: Famed Hemingway haunt claims
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • London • New York • Rio de Janeiro • Oakland • bars • Salvation Army • whiskey • Malta • Venice • 1906 San Francisco earthquake • Ernest Hemingway • Harry's Bar • Bellini • Jay-ZTV • carpaccio • Blind Beggar • White Horse Tavern • Dylan Thomas • Garota de Ipanema • Oliver Reed • The Pub • Heinold%u2019s First and Last Chance Bar • Jack London

 'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice 

Gravediggers took steps to stop corpse feasting on other plague victims

Mar 14, 09 2:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Italian archeologists have discovered evidence of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual in a 16th-century plague pit near Venice, the AP reports. A female skeleton was unearthed with a brick wedged between her jaws, in what experts believe was an attempt by superstitious gravediggers to stop the corpse from eating through its... More »

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archaeology • plague • Northern Italy • superstition • Venice • vampire

 Scorn Bubbles Over 
 Venice-Coke Deal 

Outrage greets plan to install vending machines in lagoon city

Feb 24, 09 7:17 AM CST
(Newser) - The mayor of Venice has cut a $2.1 million deal with Coca-Cola to install dozens of vending machines, leading to angry charges that the company was "buying" the historic lagoon city. The city council has spent years passing ordinances to keep tourists from disrupting Venice's heritage, but in... More »

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Italy • Venice • corporate sponsorship • Coca-Cola • Massimo Cacciari

 Venice Flooding Hits 
 20-Year High 

Water up 5 ft. from normal in city of canals; tourists waved away

Dec 1, 08 8:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The Queen of the Seas is wetter than usual these days, as seasonal flooding has hit a 20-year high, submerging Venice's streets in up to 5 feet of water, BBC reports. The city of canals is now a veritable lake, and the mayor has warned citizens not to go out... More »

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flooding • tourists • Venice

Rourke Shines Again at Venice Film Festival

Ex-heartthrob stars in The Wrestler, which nabs Golden Lion

Sep 7, 08 4:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former Hollywood bad boy Mickey Rourke returned to the spotlight yesterday when his latest low-budget film, The Wrestler, won top honors at the Venice film festival. Critics gushed over his performance as an aging wrestler who comes to terms with his failing body and flagging friendships. More »

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film • awards • Venice Film Festival • Venice • movies • Mickey Rourke • Darren Aronofsky

ANALYSIS

Ex-Wife's Novel Details Taylor's Marital Breakup

Publisher of ex-wife's A Stopover in Venice downplays a big selling point

Jul 21, 08 6:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Book-jacket fodder that could alone put a novel on the bestseller list is curiously absent from Kathryn Walker’s debut, A Stopover in Venice, Celia McGee notes in the New York Times—though it’s a fictional account of her unhappy marriage to James Taylor. The musician comes in for... More »

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fiction • roman á clef • Venice • Kathryn Walker • James Taylor • Carly Simon • Jason Robards

Travel

 Bizarro Travel-Industry Jobs 

Gigs that straddle the line between necessary and absurd

Jun 25, 08 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - From Parisian sewer guides to a coconut safety engineer in St. Thomas, some travel industry jobs straddle the line between necessary and absurd. Travel and Leisure highlights some of the strangest.
  1. Tourism ambassador, Japan. Diplomacy never looked so soft and cuddly after Japan appointed elder statesfeline Hello Kitty for
... More »

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travel • Japan • tourism • list • Hello Kitty • Lego • Venice • job • karaoke

 When in Venice,
 Can the Water Bottles 

Legendary city pleads with tourists to use public fountains

Jun 4, 08 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Faced with a mountain of discarded plastic bottles, Venice is asking 19 million tourists to quit drinking mineral water and use the city's 122 public fountains. Beginning Thursday, visitors to the Piazzale Roma will be handed reusable plastic bottles and a map showing fountains that city officials claim are "... More »

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recycling • Catholic Church • plastic • Venice • Earth Policy Institute • waste disposal management • mineral water • World Environment Day

 Man Nabbed for Shooting
 3,000 Rear Views 

He took 3,000 pictures of women's behinds in Venice

May 13, 08 8:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Venice man could be facing time behind bars after being caught sneakily snapping photos of women's bottoms—3,000 of them, the BBC reports. Cops busted the suspect after noticing him carrying a bulky bag and following women in short skirts, waiting for them to bend over. The rear-guard... More »

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Italy • photograph • Venice • invasion of privacy

Venice Bar Uses Discount to Lure 'Poor Yanks'

Old Hemingway haunt bucks up faltering dollar with 20% off

Apr 8, 08 10:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Harry's Bar in Venice has offered hospitality to tourists and expatriates since the days of Ernest Hemingway. But in recent months Harry's has noticed a sharp drop in the number of Americans showing up at the home of the Bellini cocktail. So restaurant owner Arrigo Cipriani has a novel solution:... More »

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Italy • Arrigo Cipriani • discounts • weak dollar • Venice • Ernest Hemingway • Harry's Bar • Bellini

Venice Squawking Over Pigeons

City wants to say arrivederci to the foul fowl

Feb 13, 08 12:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Venice's pigeons are nearly as famous as its gondolas, but the days of tourists feeding pigeon in St. Mark's Square could be numbered, reports Der Speigel. Venice has one of the highest pigeon-to-person ratios of any city in the world, and fed-up city politicians want to remove the square's exemption... More »

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Italy • pigeon • Venice

13 Stories


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