Riding the Grand Canal

Alan's Italy Show # 82 was quite special. It had been planned for months and included footage from several trips to Venice. We always seem to videotape rides along the magical Grand Canal, usually in a vaporetto or water bus. Of course, I most enjoy riding on a water taxi, but financial issues precludes that possibility. The difference between a vaporetto ride and taxi ride is almost a hundred dollars. Anyway when I first came up with the idea for this show, I already had several rides from previous trips on video. When we were there last May and June, I decided that a great show would be to just focus on riding along the most famous waterway in the world, so I enhanced what I already had with several others. Show # 82 is the finished product. Rather than simply showing the boat rides, water, palazzi, etc., I decided to narrate above the sounds of the boat and Venice in general. The product is an excellent view of the Grand Canal from the water for anyone, people who have never been there, folks who long to return, and anyone planning a vacation in Venice. Included in this show are many details about how to purchase a ticket, the best deals on discounts, and many other details that a traveler might wish to know before undertaking the journey. I am now planning our next trip for May/June and will be taking many more videos, although Venice is not part of the next itinerary. The next trip will be a three part journey to Cinque Terre, Tuscany, and Lake Como.

Meanwhile we experienced the usual problems with live broadcast. Everything actually started well, but after a minute into the introductory montage, Ellen whispered to me that we are broadcasting in black and white, is that ok ? Arrrghhhh. "Ellen, this is Venice, we need color." We stopped and I informed the live audience of the problem and assured everyone we would be back. After about 20 minutes I was quite unsure we would even have a show at all. Finally at 5:25 PM, Ellen said she was ready to go, so we broadcast the full hour, going well into the next show which fortunately was Ellen's own, Woodstock Archives. The tape of the show looks great so no biggy really Adventures in broadcasting is alive and well !!!!