On the Canals (Part II)

Fish and Chips
               Churches


One would expect that the predominantly aquatic environments of Venice and Kerala would give rise to strong fishing industries.  In the case of Venice, the port of Chioggia, 25 kilometers to the south at the entrance to the lagoon provides a supply of fresh fish to the wholesale market at Tronchetto and to the retail fish market near the Rialto Bridge (and thence to the multitudinous number of restaurants in the city).  But this supply has to be supplemented by frozen fish shipped from other parts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

The Fishing Port of Chioggia 

The Rialto Retail Fish Market

In contrast, fishing in Kerala is a major industry producing some 700,000 tons of fish per year, employing about 1.1 million.  However, this is split between the more industrialized fisheries of the ocean on the Kerala coast and the very primitive fishing in the Kerala Backwaters.

Fishing with a rod in the Kerala Backwaters 

Fishing by net.

Contrary to the sophisticated distribution in Venice, the distribution in the Kerala Backwaters is definitely local, with supplies preserved by using ice chipped from large blocks.

Chipping an ice block at the the fishmongers.

However there is a bit of an industry using local natural energy resources to produce dried fish.

Fish drying....

..... on the road side!

               Churches

Both Venice and the Kerala Backwaters have a significant number of canal-side churches - although somewhat differing in style.

In addition there are plenty of statues and shrines...

The confusing flavors of christianity in Kerala may be the subject of a future blog.  In Venice, the decline in church attendance has created some very interesting museums - also a subject to be pursued.

On the Canals (Part I)

For several centuries in the middle ages, the commercial activities of Kerala and Venice were indirectly but inextricably linked through the spice trade.  The Arabs conveyed the spices  by sea from Kerala and then across land to the south-eastern Mediterranean, where the Venetians took over and built their fortunes.  It is interesting to compare and contrast some aspects of these two as they are today.

Both areas have major tourist industries based on the unique characteristics of their environments - the Backwaters of Kerala and the canals of Venice.  Moving on these waterways is a major component of vacations in either region.  This blog will focus on the similarities of passenger transportation inevitably forced upon them by their surroundings.

In Venice, the luxury upmarket (and extremely expensive) way to travel is by gondola...

.....although it may not always be worth the money!

In Kerala, you don't need an umbrella as they provide a roof!

In Venice to get from one bank of a canal to the other side, you can use a "traghetto" - note they do not have the fine fittings of a gondola.

In Kerala, there is the local equivalent.

You can always use a taxi in Venice 

And also in Kerala.

Of course, most day to day journeys are on  a ferry, like this one in Murano.....

..... or this one in Kerala

Both places have traditional shapes for the bows of their boats....

As in Venice on the gondolas...

... and Kerala on the houseboats (more about these at a later date!)

 There are also plenty of other types of water craft to be seen..........

Obviously with all this water traffic, one needs to have plenty of traffic cops....

More to follow on churches and fish!



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Doors of an Indian Village

We have all seen those repetitive posters of the doors or windows of some touristic town.

Here is a paper-saving one!