This is Part 4 of a five-part series about the Grand Canal in Venice and the various types of vessels that we saw on the canals, beside buses, taxis and gondolas. Part 3 of the Grand Canal series is here.
Music from Venice
As the canals are the main thoroughfares for the city, most if not all of the services are delivered by boats. It was fun spotting these boats going about their business.
Parcels by DHL – with the corporate color scheme
The Police (Polizia)
Carabinieri (military police)
Ambulanza (by the way, in the background of this photo is an island (isola di san michele) dedicated to serve as a cemetery, cimitero).
Garbage disposal – we saw men picking up by hand household garbage in bags placed in front of homes, and putting them into metallic carts, the carts were then pushed up to the edge of the canal where the carts are grabbed and loaded into the boat by a small crane.
Refrigerated storage, presumably containing perishables for restaurants
General delivery ?
A logistics solution
Heating oil delivery ? Or drainage?
Delivery of clean linen and pickup of used ones, i.e. laundry for hotels and restaurants
We saw these laundry boats frequently, considering that most of the businesses in the city are in the hospitality sector.
Construction debris collecton
Repair shop for boats (“garage”)
Gas station
It was fascinating for city dwellers like us who are used to seeing these services delivered on wheels. Not until one sees it, the functioning of the city completely lacking motor vehicles was hard to picture in the mind.
Our last post on the transportation in Venice is here.