POTD: Horses of Saint Mark

"Replicas above,
but inside the real ones prance,
bold, undefeated."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 09 11 Venice

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Venice, Italy. It shows the original Horses of Saint Mark's Basilica. According to Google and ChatGPT, the horses are "from antiquity (believed to be Classical Greek, 2nd or 3rd century AD). But some say the evident technical expertise and naturalistic rendering of the animals suggest they were made in Classical Greece of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. They were looted from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and brought to Venice. They stood atop the main balcony of St. Mark’s Basilica for centuries. In 1797, Napoleon took them to Paris after conquering Venice; they were installed atop the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. They were returned to Venice in 1815, after Napoleon's defeat. In 1981, due to conservation concerns, the original horses were replaced with modern replicas, and the originals were moved indoors to the Museo di San Marco, where they can still be viewed today."

A bonus photo is after the jump.

MurderBot (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

MurderBot (TV 2025): A security robot on a scientific mission to another planet hacks its own "governor module" and gains free will. He doesn't have anything interesting to say. Everything he knows about being human comes from downloading a soap opera, "Sanctuary Moon." C+

AppleTV+

Book Review: The Silk Roads

From The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, by Peter Frankopan:

Amazon

"These tremors were carried along a network that fans out in every direction, routes along which pilgrims and warriors, nomads and merchants have travelled, goods and produce have been bought and sold, and ideas exchanged, adapted and refined. They have carried not only prosperity, but also death and violence, disease and disaster. In the late nineteenth century, this sprawling web of connections was given a name by an eminent German geologist, Ferdinand von Richthofen (uncle of the First World War flying ace the 'Red Baron') that has stuck ever since: 'Seidenstraßen'—the Silk Roads."

POTD: Piazza San Marco

"Acqua Alta comes.
Tourists tiptoe through water,
leaving small ripples."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 09 11 Venice

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Venice, Italy. It shows the central square, Piazza San Marco. In yesterday's POTD, I described the city as "Venice floating low," referring to the city's penchant for flooding. The Piazza San Marco is not meant to be submerged, but it often is, due to climate change, high tides and sinking land. The day we were there started with one small puddle (small in relation to the huge size of the square). But during the afternoon, it had grown to fill most of the square. That's not good for the city. That's not good for tourism. But it is good for capturing photos like this.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Venice by Sea

"Venice floating low.
An old painting comes to life,
aged and elegant."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 09 11 Venice

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Venice, Italy, a city "built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridges." This photo shows San Giorgio Maggiore. It's one of the first views most people have gotten of Venice for centuries, arriving by sea.