Picture Postcard

 This really could be a picture postcard from days gone by and as I saw the gondola approach with a young couple on board I thought it would be the perfect capture of a romantic scene from Venice. And with just a quick glance you might think that too.

But take a closer look, the romance has clearly evaporated as the couple are not sat together, while the guy is sat in the cushioned seats his partner is sat up front checking the photo she just took on her mobile phone looks right. I know that is what she did because I watched her taking pictures of the Bridge of Sighs and the Doges Palace as they passed by, she was not sat there photographing the guy.

Now I know that St Marks Square looks great from the lagoon and lit up in the evening it would have been a special view. But it costs 100 Euros for a 30 minute ride in a gondola during the evening so if your reason for going aboard is to photograph the sights from the water it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to do it from a vaporetto.

However although romance had clearly died on this occasion I still think this makes for a great image.

I have only posted one picture today but I will put a few on  Instagram (chipster_63)

Sun Kissed

In the early morning this gondolier makes his way gently through the quiet canals as the city wakes up and the locals go to work.

In the background the famous Bridge of Sighs is illuminated by the sun almost as if a spotlight is being trained upon it

On The Grand Canal

This is an iconic view from Venice. Early evening with the winter sun setting off to the left and a lone Gondolier plying his trade along the Grand Canal.

In February Venice is not as busy as during the summer months and on previous visits I have seen this stretch of the canal literally heaving with Gondolas weaving between the Vaporetto, pleasure boats and traders.