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)

Room With A View

The drive from Graz to Venice was fantastic and although we did follow the motorways today the scenery was still quite spectacular.

We are here in Venice for two nights and we didn't waste any time before getting out to explore this wonderful city. I am lucky enough to have visited once before but for my son everything is new although he is quite familiar with a lot of the landmarks as a consequence of his hours spent playing Assassins Creed.

We are staying in a hotel overlooking the lagoon but our room is at the back overlooking a quiet courtyard as you can see from the first picture.

I took the second shot late this evening as the light was going, it is an iconic shot of the gondola set against the backdrop of the Chiese di San Giorgio Maguire on the far side of the lagoon.

Tomorrow will no doubt involve lots more walking and exploring, I can't wait

Tea House and gardens

These pictures were all taken on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.  The first image of the box topiary maze was taken from the top of the belfry which can be seen in the final picture. It was really peaceful in the garden of "Isola San Giorgio Maggiore" and I wanted to get inside to have a look around but it was closed off to the public.  In the third picture I was trying to get just high enough to get a view but was shouted at by a passing workman on his bike so didn't manage to get the shot I wanted but I don't think this one is too bad.

The second picture might seem slightly out of place given how modern it is in contrast to the other ancient buildings and garden, however this Japanese Tea House has been built within the grounds of the church and was the most tranquil of settings.  It is the work of a Japanese artist called Hiroshi Sugimoto, it is called "Glass Tea House Mondrian", it is a temporary work which opened in June 2014 and will be in place until November 2015.  If you click on the link you will be able to find out more about this work and the artist.