an amble in Venice

20160615_202430Wed, 15 June 2016, 8:24 pm: So after our group gondola ride….20160615_2055598:55 pm: I wanted a better shot of the Antico Doge, once (and probably future) home away from home for the Matt Europe crew. Venice is a city where, without even trying, you come across familiar sights during ambling walks, and then when you think you’re lost you turn the next corner and suddenly you’re standing just where you started.20160615_205646The bridge you walk across to get to the Antico Doge is one of many in Venice where couples attach padlocks to symbolize their unbreakable bond. And to frustrate city maintenance workers, who try to cut the locks off as fast as they’re hung.20160615_2057038:56 pm: In the span of a minute the scenery worth snapping in Venice can change without your moving a meter.

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9:21 pm: Random views like these are so pleasantly common during a Venice visit that it’s only months later, when you’re back home and away from them for awhile, that you look at them and really see.

quick scenes from the
grandest of canals

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Wed, 15 June 2016, 7:52 pm: I’m at the editing bay with hours of raw footage from my two European adventures of 2016. Until I share the Venice video of my party in our gondola, please be entertained by these still shots from the (almost over)crowded boat.20160615_200312

Above is the Antico Doge hotel as we floated past it. (Pardon the shakiness of some of these shots, as we were in motion.) On our first visit to Venice, in 2008, this is where we laid our intrepid heads.20160615_200640

The number of locals who actually live in Venice has dropped precipitously in recent decades. Those who are still here, though, make it clear where they live. Clean laundry dries on lines strung across several balconies along many canals.20160615_200748

There’s no more touristy (some will say cheesy) thing you can do in Venice than take a pricey (most will say overpriced, but you’ll have me around to negotiate for you) gondola ride. There’s also nothing on your entire vacation that will make you grin more.20160615_20084320160615_20092220160615_201038

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Whoever sits at the bow of the boat will be in prime position to star in all your gondola photos of the Rialto Bridge.20160615_202304

Stay aboard long enough and watch dusk turn to nightfall.20160615_20232220160615_20234820160615_202404

How have you not messaged me yet to book your flight to Venice?!