“Ahhh, Venice”
Venice, Italy. June 2018. (10 photos)
This is Part 1 of my Italy 2018 photo series, and also Part 8 of my Europe 2018 photo series.
After about 3 weeks in France, visiting Paris and the Loire Valley, I flew off to Venice, Italy. There, I stayed in a boutique hotel housed in a 14th century palace, a former residence of a noble Venetian family, in the Dorsoduro district. I’m told that the canal my hotel was located on was the one into which Katharine Hepburn fell in the 1950s movie “Summertime” directed by David Lean. Lean’s other movies included Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago and Great Expectations, but not Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, from which the title for this post series comes.
Above is the view to Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore from the wharves near Piazza San Marco.
“Venetian light”
One day I caught the vaporetto out to Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore. The view from the Bell Tower of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore looking back toward Venice was impressive, particularly due to those clouds and that light. Looking at that sky I was convinced there was going to be a massive downpour of rain but it didn’t eventuate.
“Lost in Venice”
It is so very easy to get lost in Venice. I wandered around for hours without referencing my offline map app on my phone. So many canals, bridges and dead-end streets.
“Venetian Blinds”
Fortunately the blinds were up so I got a good shot of this group, somewhere in the Castello District.
“X never ever marks the spot”
…Indiana Jones.
The view down on Piazza San Marco and Venice from the Campanile di San Marco.
“I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne. Let my armies be the rocks and the trees, and the birds in the sky”
…Dr Henry Jones.
“Only the penitent man will pass”
…Indiana Jones.
“Venetian life”
Somewhere in the Castello District.
“Still lost in Venice”
“An evening at Piazza San Marco”
There was a particularly high tide that evening. I stood in amazement as the drainage grilles throughout Piazza San Marco started to backwash then flood and the pools of water started to coalesce. I got this shot in before quickly moving to drier ground.
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This is Part 1 of my Italy 2018 photo series.
This is Part 8 of my Europe 2018 photo series, including Czechia (The Czech Republic), The Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, Greece and Germany.
Venice is said to be the most beautiful city in the world. I don’t know when I will be able to visit it, so thank you for this series of yours with such fantastic photos of it.
It’s my pleasure to show you some of this beautiful city. The architecture is beautiful. The maze of streets intriguing. The canals and gondolas are so very much “Venice”.
I like getting lost in such cities. How long did you stay there?
You don’t have to try hard to get lost in Venice, and it is not a waste of time doing so. I enjoyed a few days there. Had plenty of espresso to while the time away. 🙂
Oh nth like Italian espresso…while lost.
Yes, a great holiday/life experience.
One of my favourite cities. Thanks for the memories. 🙂
A favourite for many and rightly so. I’m happy my photos can bring back happy memories for you.
Venice is in my wish list, and for so long. Thank you for showing glimpse 🙂
My pleasure. I hope you get there to enjoy it for yourself one day.
I remember vividly getting lost in Venice, and loving every minute of it. What a remarkable place. I enjoyed revisiting it in your splendid photos
It’s a beautiful city. So much to see and history to experience in such a confined space.
Fantastic! An evening at Piazza San Marco is my favorite.
Thank you very much. It’s a unique place.
Omigosh, you do get the most amazing photos. Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for sharing such beauty of a place I’ll only visit in pictures! 😀
Thank you very much. It took a while for me to get there, so I hope you get the chance to go one day as well.
Absolutely glorious shots, Lignum. One of the book series I greatly enjoy is the Donna Leon Commissario Guido Brunetti series set in Venice. I love being able to get better pictures in my mind of the city where he lives and works. Thanks for that and for beautifying my morning.
janet
Thank you very much, Janet. The canals and maze of streets in Venice would be a perfect backdrop for her novels. The intrigue in the streets would be palpable.
These are beautiful posts. A good add for Venice.
Thank you very much.
Love the title of this post…it’s exactly how I feel when I say Venice. And images are wonderful as usual.
Thank you very much. It’s such a simple title/quote but it says it all about being in Venice.
magnificent photos !
Thank you. Venice is so beautiful.
Lovely photos again. I like the washing and the flooding Piazza in the evening. Very lucky with the light in San Giorgio Maggiore; that’s come out very nice. I notice that you got one of the awfully big cruise ships there.
Thank you. That light was amazing and I’m lucky I had a high vantage point at the time. Also I went before the peak tourist season. I don’t know how many cruise ships Venice can accomodate at one time.
Stunnng photos! You’ve captured some lovely moments here. So high on my bucket list!
Thank you very much. Definitely go, and try to avoid the peak tourist season if you can.
There are lots of lovely places but Venice is unique. Hard to get tired of looking at her. Your view from the tower is superb but that last is a stunner, Draco. 🙂 🙂 My daughter was marooned at a masked ball one Aqua Alta. There are worse places!
Thanks, Jo. Right time, right place is the appropriate adage for those 2 particular photos. Venice is truly unique.
I know they set up boardwalks when significant flooding is expected. Trapped at a party in Venice – what a life! Hope they had enough champagne to last until the waters subsided. 🙂
Just! 🙂 🙂
🙂
Only had a day trip here, but enjoyed very much getting lost in Venice. Love those roof tiles! And your washing photo, I was taken aback as I am sure I photographed a very similar scene in what looks like the same place.
Thanks, Jude. It’s a unique city with so much to see. We were definitely in the same area of the Castello based on your description, and quite possibly the same street.
We probably ended up down the same dead-ends too 😀
Quite likely. 🙂
I’ve never been but my grandson and I started a jigsaw puzzle this week of Venice so your timing is perfect! What a gorgeous city. Again, thanks for always sharing your experiences in your blog!
My pleasure. I hope my photos give a bit of context to the puzzle image.
That dark sky above the city…just wow.
Right time, right place, pure luck. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks.
venetian light….that is a stunner. A storm coming in?
Thanks. I thought a big storm was coming, but only a few drops landed on Venice that day. Quite a deceiving sky.
But the dramatic effect is stunning. Venice is a magical place for me. So I enjoy all of your photos.
I fell under its spell, as well. Thank you.
Venice still has got a lot of that back in the day charm. The dead end streets must be surprising…but in a way not really for a place that is quite dense in terms of housing. Good job with staying dry.
Venice is intriguing and the apparently haphazard layout of the streets, street numbering and numerous dead ends just seems so natural for the city. So many times I’d walk a narrow lane/street just to end up at a blind spot or at a canal with no obvious way to cross it.
Oh the beautiful places you go!
I’ve wanted to go for a while. “Get busy living, or get busy dying” 🙂
After this last birthday I think I’m leaning towards that motto now.
Well, we’ve both earned it given our past experiences with caring.
Here! Here! I want to be able to travel like you when I grow up 🙂
🙂
Now that is what you dont post on instagram and exclusive here! Great images as usual!
Thank you. Yes, I prioritise the blog over Instagram. I don’t take IG particularly seriously but it’s something to show the pro photographers I mingle with when they ask if I have an account.
I think I am going to take up this as an advise. Recently my focus has gone to instagram instead of the blog. After coming back here I realise how great and true, blogs are in comparison with instagram!
You need to work out the correct “mix” for you. IG keeps me in touch with (real life) friends as well, so I won’t drop the account.
Yea, I am planning the same. I dont think I can stop using IG any time soon!
🙂
What a brilliant idea to pair your images with Indiana Jones quotes! So many gorgeous shots here, but the one I especially love is “Venetian blinds.” There is something so authentic and unguarded about that moment — it’s a side of the city most tourists miss. But really, all of your work is beautiful.
Thank you very much. I actually went up to those people to say hello after I took the photo. Fortunately they spoke English as my rudimentary Italian was used up after about 7 words. 🙂
You have seven words in Italian? That’s two more than me — very impressive! 🙂 I suspect that your smile and open demeanor won over your subjects too.
Grazie mille. It’s surprising how far a smile will take you. 🙂
Simply wonderful! I love Venice, and have been there quite often. Your pictures are the best about Venice I’ve ever seen.
Thank you. It’s a beautiful city. You’re very lucky to have visited frequently.
Wow what a stunning city. Love the shot of the ‘Venetian Life’ and the evening shot…stunning.
Thank you. It’s a very unique city. No wonder it’s so popular.
Venice,Venice …
I STOOD in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;
A palace and a prison on each hand:
I saw from out the wave her structures rise
As from the stroke of the enchanter’s wand;
A thousand years their cloudy wings expand 5
Around me, and a dying glory smiles
O’er the far times when many a subject land
Looked to the wingéd’s Lion’s marble piles,
Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles …
Lord Byron exalted her beauty in verses,you glorified her with your stunning photos 🙂
Thank you so much for this beautiful poem. I may have to use this in my next post about Venice.
🙂
very original fotos! I like so much!
Thank you very much. I was trying to find some original views given Venice is so well photographed.
Venice is on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing your captures.
My pleasure. Venice is a unique city. Definitely go if you can. Arriving to the city by boat from the airport really set the mood.
Lignum, I am so enjoying your European travels and particularly these Venice images having been there last October. They capture the wonder and beauty of the city so perfectly. I agree that the best thing to do is drop the guide book and just wander. Warm wishes…Andrew
Thanks, Andrew. Venice is a magical place. I’ve not met anyone who’s been and not enjoyed it. It is quite maze like with lots of hidden secrets.