Tuesday 22 January 2008

La Serenissima

Venice is an elusive city.

It has a formal face of grand buildings

built to display wealth and impress the visitor.

It is curiously unsatisfying to capture these images.

Your photographs slide off the polished surface.

You feel that the real Venice is hidden behind a mask.

If you turn instead to the small canals,

and tiny sidestreets,

the markets

bars ,

and osteria

you catch tantalising glimpses of the private Venice

and if you are lucky

an elderly Venetian woman will smile at you from her window.

7 comments:

blackbird said...

Sigh.
I'll just add it to my list...

Unknown said...

You're back! I'm so glad! It looks wonderful.

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

Captured so well in just a few short sentences and photos. Yes, there is something odd about that kind of over-abundance of perfection isn't there. Your photos of the man in the shop and the lady from the window were so much more interesting to look at. I hope you had a lovely time! x

dottycookie said...

Welcome back - it looks so beautiful. Did Mr M enjoy the match? (Or am I misremembering ...)

Anonymous said...

Lovely photographs of one of my favourite places. It's so easy to see why Venice is an oft used location for films.

BreadBox said...

Such lovely pictures --- even if they were unsatisfying to take! I found St Petersburg to be similar: the difference between the veneer and the reality. Oh, and canals, of course.

N.

carrie said...

You are so right!

I've never been to Venice, but had a similar experience in Mexico. I found the most interesting and beautiful places were off of the "beaten path."

I think that's an excellent travel goal: remember to go off the beaten path.

Thanks for sharing your trip!