Gondoliers...

Later in the day, we wandered down towards the touristy side of town near the Rialto Bridge. The day was improving but remained a bit unkind. This did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm folks had for riding around in funky boats powered by a man (during the whole trip we saw only one woman gondolier and she was clearly in training - brave woman!) using a single oar.

The camaraderie and cooperation between these very macho gondoliers was something to see. At times they seemed to be actively ignoring each other on the water but always the gondolas danced gracefully around each other and the other obstacles of the canals.

Venice in B&W

Our rainy walk around Venice was a real eye opener. Despite the wonderful colors, I tried converting some of our images to black and white. I like the way it captured the wonderful textures and also the mood - it was indeed a slow, dreary morning.

 

  

At one point we got totally lost and hit a watery dead end. Navigating in Venice is appropriately an art form even if you have all the necessary address information!

Fall Panorama.

Yesterday morning was a beauty of a fall morning. I was too late in capturing the pink sky that hung over the low fog but did manage to snap a few shots which I put together in this panorama.

The colors are a bit muted - most of the maple reds have moved on it appears - but it's still a gorgeous sight.

Rainy Canal...

The rainy led us along some amazing passageways and canals...

The Canals of Venice

As we continued our walk through the drizzle, we started to really understand the fact that the Venetian streets are made of water. We watched this boat come down the narrow canal towards us, with the other boats looking so much like parked cars.

  

This city is like nothing I've ever experience before.

Venetian textures...

As we made our way through the drizzling streets of Venice, we ran into scenes with colors and textures that are so different from what we see in New England.

This building, with its textured face, tiny balcony and bright flowers, was one of my favorites.