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FUN with Ricoh GR!!!

Thorkil

Well-known member
I'm now reading Dan Brown's book, Inferno, which is mostly set in Venice and definitely makes me want to visit there. I've been many places, but Venice sounds unique.
But beware John (and allow me to say the following)(and forget about Dan Brown), there are 2 ways to approach Venice, the good and the bad.
First the bad: go there in the middle of July (heavily overloaded with tourists and often too warm) go straight to Rialto Bridge and then follow the main-turist-steam to Piazza San Marco, together with crowds of Americans and others. After that you are feeling exhausted, even though you cath the feeling, thinking you have seen the main-thing of Venice, but you haven't, instead you have destroyed the way to get the city under the skin.
The Good: find a little hotel outside the main attractions, if you come to the airport, then hire one of these old shiny original maghogany water-taxis (with a heafty wonderfull engine, and its going at perhaps 40-55 km/h on the plain shiny water, and in the sunset its the ultimate arrival) and let the city grow out from the water.
Avoid all the main attractions, find the outskirts at first where the ordinary people still are living, Dorsoduro, Castello and Cannaregio (the first 2 are the most exiting), drop into the small humble restaurants and cafés in the lazy areas, find the gondols that are transporting people across Canal Grande for 50 cent, while you are standing upright - 3 or 4 gondol-crossing-places there are, and first of all walk your feets totally dead. Sit down at Campo Santa Margeritha (Dorsoduro), buy a pizza-slice each in the shop at the west-side, sit on a bench at the square together with the local people. This is the quarter where most of the students are living. Dig out the "ordinary" living. Venice has its own life away from turists, and its relativ easy to find. You just have to focus your mind at it.
Walk around in the city until late in the evening, where the light only comes from the ancient street-lamp (forget about crime etc. never heard about it). You will get rewarded.
And one day you have to get up early and visit the fish-market at 7 o'clock in the morgen, allready at 10 it begins closing down, att 11 its all cleaned, and you barely notice what a huge and wonderfull life there was going on in the previous hours.
Later on you can see all the fancy highlights, but to me its not the most interesting. It is finding the mellow and yet still forcefull soul of Venice.
Its just still there. Its seldom, and its in a totally uniq city.
thorkil
 
J

JohnW

Guest
thorkil, you sound like my kind of traveler. I'll keep this post in mind, should an actual trip come about. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

John
 

Thorkil

Well-known member
splendid concert Pictures, Maggie. Can't compete, but have to supply anyway with a concert too in some days

thorkil
 
J

JohnW

Guest
Great series, Maggie. Not much of a fan, but at 72 years old that's impressive. May we all age so well. - John
 

Thorkil

Well-known member
nr. 1 and 3, John:thumbup:
thorkil
(I wish I had some time here in my hollyday, but my wife is very challinging, so no time to get just near the couch)
(but perhaps I could do with just a "break-fish")
 
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