Patricia

<BR> I propose a new game for fun. It is called "paint a picture of Venice". I have never been to Venice and would like someone to describe it, paint it, or compose it for me. So,do you have any memorable scenes you would like to share...or a wonderful view you cannot forget? <BR> <BR> You can use any medium you would like (whether colors that remind you of Venice, sights, sounds, magical experiences, a scene on the street, a gondola ride, or just a foot bridge with the stars above). <BR> <BR> Here's your chance to share the scenes, fluttering images, and sounds that helped to create a memorable Venice experience! <BR> <BR>Thanks & <BR>Have fun! <BR>Patricia <BR>

SharonM

First time I was in Venice was in December, and it was winter-cloudy, and I remember thinking, this is like walking into a Van Gogh painting...

Diane

With words I'm hopeless, but with a camera I do better. I have some of my photos of Venice on-line: <BR> <BR>www.bishtech.com/diane/page2.htm <BR>

Me

Ok - I'll try: <BR> <BR>Morning: Bright sunlight; flurry of activity at the Rialto Market; intense colors of vegetables & fish, the sound of customers and merchants bargaining; the water rippling as a vaporetto moves down the canal alongside the market. <BR> <BR>Afternoon: A long lunch in a small restaurant off the beaten path; getting lost (on purpose) and coming across a deserted campo where classical music is coming softly from a window; the smell of garlic - something savory being prepared for dinner; a drink in a lavishly decorated room at Florian; then coming outside to see that the sky has turned dark lavender. <BR> <BR>Night: Windows glowing; people toasting each other in restaurants; gondolier singing a tune as he passes under a bridge; church bells; realizing that this moment could be from any time - there's nothing that is saying year 2000 - it's timeless.

Walter

Coming in from the airport on the boat in very heavy fog and the Piazza San Marco area slowly appears and disappears within the swirling mist. It would have made a great opening shot for a movie. Regards, Walter <BR>

s.fowler

We sailed into Venice at the end of a two week cruise to Greece and Turkey. It was early in the morning. The thin line of Venice was gold against the slightly different golden-blue sky and the blue/golden water... We were accompanied by flying fish as our boat entered the lagoon and docked near the Academia. It recalled several J.M.Turner painting of Venice.

nancy

These are beautiful. <BR>Any more? <BR>

Austin

<BR>A dream <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Monica

Colorful, old, worn, magical, romantic, every canal a painting, blue gondolas, quiet streets, noisy streets, crowds of people, beautiful San Marco, excitment in the air, every turn of a corner a new sight. Amazing.

net

Like a movie set--not quite real. <BR>

Patricia

<BR> To everyone- <BR> <BR>***These are all very beautiful descriptions! Please, keep them coming!!! <BR> <BR>What a strange thing a memory is. Isn't it strange how colors, pictures, scenes, and sounds all combine so perfectly to create such neverending movies in our minds and hearts!*** <BR> <BR>Happy memories & <BR>Great Travels to you, <BR>Patricia

Oliver

<BR>Don't stop! Tell us more about bella Venezia!

russ i

First time in Venice: <BR> <BR>Off the train and onto a vaporetto boat down the Grand Canal to our hotel in San Marco. The sky is dark and ominous; the palazzi along the canal's edge shimmering against the black clouds. Then the deluge begins. <BR> <BR>Everyone on the boat tries to move under cover. Laughing as we get soaked taking photos in the rain. Arrive at the San Marco stop and make a run for the hotel. Arrive in our room just as the rain stops. Can't wait to see Piazza San Marco. Enter the piazza to the sound of a string quartet playing, just as the clouds part and fill the completely empty piazza with sunshine. <BR> <BR>Pure magic.

lisa

As a soundtrack to the above images add the quiet sound of water lapping, and the blissful absence of car noise.

Mike Miller

It is dusk as we stroll into Saint Mark's Square. There are 3 orchestras playing love songs. It's a night to be with someone you love. A warm breeze is blowing and the stars are bright. It's romantic. It's unforgettable.

Thyra

Ok, here goes, feel free to laugh at my poetic attempt: <BR>The train ride from Austria is long, and tedious, my mind has long since switched to auto pilot. The train pulls into a station, a mass of grey, travel- worn bodies exit. We shuffle through the station and out the main door. Bright sunlight, life, surprise! No photo seen can prepare you for the sensory overload. Water taxi's zipping by, the colors I see the most of are gold, grey and marble! Venice is not a warm embrace it is a wake up call! "SEE THIS, do this! Taste this! I have it all!" The first hour is like a vivid dream. Can't believe I am speeding like James Bond in a water taxi... St. Marks Square, heavy grey buildings, pigeons by the millions, music! People! Try to find the hotel, you are lost... who cares? You are in Venice, thankful you have only a small bag. Around every corner is scene worthy of a painting, even in it's crumbling state it is grand and glorious, a beautiful, aging woman who still makes you gasp and dream about what she was like in her younger days. Late at night, three drinks later...The moonlight is on a tiny canal running by the hotel, you have to pinch yourself, this is REAL! I am Here, there is no place like this on earth. I am glad my life brought me here.

ann

We sailed into Venice one month ago (celebrating our 20th anniversary) and there was a full moon. Tonight there is a full moon and I said to my husband in a very longing voice "it's a Venice moon!!!!" Even though we were there during the peak season with all of its crowds, it was everything I had hoped and dreamed of. I was in the travel business for 20 years and had done a lot of travelling but Venice was still on my list. I had seen so many movies with scenes of Venice and had so many visions in my mind. I was not disappointed! The key is to just wander and get lost. If you try to find a specific sight it is frustrating but it is so wonderful to stumble upon the many treasures. Sailing into Venice on the huge Grand Princess ship was incredible as we towered above the beautiful buildings. And amazing how those gorgeous buildings look like they are just floating on water. It is truly a magical city.

spanky

Misty air rushing padst your body from the beating wings of hundreds of pigeons as they rise and fall to catch tokens of food. Delighted toddlers running and clapping their hands at the sight of so many birds. Proud parents laughing and cooing along with the birds--Plaza San Marco.

sondra

After all the poetry and travel brochure propoganda...dirty, crumbling buildings, graffiti on every bridge or reachable wall, trash everywhere. Piazza San Marco jammed with fat, sweating t-shirt-and shorts clad tourists, long lines to see any historical spot. In summer, blistering, fainting hot, the canals the color of green sludge.The highest prices in Italy, even neighborhood churches charge admission.Enjoy the music from Florians standing in the square, the people who are having a drink there are being charged an outrageous fee for the "music". Narrow, claustrophobic alleys instead of streets. Tourists try to make a virtue of getting lost, It's impossible not to get lost! Italy is an exquisite country..Venice has been a tourist trap for thousands of years.

Gina

Poor Sondra--sounds like she missed all the fun! Here are some notes I wrote after my first trip to Venice last fall: <BR> <BR>Curving walls, secretive canals, everything constantly doubled in the ever-present waters. Antique tracery on the buildings, every house and doorway, bridge and passageway unique and <BR>dramatic in its own right. No place in the world is like Venice. <BR> <BR>The curves of the domes of Santa Maria della Salute and San Giorgio Maggiore, of the magnificent mosaics and stained glass windows of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, of the magnificent looted <BR>smorgasbord that is the facade of the Basilica di San Marco, of the Grand Canal itself. A city of strange, ethereal light--light suffusing the <BR>canals at dawn, eerie light creeping over the Accademia Bridge at dusk, light reflecting off the thousands of bits of glass and bronze and precious stones that make up San Marco. <BR> <BR>I expected the canals of Venice to be dark and murky--I'd heard how they smelled in high summer and how ugly the <BR>detritus was at low tide--but instead the waters were a blurred, gentle green, like the patina on old metal, and deepened to teal and jade as we rode <BR>the vaporetto out toward the Lido. <BR> <BR>Cranes and silt and drainage all along the Zattere, reminding us that Venice was claimed from the lagoon and the lagoon is always trying to get her back. <BR> <BR>There's more, but I think I'm babbling. Can y'all tell I'm passionate about Venice beyond all reason?