The windows of Venice
Photos by Dianne and Robert N. Jenkins
Venice is not St. Mark's Square. Although population in the picturesque old city is declining, it still numbers about 60,000 -- and few of them live in St. Mark's. To experience the true Venice, visitors must get away from the throngs there and instead navigate the bustling sidewalks and cross the 400 or so bridges. This way, the visitor can share residential neighborhoods of Dorsodouro, San Polo and Castello.
After morning and evening rush hours, the crowds thin so that you can afford to look up as you walk, to admire the tiny balconies, window boxes, flags, even laundry flapping in the breeze. My wife, Dianne, and I spent a half-day wandering about, enjoying this real Venice and shooting dozens of windows and doorways. Once home, she selected 13, logged on to walgrens.com and clicked on the Photo tab. She uploaded the images into a template, kept clicking until the images shifted about into the grouping she most liked and thus created our "Windows of Venice'' poster. It cost about $20 to create a 20-by-30-inch poster, which we received less than a week later.
Don't worry about losing your way in Venice: The old city is really on two islands, so just carry a good fold-up map like Streetwise Venice ($7.95 from www.streetwisemaps.com)
-- Robert N. Jenkins
