Venice, February-March 2003

Two more of that winged lion motif.

Venice, February-March 2003

Gondolas; and a bridge with reflected sunlight.

Venice, February-March 2003

Two more city views from the St Mark's Square tower.

Venice, February-March 2003

Gondolas whole and closeup.

Venice, February-March 2003

Two more of the city's winged lion: an official graphic, and a sculpture from the St Mark's Square tower.

Venice, February-March 2003

More details on a gondola - a "sea-horse"?

Tbilisi, December 1999
Below, the huge Kartlis Deda (Mother Georgia) statue. One version is that she's saying to her guest, "Drink this wine or I'll cut your throat."

Above, a scene from the memorial to the writer Shota Rustaveli on Rustaveli Avenue.

Tbilisi, December 1999

Below, Sioni (the Patriarch's church) reflection. Above, the Mtkvari river and the Old City.

Etim Gurji, Tbilisi, December 1999

This is, I think, my favourite shot of the poet's statue so far.

Mtkvari reflections, Tbilisi, December 1999

I'm still amazed that a flowing river can offer such scenes, but here they are.

Time for a break from Venice.

Metekhi church and the Mtkvari River, Tbilisi, December 1999

Venice, February-March 2003

Grand Canal, early evening. I never tired of seeing the city - well, over four days, one wouldn't; but I could see myself spending years there just exploring.

Venice, February-March 2003

Gondola details. No wonder they're so expensive, they're so beautifully made.

Venice, February-March 2003

Canal, gondolas, architecture, LIGHT.

Venice, February-March 2003

More masks in a shop window.

Venice, February-March 2003

Another view of the city from the tower in St Mark's Square.

Venice, February-March 2003

Who IS that odd masked man? Just a carnevale-goer.

Venice, February-March 2003


Gondola details.

Venice, February-March 2003

Three more water reflections, the lowest one shot at night. Playing with my favourite subject, having so many opportunities to do so.

Venice, February-March 2003

Gondola details. Kept as the centre of attention by being the only things in focus; off-centre for a more dynamic composition.

Venice, February-March 2003

Canal, bridges, reflections.

Venice, February-March 2003

This complicated image is another attempt to capture different layers of reality in reflections. There's the shop interior AND exterior; and the reflection of the Grand Canal, gondola nicely positioned. I suppose there could be copyright issues regarding the set of postcards outside the shop; but really they're too small to worry about. Also it's a look at classical and commercial Venice in comparison.

the W()RD

The W()RD today is AWAY.

I'm off to Svaneti on Saturday, June 2 for about 3 weeks. While Magti is currently modifying its cellphone towers across Georgia to allow 3G internet, this process has yet to reach Svaneti, so I'll be unable to blog directly from there. However, rather than have the blog sit idle and lose many viewers, I'm going to post enough drafts to have at least one new post daily added, by someone else on my behalf, while I'm away. This will keep the blog fresh even in my absence. I will hopefully have one stab at satellite interent access on the trip, from Mestia, Svaneti's capital; so I'll try to add some trip notes from there in mid-June.

I realise now that the posts I've drafted for friends to post for me while I'm away from the internet will all have the date of drafting on them - May 31, 2007. Oh well. Not much I can do about that, I think. But you, dear viewer, will still see new material daily as long as they keep on posting for me.

Off we go... stick with me, it'll be worth it.

Venice. From the bottom up:

Masks in a shop window

Canal tourists

Seafood market

Gondolas (handmade, costing c. US$100 000 to buy and c. 50 Euros per hour to ride)

Mystery woman

A view from the tower on St Mark's Square, mercifully ascended by lift (I waited to be first in line that morning, having seen how long the wait gets later in the day)

Another favourite reflection, the most successful of my Venice window shots. I link this one to the 20th century Dutch graphic artist MC Escher, a favourite of mine, for the way in which it mimics his play with different layers of reality in one image.

the W()RD

Yes, I know I didn't have a W()RD yesterday. Quite busy this week planning a 3-week trip to Svaneti...

This information comes from Wikipedia.org

Venice has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). Together with Padua (Padova), the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000).

Venice's nicknames include "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light".

More from Tbilisi, December 1999, as I discovered it.

Lowest, a night shot (tripod-mounted slow exposure) of the Old City.

Then two large sculptures of women's faces that I think are wonderful.

Mother Georgia above one of the Old City's many churches.

The Old City during the day, similar angle to the night shot below.

Above, the city's founder, King Vakhtang Gorgasali, with Metekhi Church.

Another thing Venice is famous for is its glass. So at bottom today we have a bauble reflecting the city.

Next up, St Mark and the Winged Lion (his symbol, found throughout the city).

Above that, an endearing sculpture whose story I don't know, sorry.

Next two - playing with reflections.

Above - another favourite, shop window.