Venice: The First Last View

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a little blue, a little pink

all the colours you can think

This is Venice!

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Hi y'all .. welcome to Part II of Venice Week. I've received a couple of tags lately which I will certainly get to soon, but as one of them fits into my Venice theme I'm tackling it now. The gracious and uniquely stylish Monika of 'Splendid Willow' has tagged me to post and discuss the 10th photo in my 1st photo directory.

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Well the 1st had only 1 photo and the 9th photo in the 2nd directory happens to be of Venice!!! Ok I can hear the non-believers out there already... but even surprising to me.. there was an orphan image of Venice sitting shyly amongst some unruly rosellas making havoc in the Jacaranda Tree... Looking sadly out of place, this particular image was one I'd borrowed from the net and depicts gondolas bedded down for the night, with San Giorgio Maggiore Island in the background... Not being one of mine, I almost ignored it, then remembered I had a similar photo I took myself, laminated and languishing in the kitchen. So as the point of the excercise was to discuss what I was thinking at the time of the photo.... a quick scan and makeover.. and..

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here is my own

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The First 'Last View of Venice'

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'Dreams of Venice'

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This photo was the very last I took on my first trip to Venice in 1993. After spending only a few days in this land of miraculous beauty, I was scurrying around trying to get in those last few photos before having to leave and say goodbye. Hoping to get a picture of the gondolas I came across this lone man .. quietly sitting and packing up his tools of trade.. Is he a fisherman? or did he manage the Gondolas? I'm not sure which .. but he had a calm stillness about him that made me stop, slow down and drink in the beauty of the moment.. To breathe in the colours of the sea and sky, changing hues in quick succession with nightfall fast approaching. To stop and watch the candy coloured visions playing out in front of me.

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Not knowing that I would return again one day, I soaked in every feeling of this moment. Imprinted the memory of this scene and each small nuance into my mind and heart, hoping it would be enough to treasure a lifetime. Then, upon arrival home, I displayed the photo where I could see it everyday.. to remind me of the beauty of Venice, the calm sweetness of the moment, and the hidden colours that are revealed when one stops and takes notice of their surroundings. A good reminder that a simple moment can become a grand memory if it is savoured and given the respect and adulation we do a 'last view'.

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For a long time this was my favourite photo of Venice. This single photo greeting me everyone morning fueled in me the hope and determination to get back to Italy a few years later. And as it lived on my fridge for a good many years, it also reminds me of the places I have lived and the people who have shared those moments, it has become part of my history and the fisherman an odd family member who's name I do not know but inspires me to travel and dream. With the exception of my grandfather, I come from a family of non-travellers.. probably more due to financial circumstances than lack of adventure... Growing up in middle class Australia, Europe is a very long and expensive distance from home. One that not all my friends had made and those that did had no plans to return....

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So a desire to travel was not instilled in me by my family, and travelling to Europe was certainly not something I wanted to do alone, nor expected to achieve in my lifetime.. It was an idea that grew from imagination and yearning.. an idea that needed daily inspiration to make it happen. It was some else's photo of Venice that inspired the passion to get me there the first time, and then my own 'First Last View' and my fisherman that got me there the second. Another trip to Venice.. another first view and another last view to once again be imprinted on my heart and remind me to yearn. Now I hope that my image will inspire someone else to dream big and travel...

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Pay It Forward

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Thank you Monika for thinking of me with this tag. And thank you everyone for such lovely warm comments on my last post helping me celebrate my blogging birthday...

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Blogging has been a true life saver for me over this past year, helping me to step out of the mundane work routine I'd become accustomed to and reacquaint myself with world of beauty, creativity and wit. It's allowed me to dream again of distant shores and the world of artistic beauty, and all your support has made it so much more rewarding. Just like my 'First Last view of Venice' .. it has reminded me to stop, slow down and drink in the beauty of the world and dream a little dream into fruition. So to say thank you I'll be having a little giveaway soon.. hopefully next post..

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But before that I have to tag five other bloggers to go forth and produce their 10th photo post!! So if they'd like to participate, the goal is to find your 10th photo in your 1st photo folder and discuss what you were thinking when the photo was taken.

I'm passing this tag onto ;

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Dash at French Sampler

Jeanne at Collage of Life

Cecilia at Desde mi Ventana

Sharon at My French Country Home

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Suzan at Old Grey Mare

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IMAGE SOURCE: photography, text and artwork - [being ruby©]

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