One of my fondest New Years’ memories is from 1 January 2011 in Venice. I was living in Ireland at the time, and made the quick trip down to Italy with my girlfriend (now wife) to celebrate the occasion.
I remember is was very cold, but a lovely time to visit. It was relatively uncrowded compared with a previous visit during the summer years before.
It was also far less smelly! Believe me, in the stifling summer heat the narrow and still neighborhood canals of Venice are a lot more odoriferous and far less romantic than in winter!
As you can see below some canals are only a few feet wide.
Of course Venice is quite unique. The history and romance of it all feeds the soul, complimented by a never-ending trail of fashionable international travelers experiencing its beauty everywhere one turns.
Yes tourists we are and were with, but only in Venice in the dead cold of winter does one feel not as much a tourist vs. just a bit connected with the locals and their wonderful city.
All of these images were captured with a simple pocket sized Canon camera. I did perform some post-production work on them using PhotoShop, but the colors are real. The image of the gondolas was enhanced with a diffuser in order to accentuate a mood I want to convey. Not sure if it works or not…just playing around as I do from time to time!
Buon anno!
Pinky's Eye 