On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Hey everybody. I want to let you know that this will be our last On the Road After Dark for awhile. After months of more submissions than I could have imagined, there are no more After Dark submissions in the queue. If at some point we start getting so many submissions again that there is significant lag time between submission and posting date, then we can certainly bring back After Dark.
I know a lot of you look forward to seeing these in the evening, and we have had some truly lovely posts since we started the After Dark series in July. Perhaps we’ll decide to have a special Springtime in Paris series – if there are any Paris pictures we haven’t seen – and then pause again until we get backed up or until something special comes along.
If you have enjoyed the After Dark series, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. In the meantime, I hope you will continue to submit posts for the On The Road morning edition.
On the Road: Week of Feb 8 (5 am)
Albatrossity
way2blue
?BillinGlendaleCA
Steve from Mendocino
ChasM
? And now, back to randy khan! I want to extend a big thank you for sharing your trip to Venice with us!
randy khan
These photos are from our last day in Venice, after the tour was over. We wandered around for hours on the main island, doing some shopping and eating our last genuine Italian meal.
Let’s start with another bridge. There will be two more.
The main island is, of course, filled with tourist shops with the most touristy things possible. We stopped in one tourist glass shop that promised genuine Murano glass to find this amazing display. There is some chance that these were made in Murano, as there definitely is some tourist work done there, but our guess was that, despite the sign, these were made in China. You may or may not be able to tell, but the prices vary from 29 to 59 euros, about $31.60 to $64.30 at the time.
There also are some very nice shops. This shelf of tumblers is at Venini, and they definitely were made in Murano. You will see that the prices are not marked. If you have to ask . . . (actually they are pricey but not insanely expensive).
There are many places to buy leather goods in Venice, and some of the shops, like this one, are pretty specialized. My wife got a nice leather tote in another one of the shops, and the real problem was picking out which fabulous color she wanted.
This one is kind of *fuzzy, but it has a lot in it. The tower is the bell tower for St. Mark’s; to the right is the Doge’s Palace. This is from a vaporetto, so it’s probably why it’s not quite as sharp as I’d like – water is not as smooth as a road.
Note: BillinGlendaleCA worked his magic, and the new version has replaced the original fuzzier version.
This is the most crowded bridge in Venice, because it gives you a great view of the Bridge of Sighs (more on that in just a moment), which probably is the second-most popular thing in Venice. We looked at the crowd and decided we didn’t want to have to jostle our way, or risk pickpockets, to get a glimpse.
So, instead, we used the GPS on my phone and came at the Bridge of Sighs from a different direction – and here it is, just the back instead of the front. It’s called the Bridge of Sighs because it was the passageway from the Doge’s Palace to the prison, and the windows gave prisoners their last look at the sky until they got out (if they got out).
We left Venice the same way we arrived, just like everyone else, on a boat. It was a great trip, and I’d love to go back.
Lapassionara
Thank you for reminding me of Venice’s beauties. This has been a lovely series.
Lapassionara
Hi, WaterGirl, If I can ever travel again, I will send Photos for on the road after dark. I like this series.
?BillinGlendaleCA
#5, fixed it for ya:
billinglendaleca.com/Patreon/Stuff/n-cmXxdR/i-x2kbwvb/A
randy khan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
It’s good to have a pro around. Thanks.
Origuy
Every time I hear the words “Bridge of Signs”, I think of Robin Trower.
WaterGirl
@randy khan: Would you like me to trade them out, or keep your original?
randy khan
@WaterGirl: With Bill’s permission, I’d be happy to have them traded.
Comrade Colette
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Wow! Magic!
@randy khan: Wow! Venice is magic!
WaterGirl
@randy khan: I replaced the original with Billin’s cleaned-up version. I feel certain that he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble if he didn’t want you to use it. :-
edit: I also added a note to that effect in the text that goes along with that photo.
randy khan
@WaterGirl: Perfect.
something fabulous
I love these! If we are voting (!), I’m for only once a day, though– seems to make it more special, somehow? Seasonal/thematic additional features from time to time could be nice too.
JanieM
Every one of these sets of pictures has made it harder for me to imagine never getting to Venice…..
*****
As to OTR After Dark, I’ve got pictures from Brussels, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, London, Maine, Ohio, Cambridge/Boston, China…..not to mention odd things like reflections of sunsets on the metal of cars and in garage windows, and reflections of buildings in the windows of other buildings…. ;-)
(Not to mention all the hiking in national parks photos that I’ll have once I get time to fire up the scanner I bought after cope mentioned the one he uses.)
Not all necessarily high quality photos, but maybe decent enough, and they all have stories to go with them. If we’re going to go back to OTR after a break, and anyone has a particular interest in any of these topics, I’d enjoy putting together some sets.
Just sayin’.
Auntie Anne
Oh, Randy – those tumblers and gloves! I want them all. It would take me hours to choose . . . Thank you so much for sharing these pictures.
J R in WV
I’ll miss the evening tours we’ve had.
@JanieM:
Your photos sound perfect for OtR after dark, looking forward to seeing them. It is a surprising amount of work to put a good set of photos together. If anyone would be interested in old photos from the early 1900s, I’ve been scanning boxes full from my grandma’s farmhouse.
Pharniel
I enjoyed the two bursts of photos, but if there’s not enough submissions, there’s not enough submissions.
I still need to organize my photos enough for a series. Just gotta get a few extra spoons.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: Got some special software that sharpens photos, thought I’d give it a try.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: No problem on my end, I’m here to serve.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Comrade Colette: Heh, not magic, Topaz Labs Sharpen AI.
JanieM
@J R in WV: I’d love to see photos from the early 1900s. Now that you mention it, I might even scan some like that from my family albums at some point, although my ambitions far outstrip my actual time and energy.
debbie
I so appreciate these photos. I planned and planned a trip to Venice after watching Brideshead Revisited, but never got there. Thanks so much!
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Wow. That’s amazing.
Very, very impressive software, and skilled hands running it!
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
randy khan
It’s been really fun to revisit this trip. It was special for a lot of reasons, and I loved sharing some of what we saw with you. (There’s a *lot* more you didn’t see – the trip was jam-packed.) I’m glad so many of you enjoyed it.
(And @WaterGirl, if you do Paris in the spring, I’m in. I have many, many more pictures from there.)
Comrade Colette
@Pharniel:
Captain Awkward introduced me to the spoons. You?
Weirdly, just knowing about the spoons endowed me with a few extra.
Ann Marie
I love the After Dark series. It’s the perfect time of day for me to stop and enjoy the pretty pictures. Thank you for running these.
RSA
I loved the picture of the glove store. Years ago my wife picked up gloves in Venice. She had the tiniest hands and loved the variety that she could actually try on. I still remember one pair she found. They were black leather, except for the pieces that run up and down the sides of the fingers–those were colored. The effect was that when her hands were relaxed the gloves looked completely ordinary, but if she moved her fingers you’d see flashes of color.
Thanks for the memory.
Pharniel
@Comrade Colette:
I’m not sure the of my vector of memetic infection. It’s been so long.
I only remember the Spell Slot version – because not all spoons are the same type – but since I’ve always been an unofficial project manager and it was about the time I was getting formal training so it all just runs together.
But it’s been a great tool for my ADD/ADHD (depending on what nonsense I’ve been up to) brain to keep my life together.
IMHO the best part about Venice is the combination of the constraints reminiscent of a video game level combined with the fact that just about everywhere on the islands is super cool.
I highly advise getting lost if you go. It’s worth it, just to see what you stumble across.