Day 9.... the drive to Venice but first stopping in Padua!
The Church of St. Anthony was an unexpected pleasure. Well known for healing there were a number of people there to obtain a blessing. Our tour group received a "group blessing" While own free time we went back into the church and marveled at the interior. The following image is just one of the alcoves surrounding the interior of the church. It just grabbed my attention and I couldn't look away. Just wish you could see the image in its original resolution.
I know, Bob! Been following your posts with great interest!! Looking forward to your images from Venice.
When I got out of the Army long ago, I found it hard to live in the US as a combat vet (to some we were "baby killers", to others "heroes"). So, I packed up my young wife (who I had not seen in nearly three years) and we went to live in southern Germany. Growing up PA Dutch, I spoke the language (sort of) and had some relatives there. My best friend from college went to medical school in Italy to avoid the draft (he was much smarter than me). We would drive over the Brenner Pass and meet him and his lady in Venice. Many good memories there from long ago.
My dogs are easily confused for Springers, especially a liver-and-white Brittany, like my late buddy - The Chaser:
Springers are flushing dogs. Brittanies are pointing dogs - big difference in the field.
Since Springers must stay within 25 yards or so of the gunner (or the birds they flush would be out of range), they are usually thicker and stockier than Brittanies.
Like all pointing dog, a Britany will run 30-50 miles during a day afield and get a half-mile out from their gunner in their search for birds.
When they find an upland game bird, they "point" the bird, which means that, by scent alone, they get close enough to a jumpy, wild upland bird so that it is afraid to move, but not so close that it will flush. They will hold that bird or covey of birds for however long it takes the gunner to huff and puff his/her way up to the point.
The bird will flush as it hears/sees the gunner approach; and the gunner will take the shot on the wing:
If the gunner does his/her job, the dogs will retrieve the bird to hand:
The whole process is magic to watch if you've never seen it.
A few from Ocracoke today. Still too windy and seas still too high here to launch Maggie Too safely. So, we hit the beach for a while. Being still sickly white from the northern mountain winter, we were careful not to get too much sun. Today's beach camp:
To try to get our daily exercise in the absence of a gym, we worked out as best we could with some weights in camp and then took a long walk though the village. There are many very cool old homes. Big money to own one, sadly. This is a house that was built in 1883:
In order to let my daughter know that the Old Man treats Nancy properly, here is today's "POS" (Proof Of Shopping) pic:
We stopped by the harbor master's place to rent a slip for the sailboat. Not many boats in the little harbor as yet. There will be more as the weather improves in late May. Here is the ferry for Cedar Island leaving at dusk. The harbor looks glassy flat and safe, but don't be fooled! Don't ask me how I learned this!
We said goodnight to the pelicans and seagulls before trekking back to camp for the night, as a huge thunderstorm was blowing in over the island:
Sounds like good memories.
Nice countryside in Tuscany to Padua to Venice. Rain all day today so nothing special in Venice. Hopefully it will clear in Milan.
Always great to see the dogs. AND.....No problems posting with other cams. I am certainly one who owns 5 other brands and use them all. Although my Canon sits collecting dust. 🤪
Nice sunset. For someone who posts a lot of sunset photos I've only seen one and it wasn't that great..... not enough clouds over the Isle of Capri from Sorrento.
Every high density tourist area has a ton of vendors. Pompeii has trinkets that relate to volcanic devastation and excavation, Pisa has every imaginable version of a leaning tower. What I look for is that special artisan who is creating something a little unusual, something different. This "mature" woman was doing just that.
Just after checking into the hotel in Venice we heard a loud applause and cheering from outside the door. Nothing like a wedding pose on a small bridge over a Venice canal. My take is these were pre-wedding shots. Hey, they must have known I would be there snd they didn't hire me...... 😁. Good thing they did not pick today. Rain from morning till night. 😩 Not what one wants when on Holiday!
Bob
PS..... Nice to have my new MacBook Air on the trip. Makes editing a lot easier and I store all the images on the disk
I really like that image! Those little bridges in Venice bring back many good memories for me. As usual, however, I can't let a good thing alone. If it was mine, I would have added a dramatic sky to emphasize the moment and narrowed the focus more on to the couple by getting rid of some distracting elements, adding some lighting and color, etc. Please forgive me, I can't help myself.
No problem. I’m processing a whole bunch for the group and hadn’t had too much time to spend on any one image. I do like what you did, though. You are hired!!!!
I did spend a ton of time on a group pic at Pisa. I lifted the camera a bit to get the group in the lower part of the frame while getting the Baptistry, Cathedral, and tower in the frame. What happened is the round Baptistry naturally bent inward due its presence near the edge of the frame. It was tilted similarly as the tower. Took me some time but I did it.
Lots of lovely images in this thread! Would love to respond to each contribution if I could, but instead I just want to say to keep up the good work everyone!
A quick walk to the beach before the weather turned and I had to head back home. SOOC jpg no edit other than resizing. Xpro 3, 35mm f/1.4.