VENETIAN TRYST

From stone bridges thronged by visitors, to admiring golden mosaics inspired by legendary artist Titian; from quaint cafés and restaurants once patronised by Charles Dickens and Charlie Chaplin, to riveting art exhibitions, or just enjoying an al fresco vaporetto ride to neighbouring Murano...Venice is a city of many faces, and lots of vibrant style.

- PRIYA KUMARI RANA

Ah, Venice. The word conjures up placid gondola rides, the carnivalesque Piazza San Marco, dainty bridges, sublime architecture, and snaking canals. Once considered a Republic, with its own navy, and a world financial capital during the Middle Ages, this northeastern Italian city composed of over a 100 tiny islands was a place where traders sold silks and spice—remember Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice?—the birthplace of legendary lover boy Casanova, and the setting of many a film, from Visconti’s Death in Venice to Daniel Craig’s 007 on a caper with his lady love Eva Green through Venice in Casino Royale. As a James Bond fan, it was this film that sparked my curiosity about this city, and when I finally visited many years later, I did feel the thrill of riding a vaporetto (a water taxi), much like 007. On the Grand Canal with my family, with the sun on my face, I tried to capture with my iPhone the beauty of regal 13th-17th century palaces flanking the water (some of them now luxury hotels), the city’s largest town square the Piazza San Marco, with its towering brick-red campanile, the Basilica of San Marco, and the round-domed Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, and of course the famous Rialto Bridge.