The Streets are Paved in.....Water!

 

Scenes from Venice Italy where the streets are made of water and transportation is done by foot and boat.  

My first glimpses of the city were breathtaking.  It looked just like in the movies only with a lot more people.  The watery streets and the Moorish architecture caught my eye immediately.

To someone who lives in the desert, all that water seemed so strange and frankly, dangerous.  How do all those fabulous buildings stand with such soggy foundations?

Venice is truly one of the most unique cities on this planet.  The city was a joy to visit.

Overlooking Construction

 

That last time I was in New York, my hotel room had a pretty spectacular view to the north through a jungle of extremely tall buildings.

I realized quickly that I also had a Birds Eye view of a new building under construction.  

It was kind of fun to watch the progress of this new building for the seven days I had this view.

I used my telephoto lens to zoom in on certain areas to try to figure out what was happening.

I could even zoom in to see what was in a worker's tool belt.

By the end of my stay, it was looking like some progress had been made in those few days.

I will have to make another trip to New York to see how the building is looking today!

There is Nothing Like an Ocean View

 

There is something about an ocean view that speaks to the soul.  That must be why I spend a few days in Southern California every year.  

Even if I did nothing else while I was there but walk along a coastal path, it would be enough to soothe that craving for the sounds and smells of the sea.

Even looking at these photos has a certain calming effect.  I can't wait to take another walk along these shores.  

Beautiful Old Homes

 

I thought I'd take another tour around the town where I grew up, Quincy Illinois.  The last time I posted about Quincy's beautiful homes was in June of last year.  The first photo in that post was of my favorite house anywhere.  Today I'll show you a few more of the grand homes found in this river front town.

These first two houses have mastered that colonial America look.  I love the grand pillars on this house.  It looks so very stately.  

It's amazing how big these houses are.  Some of them have been divided into apartments but I'd say the vast majority are still single family homes.  BIG single family homes.

These two are not quite as large but they still have a very prosperous and stately look to them.  They don't build houses like these any longer and that is truly a shame.

Here are two more very large and very grand homes.  It would be so much fun to see inside these beautiful, old homes.

This last shot shows something I have found unique to Quincy.  The streets in the older neighborhoods have the street name spelled out in mosaic tiles in the sidewalk pavement at the corners.  When I was a little kid, I loved walking to the corner of our street and seeing the street name there.