The European Honeymoon (Sept. 2009)

VENICE, ITALY

It took me a few days to get this shot. But it captures Venice in a way that transcends words. This is the Grand Canal at the moment that sunset is about over.

We waited to take a Gondola ride until after dinner so that we could have a quiet, romantic ride and not share too much of the water with tourists.

Venice was packed with people, and was our most people-laden stops (not shocking).

San Marco Square was loaded daily with people trying to fill their cameras with images, and their brains with memories. This picture was the two of us having dinner along the river (In San Marco's Square) just across from our hotel.

Speaking of hotels, this was by far the best one of our trip. It was first-class all the way. It was not a tough stay. Stephanie and I were able to shop, and shoot for days.

One of the highlights was when we were able to spend a few hours in Doge's Palace. Unfortunately, like many places along our trip, I wasn't able to shoot pictures of the insides of the buildings. I found it frustrating because its just something you HAVE TO SHARE...but after seeing it first hand, its something you cant just explain...its so much deeper.

While in the Palace I was able to head down a super-narrow stairway and see where prisoners were held during trial. Dreary, damp and dark....but cool to see. (I have pictures of that! Not a fun place to end up.

This is one of the buildings (St. Mark's Basilica) that anchors San Marco Square. Its one of the main attractions of Venice, and is simply amazing to see up close.

There were lines daily to get into these buildings, and its easy to see why. Venice was also very warm, and had NO rain! We enjoyed every second while we were there.This stop was one of the most scenic, and most photogenic of all of the stops we would take.

Venice is one of those places that you can keep coming back to. I would like to go back some day and spend more time in that one area. However, of all the places we went, it was probably the easiest to see everything important, and fast. Romance was everywhere in Venice. The food was romantic, the scenes, the mood....everything.

It was getting tougher to comprehend that there could be a better stop on our trip. So far, it has been simply breathtaking. When it was time to go, we called a water taxi and headed back to the mainland to catch a plane to our next....and last stop. Prague.