Place: Canal near the Jewish Ghetto, Venice, Italy.
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2006.
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W1.
My, what long arms Venetians must have to hang their washing on lines so high! I'm joking, of course.
There's nothing more satisfying than seeing freshly washed clothes flapping in the wind. But these washing lines, connected to one of the exterior walls of the Jewish Ghetto, were kind of special. Why? Because I imagine residents have been hanging out their underwear and bed sheets in this way for centuries.
That's the thing about Venice. Without cars and other wheeled-traffic to remind you what century you're in, it's easy to lose sense of time, to feel as if you've been sucked into some other era from the distant past. And if you saw a Lord Byron or Casanova-type character flitting past, you wouldn't blink an eyelid.
