By Scott Shephard

On a typical summer day in Venice, Italy, it is likely you'd find throngs of tourists. Some complain that the city has become a sort of Disney Land in that it is a place that people visit for all of it's attractions and leave at the end of the day.

I don't like crowds but being a tourist myself, I am often part of the crowd. I discovered, however, that in places like Venice it isn't hard to "get away from it all." This 2005 photo is evidence. Not too far from this place you'd be hard pressed to avoid bumping into someone. But here you'g be hard pressed to find another person. It's my kind of place. I love the textures in this old place. And I love the silence, which I hope you, too, can appreciate when you look at this photo.

Canon 20D 1/15s f/4.5 ISO400 30mm