It’s already more than a week ago since I spent the weekend in Venice. It was photographic overload, so it’s taken some time to process all the photos, and there was some time required to reflect on the trip as well.

From Milan the train takes about two and a half hours to get to Venice. Just before midday on the Saturday I arrived and headed off on foot towards Cannaregio, an area to the left of the station, which tends to be less frequented by tourists. And it was indeed, despite it being a busy Carnevale weekend. It was probably my favourite area in Venice during this visit. It was quiet and peaceful, with Venetians going about their normal Saturday morning business, going for a jog, getting groceries or walking the kids back home from sporting activities.

Every now and then I got into busier parts again, those that connected more directly with the main artery for tourist traffic, but most of the time I managed to avoid that and meandered peacefully around, stopping to have some soup for lunch alongside one of the canals, before continuing on and eventually reaching the Castello area, leading me towards Riva degli Schiavoni, where my lovely hotel, Hotel Gabrielli, is located. Check in was quick and I was able to divest myself of my backpack and after a brief rest just take the necessities and a camera to head out again for the afternoon.

Walking along the Riva degli Schiavoni towards Piazza San Marco I continued to head along the waterfront, following a well-trodden path towards the Accademia, meandering through tight streets, occasionally finding Carnevale revellers dressed up in costume. I crossed the Ponte dell’Accademia, treated myself to an ice cream at Zattere, before returning towards the main San Marco area. I got caught in the masses near Piazza San Marco and escaped the throng, finding space somewhere and then queued to get across the Ponte della Paglia. Here the police kept people moving along on the bridge to avoid blockages with everyone wanting to get their photograph in front of the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri). I had expected crowds in Venice, but it was still incredible to have to queue for about 15 minutes to get over a bridge. Mental note to self: avoid the San Marco area when returning to the station the next day. Back at the hotel I had an aperol spritz before watching and photographing the magnificent sunset from my hotel room balcony.

The next morning I made sure I was awake before dawn, so I could be at Piazza San Marco to photograph the sunrise. I got more than that; I had not realised that many of those dressing in costume are there at first light for photographs. There were quite a few photographers around, and I happily joined them taking photographs of the magnificently dressed Carnevale participants against a beautiful backdrop with a sunrise illuminating it all. Lucky I had stuffed my flash in my coat pocket that morning!

And Piazza San Marco? Only a handful people there and perfect timing compared with yesterday afternoon. About an hour later I headed back to the hotel for a hot shower to warm up my frozen fingers from the bitter cold (gloves notwithstanding) and feeding a growling stomach some breakfast.

After breakfast I took a vaporetto to Giudecca, the island that lies in front of Piazza San Marco. It was cold and windy and it being Sunday morning, there was hardly anything open, but I imagined it would be a welcome respite from the tourist masses in summer. Back on the vaporetto to get my backpack and check out of the hotel before starting the slow meander back to the station.

That meander was more than I bargained for with crowds squeezed in tight streets, moving at a shuffling pace. I escaped the crowd at the first opportunity and took some back streets until I got to a vaporetto stop. I decided to put my day pass to good use and hop to a different area via vaporetto. In San Polo I found a little restaurant for an early lunch before walking through the quarter towards the Santa Lucia station. I got there faster than I expected and not wanting to wait around the station for another 90 minutes until my train was due, I decided to get on the vaporetto again heading towards Accademia and then turning around and jumping on a vaporetto back to the station in good time for my return train to Milan. It allowed for more photography and a distinctly different perspective from what I had walking the streets. Still on visual overload, it didn’t take long to fall asleep as the train whisked me back to Milan.

I do want to make an observation of something that stood out for me on this trip and disturbed me a great deal: people are obsessed with their phones and with themselves. In every gondola the passengers were consistently looking at their phones, rather than at the environment they were in. There they were in magical Venice, in a gondola, and they were looking at their phones. Something is seriously wrong with that. And if they’re not looking at their phones to see what they’re missing on social media, they’re posing in front of it to take a selfie, casting lascivious looks at the thing, with endless posing and pouting. It seems for many people it’s not about the place they are visiting, but it’s about them and that they are seen to be somewhere, so that they can tick it off on another “Bragbook” list. Our self-obsession and vanity have reached peak levels.