After my observation on the blog yesterday that I was not noticing the beauty all around me I decided to start paying attention. My mission: To pay attention and notice the ordinary. Here in Venice even the ordinary is different so that wasn’t too difficult. As has become our habit, Denis and I set off on our fifteen minute bus ride to the city before breakfast. We arrived around nine o’clock. This was useful because a lot of ordinary things happen around nine in the morning.
(Breakfast)
But first we were going to have breakfast. This was a much cooler day and rain was forecast and believe it or not we were looking forward to rain! When we got off the bus Denis (who was also on “ordinary stuff” patrol) noticed a pathway we hadn’t seen before so we took it. There were fewer people walking this route but there seemed to be more boats. We stopped at the first cafe and ordered coffee and pastries (not exactly high fibre but very yummy.) And that’s when ordinary Venice started to happen.
(Taxi!)
The delivery boats. I know I’ve mentioned this again and again but… everything, every thing coming into this city comes in on a boat and get to its destination on a handcart. Three delivery boats had passed before I had wrangled the camera out of its bag. But I got DHL. Well of course DHL deliver to Venice!
(DHL… Excellence. Simply Delivered… to Venice. On the lookout for UPS)
We took 351 pictures yesterday and they are all of ordinary things. Here’s a taste of ordinary Venice…
(The milkman)
(The laundry)
(The builders)
(The ambulance)
(The bin men)
By lunchtime I was exhausted! Noticing the ordinary is work. It’s everywhere. It’s constant. It put my senses to work. When my senses are at work… with what’s happening right now in front of me my brain can’t be making up stories about the scary things that might happen in the future or the annoying things that did happen in the past… But it’s a bit of work and maybe I’d much rather be numb or bored or talking to myself about scary stuff…. Nah, here’s some more ordinary Venice….
(Someone had a blocked drain…)
(Bottle cap art – lots and lots of ordinary plastic bottle caps)
(A bus/boat stop dock…. there are lots of these in Venice)
We’re off to Florence today…. might be hot…. might be busy…. might be fun… might be terrible… or it might be amazingly ordinary right in front of my eyes, Mairead.
maireadhennessy.com 
Mairead, have a wonderful time in beautiful Florence, (loved it since first visit at 13 years of age). Watch out for mad men on motor scooters – no respect for pedestrians on the narrow streets! If you have a chance, see Michaelangelo’s David – not the replica in the palazzo della signoria, but the real one which is in the accademia – it’s awe inspiring. The replica should look the same, and sort of does, but it hasn’t got the spirit…Lots of queues in Firenze, there used to be a museum ticket you could buy that would get you in to all the museo – and past the queues but don’t know if that’s still the case. Maybe you can tell me. The Arno river is a hotbed of mosquito’s in July, so if your accommodation is anywhere near, keep your windows closed, esp at night. Really enjoying your travels and pictures.