THURSDAY 17th March
CHAIRMAN’S EVENING – DAVID BROOKES ARPS
For one meeting every year the chairman can do whatever he/she wants, certain members can be invited to show their photographs, other members may be asked to give a talk or he/she can entertain the members present at the meeting themself. It is the third option that our new chairman David Brookes opted for and it was most definitely a wise choice as it was a very entertaining and most informative evening for all those present at the Zoom meeting.
Through the long, cold, wet winter months many of us must have dreamt about ‘getting away’ to a warm sunny clime and that is just where David took us. He gave us a virtual tour of a city he and his wife find to be one of the most magical places they have ever visited – Venice.
Our journey began at Santa Lucia Railway Station at the western tip of Venice where the bridge from the mainland meets the city and followed The Grand Canal down to St Mark’s Square. The many diversions taken off the main canal enabled us to see so many different parts of Venice that the day tourist just wouldn’t have time to visit. David shared with us breathtaking internal and external images of so many of the incredible churches he visited, some of them being the main attractions of Venice and others being hidden gems that David managed to find by venturing off the tourist trail.
The grand palaces and ordinary buildings that sit on the canals were beautifully captured from the water bus he used to get around, from several of the bridges which span the numerous canals and even from waterside bars and cafes whilst he was enjoyed a well earned drink and meal. There were several photographs of gondolas with the gondoliers weaving their way through the city avoiding the speedy motorboats and vaporetti on the busy waterway.
Throughout the evening David took and talked us through each of the six districts/sestieres that Venice is divided into and with his charming narrative you could feel the atmosphere and almost hear the lapping of the water in every image he shared.