Ah, Venice. The word conjures up placid gondola rides, the carnivalesque Piazza San Marco, dainty bridges, sublime architecture, and snaking canals. Once considered a Republic, with its own navy, and a world financial capital during the Middle Ages, this northeastern Italian city composed of over a 100 tiny islands was a place where traders sold silks and spice—remember Shakespeare’s ?—the birthplace of legendary lover boy Casanova, and the setting of many a film, from Visconti’s to Daniel Craig’s 007 on a caper with his lady love Eva Green through Venice in . As a James Bond fan, it was this film that sparked my curiosity about this city, and when I finally visited many years later, I did feel the thrill of riding a vaporetto (a water taxi), much like 007. On the Grand Canal with my family, with the sun on my face, I tried to capture with my iPhone the beauty of regal 13th -
