It's not unusual in Venice to turn a corner and find some aspect of the past--usually architectural--right before you; in fact, it's one of the reasons people come here. But in the midst of running errands the other day I turned a corner and encountered something from a more recent era, which for all its relative temporal proximity seems as distant and irretrievable as some 16th century social custom: what appeared to be two people writing postcards.
There they sat, posed in just the way once common among tourists everywhere: having paused to refresh themselves with a drink following a day of sightseeing and bent over the table, scribbling some words in haste to the folks back home.
In fact, they might not have been tourists, and indeed, they might not have been writing postcards at all.
I didn't dare check as I passed. I didn't want to know. Like some romantically-inclined tourist myself, I didn't want to risk ruining what appeared to be a perfectly lit tableau of a time long lost.
Nice post and comments. Did you use your cellular phone to take this picture or a camera as in the time long lost? :)
ReplyDeleteSo difficult to find postcards (except artistic postacards in museums) and stamps and even more difficult a mail-box now in Venice! Maybe at the station?
I don't have a phone that's able to take a photo or do much else, so I used a camera. But of course it was a DIGITAL camera!
DeleteI haven't written or sent a postcard for so long I couldn't even tell you what the cost of stamp for one is in Venice, and the only place I can think of with a mail box is the post office itself.
Not found it hard to find post boxes, often use one of Strada Nova, as I have a very elderly relative who simply loves getting postcards, so we always have to send her one, each visit.
ReplyDelete(It doesn't seem to matter what we write on the card, often she says she couldn't decipher our writing, but loved the picture - and tells us off if we've sent her the same image on a past occasion!)
I think postcards have become so rarely used now as to have an added value, Ella. Imagine receiving an image from someone that you can look at even when your phone needs to be charged, and whenever you want! If postcards were a new invention we'd be marveling over how convenient they are and what a great step forward!
Deleteoops, meant "on" Strada Nova, not "of".
ReplyDelete