Anne Skyvington
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Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
TravelWriting

A Bird’s Eye View

written by Anne Skyvington September 1, 2016
white-bird-in-flight

We’re heading for the air space over la Belle Paris, where we will spend such a memorable few days, meeting up with Véronique and Thierry, and Manya and Hakeem. You can tell it’s France down below from the beautifully sculpted blocks of land, some tilled, others awaiting cultivation: the richness of the French agricultural tradition.

french-countryside-2cvWhereas Venice will be a feast for the eyes, Paris is style, fresh food in street markets, wonderful cuisine and products in delis, and interesting, generous people. Admittedly, there’s also a creeping sense of depression there, as the young abandon ship and take off for richer pastures further afield: New York, Sydney, Berlin … anywhere they can find work. But things augure well for the future, so long as its youth return, once the economy recuperates. Few leave for good.

Mark had one day working hard in Paris teaching the Lidcombe Program. He was exhausted afterwards, but we were served dinner: ‘foie gras d’oie’—home-made by Thierry!—and baked lamb with vegetables and sauce and lots of red wine!  It was a real feast, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, like staying in the Presidential Suite in Cavtat. But I must admit to suffering from ‘mal au foie’ the next day.

We caught a smaller plane out of Charles de Gaulle Airport heading for Venice.  Venice was a feast for the eyes!

Even the tourists from all over the world, milling around the Piazza San Marco, didn’t put us off. The buildings there were worth the discomfort of the throngs of people and the trinket sellers and their stalls staining the sight of the ancient monuments in the background.

mark-saint-marco-venice

I took photos of Mark in front of the Duomo San Marco and we had coffee in an expensive café nearby.

Then we learnt how to escape the tourists, by exploring along smaller wharves, across bridges and into the hinterland of San Paolo. I became expert at choosing tavernas where locals were eating, and I enjoyed the small jugs of house vino and the various seafood and pasta dishes.

our-hotel-in-venice

Our Hotel on the Canal

We took the inexpensive and convenient motor boats—‘vaporetti’—along the Grand Canal and around Venice, including a day trip to the island of Murano, where we saw glass being blown in a furnace, and bought gifts of lovely pendants to take back. Siesta back at the hotel was a good idea, because the light lasted until eight or nine at night, when we set off once again to find eateries and to wander along the streets enjoying gelatos and noticing the customs of the locals. Next day we went to Burrano, a lace-making island renowned for its brightly painted houses in all the colours of the rainbow, where I purchased a lovely creamy coloured lace scarf. I also experienced a swim at the famous beach—the Lido, and we lay under an umbrella on rented banana chairs, remarking on the dark colour of the sand, so different from Coogee!

Burrano-Venice

Brightly coloured buildings in Burrano

 ***

We’ve just flown out of Venice and up and around so that I can see the lagoon turning into the sea, and then the shape of the fish that makes up the islands of Venice with the Grand Canal snaking through the middle of it; and the islands and the Lido Beach stretching for miles along the coast. I feel a certain wrench leaving it, so enthralled was I by its beauty. Nothing like it in the world: a city built on water. The posts holding it up don’t decay because they’re not exposed to oxygen. Italy, for a land-bound person like me, always reminds me of the fairy-tale of Rip Van Winkle, who went to sleep for a hundred years and awoke in a changed land. Where else can you get off the plane from Frankfurt and step into a watertaxi that speeds across a vast lagoon in between a liquid roadway marked by posts, and takes you almost to the steps of your hotel: Locanda Ca’ San Marcuola, a bright pink building from the 1800s.

Now we’re flying over Tuscany on the way to Heathrow and thence to Dublin. Next over the snow-tipped mountains of the Alps, the sharp rocky edges contrasting with the pearly white of the snow-covered valleys and that of the cotton-wool clouds floating just above. Highways coming into view down below.

 ***

We’re heading for the English Channel—or should I say ‘la Manche’—for our arrival in London soon. And here it comes into view now: a lovely tranquil-looking stretch or ‘sleeve’ of green water that brings back memories of a trip across from Dover to Calais when I was young and silly and in search of adventure, and when I drank too much wine with some Scottish youth and had a grand old time on the way to Paris.

Heathrow ‘Fright Lounge’, as Mark calls them: here we come! En route to Dublin and meeting up with Kay. It’s 21 degrees down below, but we’re expecting cooler weather in Ireland.

Related articles
Venice’s Creeping Ocean  and  Italy

A Bird’s Eye View was last modified: July 10th, 2017 by Anne Skyvington
glass being blown in MuranoParis is style and fresh food street marketsthe famous Lido Beach of Venicethe lace-making island of BurranoVaporetti a cheap and convenient way to travel in VeniceVenice is beauty and water
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Anne Skyvington

I have been a reader/writer all of my life as far back as I can remember. Blogging has opened me up to another world, where I can share my skills and continue to create through word and picture. Writing is about seeing the world and recreating it for others to see through different eyes.

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4 comments

Karla January 13, 2015 at 3:23 pm

Hi Anne – loved your story – took me right back to 2010. Venice……ahhhhhh beautiful!! Paris, Frankfurt, London, Dublin so many wonderful memories. Thank you for reminding me and letting me meander through those magical places once again. Cheers, Karla

Reply
Anne Skyvington September 1, 2016 at 11:24 pm

Thanks for the comment, Karla. It brings me back to our times together in faraway South Grafton. A sense of nature never leaves you: the good part of my childhood in a charming backwater.

Reply
Roger Britton November 30, 2016 at 8:43 pm

Interesting. Europe is so different to Australia. There is so much history compared to white Australian history of a couple of centuries. Loved the photo attachments, too.

Reply
Anne Skyvington November 30, 2016 at 10:31 pm

Yes, I agree, there’s so much to see and to do in Europe, and each country is so different. We noticed the differences between Denmark and Sweden, joined by a bridge to one another, and yet very different cultures and ways of thinking.

Reply

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About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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