The Grand Canal winds its way through Venice, Italy and is the main thoroughfare through this city on stilts. This shot was taken just south of the Rialto Bridge where the main tourist walkway passes over the water. It’s odd to think of this as a parking lot, but basically that is what it is, a parking strip for gondolas. If you take a break and sit down for a while along these waterways, you get to see a real show of the skill of the Venetian boatswain/gondoliers. As I witnessed a delivery via boat, I watched the captain handle the rudder with one arm, steering wheel with his foot, cell phone in his other arm, and smoking a cigarette as he parked. After a while, the traffic along these waterways turns into a whirling dance of gondolas, water taxis, delivery barges and small personal boats, narrowly avoiding each other as they make their way.