On the second day of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop, we visited the Doge’s Palace, in all of its glory and were awed by its impressive art collection by Italian masters. Taking the “Secret Tour” we learned about parts of the Palace that you can’t normally see, including the prisons, the torture room and stories of Casanova.

That afternoon we chose a canal to paint near our hotel while the photographers covered off the beaten path parts of the island. I liked the way the sunlight reflected across the water’s surface, and I really wanted to capture a gondola in the distance. With it being Carnival, luckily there was a steady stream of them rowing past us. At one point, a live violinist drifted by playing the most beautiful tune that echoed off the buildings. What a magical moment!