When you live in a country with five time zones, as do I, it’s easy to be envious of those based in continents where they can readily cross borders to soak up another culture in the course of a day. Last summer in Paris, we met a German couple who’d driven down to join in the Bastille Day Celebrations.

If I could snap my fingers and visit another country this weekend, it might be a return trip to Italy – and Venice in particular. On our first trip there, we learned just how easy it was to lose one’s bearings making your way around the canals, even if the Rialto Bridge served as a good reference point. The beauty of losing your way, though, was stumbling across the unexpected.

Happily, on the day I took this image, we weren’t lost. Rather, we were just a few twists and turns away from Hotel Tivoli, where we stayed.