“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”
Albert Camus
Looking like stills out of an apocalypse movie, I captured these images (below) of scenic Venice where the sun was just about setting.
They're from a tourist-centric live web cam montage of views from various Venetian hotels.
Normally these street views would show bustling squares, gondola-filled canals and happy, shiny people, everywhere. But we are no longer in the world of "normally." Especially Northern Italy.
The rotating videos did occasionally show a few people milling about, likely people out to shop for groceries or just getting a bit of fresh air and waning sunshine. But not many...and only in groups of two or three, or, more commonly, just one. It was a live stream playing for several hours, I reckon, since I watched, and listened for a good two hours or so. Oh yes, listened...to the non-stop music of Vivaldi playing throughout the whole thing.
Check it out here, maybe it'll still be rolling live or available for historical evidence of these times we're all in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph1vpnYIxJk
Oh, here's another deserted place a bit closer to home but looking very much the same as the above. Of course it's the Italy Pavilion at Epcot. TBH, this pic is not live and not due to the current crisis but, I'm sure if there was a live cam fixed at this spot right now, it'd look exactly like this; devoid of humanity.
And now we bid the world "addio" with our somber-toned Vivaldi. Though spring is just a day or two away, it somehow feels like we're about to encounter a long, dark winter.