Maggie in Venice

Street musicians know that a sweet-looking dog is good for business--or maybe they're just trying to avoid dogsitting or dogwalking fees by bringing their animals to work. 

The guitarist (and sometime tambourinist) in the pictures below is a case in point. Cheryl and Maggie encountered him--and his dog--on several different occasions, and they're happy to report that the dog was as loyal as its master was musical: They never saw the dog marching to a different strummer.

When you associate Shakespeare with Venice, you probably think more about merchants than of balconies. 

But along the Zattere, there's at least one balcony with an occupant whose soliloquys rival those of Verona's Juliet--in volume, if not in subtlety.

The video below is short and silly, but if you know and appreciate Bearded Collies, you'll enjoy our rear-end view of a dog who'd make a lousy poker player. (The clip was taken on a bridge along the Zattere, a promenade next to Venice's Giudecca Canal, while Maggie was interacting with a potential friend.)