Idiom 47- The other side of the coin is an English idiom used to describe a situation when you want to mention a different or contradictory aspect of it. When you think of Venice, or any popular tourist city, most think of the famous landmarks or buildings which attract millions of tourists every year. However, it is so easy to forget that people actually live in this city, trying to make a living every day whilst the tourists flood in. I always find it fascinating watching day to day life continuing alongside people who are on holiday, or travelling, doing something outside of their usual environment. In Venice, this involved sitting next to children on the water taxis on their way to and from school, watching rubbish bin men on their boats going from house to house collecting the bins awaiting for them on the edge of the water (this came with a lot of amusement from my sister and I, watching the men control their little crane on the back of the boat which picked up the bins and tipped the rubbish out.... It is the little things remember!), seeing water ambulances rush by slow moving gondolas with their sirens going creating a wave of water billowing out onto the pavements, and of course the life of the notorious street beggars. The people making a living from the streets came in a wide variety of forms in Venice, as in much of Europe- the ladies crouched and huddled over with a cup out for coins, trying to depict an injury or a disability to those passing by, only to stand up and walk away perfectly normally several hours later; Young men thrusting roses in women's faces and hissing in frustration as the flowers were thrown onto the floor; and so many others here, there and everywhere. I always wonder what they think watching the tourists, living in a city full of designer shops, with couples flooding off expensive cruise ships, and depending on the luck of a person's kindness. I guess they must be used to it though, they would have grown into this environment and come to know it as their own normality. This man did catch my eye however. He sat on the bridge with his sign and cap out for the odd coin here and there. The bridge at the time was packed with people moving- mostly tourists going to the rialto. However, it was the tired, coy look on his face which amused me. He was watching a couple of younger men on the other side of the bridge, desperately dancing between different tourists pleading with them to buy a rose. He sat there, not even really looking at anyone else, or moving or making a sound, but just with a face of experience which said it all. There are ways to make money, and there are ways to just, well, not even try. via http://500px.com/photo/88733849
