…or Venezia, from London’s early morning rains by various conveyances; car to

train to the Gatwick Aerodrome,

Airbus

[not our plane]

to Venice,

by water taxi

to the Grand Canal and,

thanks to Mr. Watson’s considerable expertise, our palazzo in sestiere San Polo –

grand indeed.

It was warmishly humid the first night and with mosquitoes, tiny mosquitoes, throughout

but the weather immediately settled in to perfection for the intensive art touristing Rick and

Sandra had in mind.   After an initial trip to San Marco which, flooded, they said was the least

crowded ever [seemed pretty crowded to us, but still…], the goal was to visit as many

Tintorettos as humanly possible within the time [a week] allotted.  First, though, S. Marco;

All this was to be accompanied by a parallel passion of Rick’s, the Restaurants of Venice, which rewarded us with ample and usually excellent food [generally not shown] each afternoon and evening.  Our first experience in this regard came soon after our Sunday arrival at Estro, dinner for seven [the others being a colleague of his from New York, her husband and an interesting friend of theirs who divides her time and fabric business between Venice and Thailand].

Next, after San Marco’s Byzantine and other delights [as above],

came il Ridotto, anomalously sited deep in the tourist zone immediately behind the basilica

from which, after a sumptuous lunch, we subsequently fled to S. Tomá, our local vaporetto

stop, and home, for resting.

That evening it was tripping by boat and afoot to the Canareggio for a look into the

Chiesa di San Marcuola [the Tintoretto, on loan to the Accademia, had been replaced by a “bruta copia”], the ghetto and yet another dazzling dinner, this one beside one of the sestiere’s

interior canals at Osteria Anice Stellato. [Ah all these memorable meals about which I somehow managed to forget further specifics, alas…]   Under the first of seemingly three full moons we

returned [afoot and a-boat] to the palazzo where I persisted in my semi-sleeplessness.

Only the beginning…far from the ongoing mockeries of Demockery across the sea, some of which hadn’t even happened yet.

More to come, indubitably.