Splendid Morning in Venice

Jim has now decided that Venice is the most beautiful city he has ever been to. Yes, there are huge crowds of people here at the height of the tourist season, August, but the light on the water is so splendid that it’s easy to see why great artists from Canaletto to Turner and Monet have painted odes of praise in paint to this great city. This morning we took a tour of the Doge’s Palace, and the great assembly halls showed the power of the city at its prime, when it was a Republic, run with strict rules by its oligarchy. Yet the magnificent gilded, carved and painted council chambers were connected to an entire building which was one of the first prisons, literally joined to the Doge’s Palace by the celebrated ‘Bridge of Sighs.’ After the Palace we took a boat to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum for a memorable time spent with such leading 20th century artists as Picasso, Pollock, Dali, Ernst and Giacometti. For lunch we splurged at the Terrace roof deck restaurant of the Danieli Hotel. Dan at first stayed there when he came to Venice in 1960 with his parents and brother. The view from the top of the building, over the Lagoon toward S.Giorgio and the Grand Canal is spectacular. The food was also excellent. Our main dishes were green cannelloni in white sauce, and spaghetti Venetian style with small clams known as cozze. It was the end of a wonderful morning.—Dan Here is Jim’s comments on connections to the past: It was a great pleasure and quite profound to dine with Dan at the Danieli Hotel, where he had been so many years ago. I felt as though sharing the return to this lovely city with him (our only other time here together was 25 years ago or more) combined with returning with him to the site of one of his great experiences as a young man brings us even closer together as a couple. This is because we now share so many more ties to people, places and things in our past, our joint past as well as our individual experiences. These ties mean much to me in the context of my philosophical studies and beliefs based on the interconnectivity of things. As an added benefit the view of the lagoon and the food was just wonderful from the terrace of the Danieli. This was an unforgettable experience that I shared with my loved one!