An Italian-American Writer & Poet with a Yankee Outsider Perspective
It takes a while for essential moments of a trip to become apparent. After returning from Venice six weeks ago, images of standing in the bottom of a vaporetto with my friend Chris, crossing the lagoon from Torcello, have come … Continued
All the bridges in Venice are pedestrian–it’s a city without cars. Yet, the map shows only a few–the Rialto and the huge bridge crossing the Grand Canal before the railroad station. But how do people get across? I asked myself, … Continued
If you stare across the lagoon from the northern edge of Venice, the world seems an immense roil of waves, tongues of land lapping out of them, and sky contesting above for prominence. In the Cinquecento, 1500s, with only candle … Continued
The last time I saw Venice I was older than 10 and younger than forty. What I remember: houses standing up to their doorways in water, boats navigating canals, a hotel room with incredibly high ceilings and windows draped in … Continued
Reading about Venice, before going for a visit, I discover in Jan Morris’ book (named for the city) that the Venetians have a dialect distinctly their own. Not only do they elide standard Italian–removing the ll’s in bello to become … Continued