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A cool overcast Sunday morning finds us off Flaminio metro in a decaying factory yard – broken concrete and rusted tin roofs – the sort of place you might kick a suitcase full of money to some threatening goon and growl, “Count it if you like, but it’s all there!” It’s all there, all right – it’s a weekly swap meet and this industrial courtyard is fulla bargains: boots and coats, clothing and toys, all sorts of treasures and trash. My wife and sister vanish into it like the final scene of “Free Willy”. Splash. I wander for a while, […]

In the glorious opening scene of the 1955 movie Summertime, Katharine Hepburn detrains in the Venice station, walking betwixt its pillars and out into the plaza with the Ponte D. Scalzi bridge arcing over the Grande Canal. How wonderful to do my own personal parody of that shot, to step from my first class car on the high-speed train, to pass through the timeless station, to exit through the portal and enter the land of old world magic. There it was, just as Katharine beheld it, spread out for me to see. Venice! Even after the majesty of Rome, Venice […]

Our water-bus chugged through the early morning mist, rounding the point and easing down the north face of Venice on its way towards the lagoon islands. I was standing in the central open area, minding my business when suddenly something warm settled over my foot. I looked down to see a good-sized dog leaning against my leg. I didn’t move, content just to watch him (and snap a picture). At the final Venice stop, his master stepped from the boat and the dog obediently followed him onto the dock without a glance back. I watched his departure with a melancholy […]

I dreamed of Charlotte airport, of the TSA checks, their purple cloaks, of the power imposed by the Imperial presidencies and of simple brute force. I could hear the screams, smell the smoke… Actually, I was standing in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia, a beautiful collections of paintings running from the middle ages until the Renaissance. Quite interesting see how the crucifixion, the rebirth, all those moments were captured and presented over the long centuries. The picture shown here, attributed to US customs in Charlotte (soon enough I’d face that horror) was actually the Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by […]

The train would leave at 2:30pm for Rome. It was our last day in Venice. No solid plans; we wanted to see our beautiful town one last time. Boarded a water bus for San Marco Plaza (if you are going for a final stroll, what better place?). Worked our way down the Grande Canal, smiling at the newbie tourists shooting everything and anything with their cameras – what a difference a few days made. Stepped onto the ancient paving, walking slowly through the plaza one last time (careful not to pass between the pillars). Listened the the cries of the […]