Venice

Tonight, in Venice, shortly after sunset, I walked the beautiful, private canal that is our street in
Dorsoduro to the main canal south, watching the lights from the windows reflect in the water. I stood on the last bridge before a larger canal, looking back at the other little bridges in the darkness. I was standing in Venice. How could this be? The last building on our corner was a great, old fortress,making it special over the other streets and easier to find on my way home.

Then I walked along the big canal. In the daylight, I had thought this to be quite ugly: the industrial canal. Very large, it carried barges and cruise ships. Yet, in the darkness, these great ships were illuminated and floated gracefully by.

As I passed an old graffitied building that would have seemed tacky in the light, I glanced in the lit windows: Inside was a great crystal chandelier through an arched hallway. The walls were heavily covered with elegant wallpaper and so many beautifully-framed works of original art that it would have appeared to be a museum, were it not for the lovely antique furniture. Who could have known such a treasure lie behind that old, decaying wall?

I tried my little Italian on a few canal-side
restaurant hosts, before deciding on one at which I could eat dessert and sip latte and listen to the slapping of the boat waves under my feet.

Then I hurried back toward the Academia, to the church where I'd heard the music. Inside, I joined only 15 people who sat on the hard wooden benches listening to a string quartet play Vivaldi beautifully - the acoustics making it sound like an orchestra. I was torn between closing my eyes to savor each note and keeping them open to soak in the frescos and beams and arches surrounding me. The combination was overwhelming.

Accommodations: I love to stay in Dorsoduro, as the ferry stop at the cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute is the most lovely, and hotels are nestled between this site and the Academia, where there is always music and street entertainment. It is also the ferry stop nearest San Marco. Pensione alla Salute ([email protected]/fax.041.522.2271) was an excellent, reasonably-priced room on a quiet canal. Also consider Hotel Messner ([email protected]/fax.041.522.7266),

Sight-seeing: Take a vaporetto (ferry) to the lagoon islands of Torcello, Burano, and Murano. Burano is the most colorful island. Murano is connected by bridges and is the center of glass making

 

Lake Garda, Italy

In the lakes district of northern Italy, I chose to stay in a convent, run mostly by sweet, young nuns who spoke little or no English.

I made the 2-mile hike to the nearest ferry. On this comfortable boat, I cruised from one village to the next, nestled in the Italian Alps, on Lake Garda. Each village was uniquely beautiful. I rode for almost 2 hours, then got off to ride a double-long cable car, 5700 feet up Mont Baldo, but it was too cold to stay and enjoy the views for long. On the ride back, an old woman danced, as she sang a cowboy song for the tourist from Arizona!

Accommodations: We had a most unique experience, staying over a mile's walk from the lake, in Il Carmine, a simple but lovely and comfortable Monestary, where young missionaries offer more hospitality and good food than you will find anywhere else, at surprisingly low prices. (06.79.60.247) But I would have to recommend finding accommodations directly on the lake or at least renting a car. It's rather isolated.

Sight-seeing: Cruise Lake Garda, departing the boat to explore any interesting village.Salo has elegant and attractive pastel-painted houses. Gardone is known for its park. Malcesine huddles below an imposing castle. A double-cable car climbs to the summit of Monte Baldo, where a coat may be needed to enjoy the view and hiking trails.

 

Cinque Terra, Italy

In the Cinque Terra, our arrival really had been very difficult. Exhausted from a long train ride and hours of trying to locate a room, I could have just fallen in bed. But I chose to make the long walk through our village, past the marina, through the mountain tunnel to the train station, so that I could sit by the beach and look down the coastline of the lovely Cinque

Terra, at the sun setting over each village, one by one. It seemed to creep up on the next mountain so very slowly and then hastily engulf the village. You could almost see the line of shadow move over each house. And all the while, the colors of the houses and the sea and the hills were changing, as if in a light show.

Accommodations are numerous, yet hard to find in advance and hard to book, if you arrive late in the day!

Sight-seeing: Catch the early train to Riomaggiore, hike from towns one through four and catch the boat from Vernazza to the resort town of Monterosso. Riomaggiore has a tunnel or elevator next to the train tracks that leads to colorful homes. You'll also find homemade gelato at Bar Central, and an uncrowded cove. The Via dell'Amore is a beautiful 15-minute walk to Manarola where you can buy a picnic lunch before walking on to Corniglia. High on a hilltop, it boasts the best wine and views. But you may opt to enjoy the area's best swimming below the town. On the high road to Vernazza, you'll see nude beaches below, home to Italian counter-culture. This 90-minute section of the hike is the wildest and greenest. I consider the town of Vernazza to be the most picturesque. Monterosso al Mare boasts the only sandy beach.