In the winter, Venice is like an abandoned theatre. The play is finished, but the echoes remain.
Arbit Blatas
To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius.
Alexander Herzen
There is something so different in Venice from any other place in the world, that you leave at once all accustomed habits and everyday sights to enter an enchanted garden.
Mary Shelley
It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and liquid, at once air and stone.
Erica Jong
I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;
A palace and a prison on each hand.
Lord Byron
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A train-ride takes you from Milano to Venice..whose real name is Venezia, the Most Serene city and splendid, golden Republic. On the train you think about Byron, his letters written on trains, his Venetian Countess.
Through frozen fields and dormant earth, through fog and long-gone rice paddies , you deboard to the Sublime.
At dusk the lights from bars and cafes shimmer on the dark waters, and you start thinking in cliches, such as temporarily inhabiting an Impressionist painting.
Yet the feeling is fresh and true: each visit to this surrealists’ dream had its poignant moment of suspension of disbelief.
Each time the city grabs you and takes you away with her.
…
Here’s a taste of today’s acts of flanerie in La Serenissima.
sketchbloom.com 
Lord. Byron. Two words that struck terror into the hearts of husbands and fathers, whilst simultaneously lighting up the loins of their wives and their daughters. I feel, despite (or perhaps because of) his earlier rampant promiscuity, the tale of Byron and Teresa is one of history’s most underrated love stories.
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Happy New Year, Miti! I have been thinking of you! I hope this finds you well and that the new year brings good health, happiness and many new adventures and travel. 🙂
Much love,
Jennifer Reece
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Same to you, dear Jennifer! I have the fondest memories of you and your lovely designer’s home. Hope to speak soon, I want to hear your progress in the architectural profession.
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[…] on top of a tall pole. This whole area was indeed part of the inland empire of La SerenissimaLa Serenissima ( the most serene) Republic of […]
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