Venice!

[lsanderson]

The Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.

On a cold, damp afternoon in January, from deep within the halls of the Palazzo Ducale, a cry rang out. It echoed through the immense Chamber of the Great Council, where 2,000 Venetian noblemen once directed the course of their empire beneath Tintoretto’s immense “Vision of Paradise.” It carried up the intricate, gilt-encrusted stucco carvings of the Golden Staircase to the doge’s own apartments. It pealed out even into the Piazza San Marco, whose paving stones were slicked a shiny gray from persistent drizzle. More