The doorway of the Istituto San Guiseppe di Caburlotto, Venice
My room, up in the roof
The view
Thinking about my trip to Venice in 2011. It's funny, although I loved Florence and Rome, it's Venice that seems to be uppermost in my memories when I think of Italy. I stayed in a convent called the Istituto di San Guiseppe del Caburlotto, in a little room up in the roof. It was very conventual, just a bed, a chair, a wardrobe and a desk, but I did have an en suite bathroom. I liked the spartanness of it, so few things to look after, and this view was oddly peaceful. There was a young man across the courtyard practicing Mozart on a piano, and the back courtyard of a restaurant, where food was delivered every day by a hand trolley and the workers came out to have a smoke. On my first night, at midnight, I was woken by the tolling of the great bell of the Campanile in Piazza San Marco. Why it tolled I don't know, some religious festival perhaps, but the sound kept on ringing for a long time after it had stopped. I can still hear it in my mind.
The bell was the Marangona, and you can hear it here http://www.casesf.com/VeniceBells.htm
I'm sure it tolled slower that in this recording though; it was more sepulchral.
Serenissima.....
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