Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-09-06
A DAY IN VENICE.
= TRAVELLERS GLIMPSE OF ITS
y DREAMY AND iDYLLlc LIFE.


GondoIa Down the Grand Canal-A
Moonlight Scene - Music, Dark Eyed
Maidens and Flowers.
am soon down stairs for simple break
Ease of coffee, rolls and omelet, and out on
my way to the Piazza As pass over the
Ponte della Paglia, the gondoliers are clean
ing their boats and polishing the brass
mountiugs aud iron prows till they glisten in
the sun like refined gold and silver. In the
Piazza all is life, and yet that dreamy sort Of
life make Venice so idyllic; the shops are all
open, and the cafes serving TO natives and
tourists the morning meal The windows in
the arcade fash out their brilliant setting OF
iewelry, gems, lovely Venetian glass, rare
curios and stuffs from the east, Like a price
less girdle around this matches square OF
San Marco.
OF course, my first duty and pleasure, as il
is my MONDAY and closing one, is to enter
st. Marks church; to wander about within
the aisles and arches; TO sit for an hour In
some secluded corner, and contemplate its
marvellous architecture Of piers, OF vaults, of
domes; its almost inconceivabe riches OF
alabaster, of marbles, of porphyry, bronzes,
gold silver, statuary and mosaics; to drink
il all in, and fill the soul with calm and salts
fying delight, and 20 return again and again
and again day by day to the same feast,
more like dream than reality
From the Piazetta at the Molo gondola
takes me along the grand canal to visit the
manufactures of mosaics, glass, furniture
and delightful Venetian iron work. Noon
time comes all too soon, and so leaving my
gondolier at the Rialto, with the admonition
to be at the Molo at O'Clock, pass down
through the Merceria and make my way on
to the Piazza, stopping at one OF the little
shops in side calle to get horn OF corn for
the pigeons; others are before me, for the
bell on the Tore dell Oroloso has struck the
noon hour, and around the square many are
engaged in the same charming occupation l
stop beside Young country woman within
one OF the arches, who has score OF these
beautiful birds on her person, one, two, three,
on top of each other, all pushing pecking
and cooling for the bright, golden grain which
she holds in her dainty outstretched hands,
and the happy smile on her fair face attests
to the pure enjoyment she is having.
A group of little ones, sitting on the pave
pedestais to the iagstaffs, with the birds all
about them, in their laps, on their hands, is
another pretty sight, till some one on the
other side of the piazza COOS 70 the birds.
The pigeons simultaneously, from all direc.
tons, rise and go swooping and swirring
down upon 1t en- masse as it falls to the pave
naent
After lunch, or deieuner, visits to the
ducal palace, the churches and academia fill:
up the time till 5 p. m, when | return to st
Marks TO listen to the chanting of the choir
And what chorus it is Never before have
Asaeard such sacred music, the strong, cleal
voices OF the young mingle with the deeE
'renor of the aged fathers; the grandlJ
ned organ peals forth its stirring &C
/ ~ paniment in delightful harmony.
sbaal upon the marble seat within tn,
Il 49,. Of the south aisle, and the music
az come from far away; it swells III
doS-e the arches and domes and come
and ~ nellowed and subdued reflections
Which away in gentle and lingering ech,
it puIs, seems to love and cares the very al
\ - eaving St Marks, I find my gondoliel
y punctual at the appointed time, and we star
ut for our daily drift up the Grand canal a
4 vas the station and back again, which oc
i n 1ies two hours, or till dinner time cal
,nnting, for that comes nearest to express
~ %e silent, almost motionless gliding O
most fascinating of conveyances. Tn
tiooher uses his oar, it is true, but the &C
so graceful, the exertion apparentl
tie progress so dreamy and slov
that It seems to be simply drifting, as If cal
ried along by some unseen current. Neve
before have / known what loafing, par e,
cellence, ideal restroom all physical an
mental activity-meant; the cushions ar
soft as down, my gondolier a most entertain
ing fellow, my cigarette the finest Alexa1
dria, the afternoon simply perfect, the Gran
canal wonderland, all quiet and still, wit
not sound save the distant warning cry c
some gondolier at the entrance of sid
canal and as | lie back and throw aside III
hat and let the refreshing breeze pla
through my hair, l am content
Dinner being over, | once more direct m
steps TO the Piazza. The lamps are all aglov
and, if possible, the square is more erchan
ing by night than by day. Standing just I
the right of the archway opening to Il
=. Merceria, one gets the finest view of Il
scene The moon is midway up the easter
sky, Just above st. Marks, her mellow ligl
dimming the lamps o. the Piazza, the male
tic Campanile is outlined in sharp silhouett
Its angel crowned spire seeming to reach ,
and lose itself amid the shining stars;
casts full dark shadow the full length
the Piazza In strong contrast to the whit
ness of the moon lit pavement.
The shops are all ablaze; diamonds, ga
phires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, corals, go
and Genoese work flash back the fire from
thousand lights, The Arcade is full of sur
ing humanity, the tables at the entrances
the cafes and out on the pavement are 81
rounded by almost every nationality, sippi
coffee and granita- The band stationed
the center Of the square gives to the see
the added charm of fine music. Dark ey
Venetian maidens smile at one through
maze of soft black lace, mysteriously wou
about their heads, half concealing, half
vealing their beautiful faces. Flower I'll
laden with baskets or trays of exotics f
ready sales, for the custom is universal; a
Rosa, the fairest OF them all, so deftly a
coQuettishly fixes a boutonniere in ye
lapel that one hasn't the heart to refuse
few sous anyway.
What scenei One never to be forgot
and as l write, the memory Of it makes
time seem thousand years till am for
nate enough to be once more in Veni
Well might Jacopo Foscari beg Of his
placabe judges to allow him to return TO
In Venice!-Cor. Boston Transcript
Ice Hills of the Arctics.