Venice, Italy: Day 2

I woke up in my luxurious room at the Hotel Bucintoro at 9:30 in the morning. The hotel provided coffee and a croissant for breakfast. After eating and trying to read a local newspaper to no avail, I exited the hotel and strolled on over to the Piazza San Marco. The Plaza was full of history. It has been the setting for many significant events in world history, and it is sometimes referred to as the drawing room of the world (www.tripadvisor.com). It would make sense why Hemingway would come here to seek out new material to write about. Apart from the obnoxiously large pigeon population, there is nothing not to love about the Plaza or even the city.

I was fortunate to visit Venice at Carnival time. While I was at the Piazza San Marco, I was intrigued by the many masquerade style costumes that met my eyes. When I saw the costumes, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I went to a costume shop, and I bought a bearded mask for $13. I'm not sure my Hemingway costume was all that convincing, but it was entertaining nonetheless. I walked around the Plaze until nightfall when the lights came on. There was something truly magical about the atmosphere surrounding the Plaza at night. I could've stayed at the Piazza San Marco all night and still felt entertained, but my desire to get a good night's sleep won out. I returned to my hotel room and fell asleep by 11:45 pm.