Right after our Cape Cod adventure, we went to Venice, where Dan just came for a couple days, had a conference in this magnificent palazzo (now an institute for science, art, and music) right next to the Accademia bridge. I stayed for two weeks to do library and museum research, first in Venice, and then in Verona, Mantua, Ferrara, and Padua. We took a few pictures in Venice (including what is now our traditional tourist-shot pose with the Tetrarchs).
In Verona, the highlight of my trip was the opera performance of Aida in the Roman amphitheater. The thought of the accomplishments of Western civilization--architectural and musical wonder--all converging in a single space lit by thousands of candles and accompanied by at least 6 harps, was quite overwhelming. At which point our camera decided that it had truly lived, and could then die. (So I have no pictures of the delights of Mantova, Ferrara, Padova.) But I had come for research, so I did as much as I could, and luckily seeing mostly canonical works which have been captured on film by far more talented photographers than I. Here's the top of the Castle, now a museum, and my view of the Arena before the sun set.
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