I’m just going to go ahead and say it and risk sounding like a tiresome dilletante. I have done a lot of traveling. And there are a few places I have been that have taken my breath away. I have been trying to think of them as a means of comparison:

The hotel in India where I lay in bed looking out the window at the mist over the Himalayas while the German guy practiced his sitar down the hall.

The campsite in outback Australia where, in the morning, the birds sang a Mozart opera while the sky brightened to pink.

The lapis and gold tiled swimming pool at Hearst Castle.

The bakery case at the Demel in Vienna. (What, a person can’t be overcome by the glory of pastry?)

The little tea house at the top of the trail at Lake Louise.

I’m thinking about these places because I’m trying to remember if anywhere has left me feeling so stunned as Venice. Really, I was overcome. Here are some pictures that do no justice to it.