How perfect that Venice never really changes. Some of the old shops are still there...the marbled paper shop, the fountain pen shop, the old tea rooms.
I needed to find out about Venice in the 1930s so I headed for the famous library, part of the museum in St Mark's Square. Saying you are an author opens magical doors. I found myself in a small room with 2 friendly librarians bringing me books... And books. And more books. All in Italian , of course.
I Understand quite well but a few hours of concentration made me go goggle eyed. So I started taking pictures of all the relevant pages.
Next I needed to choose a building that would overlook the shipping channel and had a top floor terrace. Riding around on the #2 vaporetto route helped with that.
And as for an old palazzo interior: our hotel was just what I required.
Of course there was the necessary viewing of art, the Bienale art exhibit, gelato tasting, Frito Misto on a dockside cafe and just having a coffee where life ( non tourist life) is going on. And lots of pictures. There are some things you can only get from being there. Venice is a city of birds, swallow making tiny Maltese crosses in the sky, seagulls shriek and swoop, pigeons flap. And a city of bells, tolling at odd hours on odd days so the air is often ringing with sound. And so many fascinating buildings. Did you know that this stairway was built so that a man could ride his horse up to the top floor?
One of my favorite places on Earth. And now I get to write about it. How lucky is that?
So how do you do your research, especially if the story is set in the past? Is it important that you visit in person before you write about a place?
