Every month on the 8th my wife and I celebrate an anniversary. Tomorrow will be month #234, on our way to twenty years or 240 months together. I don’t always honor her with gifts on each 8th because I would quickly go broke, considering there is also the monthly anniversary of her birthday, and other memorable occasions to celebrate. If I do buy a gift it is usually a Limoges, a hinged, hand-painted, porcelain piece of art dating back to Napoleon and his fancy snuff boxes. I presented the first one to my wife-to-be a month after we first started dating and have continued the tradition ever since. To personalize the presentation, I also add a poem to each box – it’s a little more personal and healthier than snuff. Sometimes, the manufacturer also adds a surprise inside – like a Cracker Jack prize. (See Post #146). Each is part of a collection that she treasures, and a timeline of our common experiences through the years.

I owed her a travel Limoges from our last trip to Venice, so I ordered a gondola design from our favorite supplier. Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to take a romantic ride because the weather was so rainy, but we listened to the gondoliers on our way to Harry’s Bar, one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite haunts on the Grand Canal. Gondolas were also part of our wedding celebration dinner at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas over 17 years ago. However, the only actual Gondola experience that we had on this last trip was hot chocolate in the Gondola Panorama Restaurant overlooking Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was windy and snowing at the top of the mountain where the gondola unloaded. The weather-challenged trip began with snow flurries in Amsterdam, pouring rain in Venice, more snow in Croatia, and heavy winds in Greece. Nonetheless, the Viking Ocean Cruise was a memorable experience worthy of another Limoges Box.

I’m currently sitting at home in the midst of one of my longest stretches of non-travel since I’ve retired. It will be another 20 days before we fly to Austin, Texas for a wedding, and well over a month without a flight or distant drive. Enjoying the home-life gives me an opportunity to reflect on all the great places I’ve been over the past eighteen months, including Venice. The Gondola Limoges box was a reminder of the three days we spent in the city before boarding the Viking cruise ship. Inside was a small mask symbolic of the Italian version of Mardi Gras known as Carnavale. I immediately thought of our tour of the Teatro La Fenice, the renowned opera house, or perhaps the musical Phantom of the Opera. Today I wrote this poem to accompany the hidden mask:

Venice the Menace 

Cross it off the list,
We finally got to Venice.
But we’ll have to go back,
The rain was a menace.

Molino Stucky Hilton,
Grand Canal boat rides.
Following the advise,
Of our Viking guides.

The Piazza was flooded,
Museums closed at one.
Pizza for lunch,
Harry’s for fun.

We listened to the gondoliers,
Singing in the rain.
Chances for a romantic ride,
Went quickly down the drain.

We saw the main attractions,
The Opera House the best.
The city filled will tourists,
The cruise our real quest.

Rialto brunch,
To start each day.
But Italian skies,
Stayed mostly gray.

A slight delay was next,
In our ship’s departure.
Adriatic waters rough,
Port changes to occur.

Arrivederci Venezia,
A place we’d never been.
Order up some sunshine,
And we’ll see you again.

copyright 2018 johnstonwrites.com