Wednesday was mid-terms and all the students have assembled quite a body of work. The printmaking and book arts class had an informal STUDIO APERTO and many of the town's citizens came to view the prints, books and chat with the students. It was impressive and fun - a great combination of energies.

After an all day ride in a bus (finishing that blessed Inferno and collecting quite q few appropriate quotes) we have arrived in Venice. Chuck skillfully maneuvered his way thorough an art store, men's clothing shop and striking up a relationship with a charming 80 year old bookmaker (fatto a mano) in the paper store. We discovered that cicchetti (little bits of fresh, colorful, tasty foods - fish, shrimp, salumi, squash, scallions - arranged artfully on toasts) and prosecco are the perfect snack anytime. However, a "Guidedueotto" is an astounding combination of ice cubes made of solid dark chocolate gelato in a glass of whipped cream is pretty amazing...

"Venezia" is getting ready for the Festival of the Redeemer; a night a of revelry, fireworks and gratitude for the ending of the plague that killed over 1 million people. The light is magical, the gondolas are beginning to be decorated and we have just finished dinner by the edge of a canal jammed with good natured water traffic.

Tomorrow we're up at 5:00 a.m. to go to the fish market before the tourists from the cruises even begin to wake up. We'll be downloading photos after we can get the airconditioning to work. Meanwhile we are m e l t i n g in the heat and humidity.