Study Abroad Revisited

On the plain east of Vicenza, I revisited the Brion-Vega cemetery one damp afternoon nearly eighteen years after my first visit during a study abroad term at university. I think Adam was initially a bit surprised that I was dragging him out on a wet and drizzly day to look at a cemetery, but he acquiesced when I explained that it is an architectural landmark. We enjoyed a contemplative hour in that lovely space by Carlo Scarpa before a sketchbook toting class of architecture students arrived to interrupt our reverie. I believe Adam best enjoyed watching the fish swim lazy circles in the concrete pools.

[Sheltering from the drizzle at the cemetery]

My re-acquaintance with Palladio was far less auspicious. The Villa La Rotunda in Vicenza is happily situated but the interior of the house is a fright. The plaster carvings throughout the ground floor interior do not enhance the shell so I found myself unable to defend that particular foray into 'architecture.'

[Interesting in the abstract: the basement of Palladio's Villa la Rotunda]

I could not bring myself to suggest that we pay a return visit to Florence. That city belongs to Sara and I half a lifetime ago, and for now, I think those happy ghosts are best left undisturbed.

[Vintage Scarpa]