In Venice, the city of canals, we begin with a boat ride on Lake Garda. We continue into the heart of the Veneto region with a look at Vicenza and the spectacular Palladian villas. In Marostica, we observe a chess game in period costume, then go on to the Naviglio of Brenta. Finally, we explore Venice and the islands of Murano and Burano.

Venice, a city steeped in a thousand years of history, art and architecture, teeters in precarious balance between endurance and decay. Its architectural treasures crumble--foundations shift, marble ornaments fall--even as efforts to preserve them are underway. This book opens in 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house, a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective--inquiring...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved memoir of self-discovery set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside that inspired the major motion picture starring Diane Lane—now in a twentieth-anniversary edition featuring a new afterword
 
“This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect...

In this sequel to her" New York Times" bestsellers" Under the Tuscan Sun" and" Bella Tuscany, " the celebrated "bard of Tuscany" ("New York Times") Frances Mayes lyrically chronicles her continuing, two decades-long love affair with Tuscany's people, art, cuisine, and lifestyle.