This was our first overnight trip to Venice and so was also our first time wandering its honeycombs after dark. I say "honeycombs" because for me Venice is a city built of miniature quadrants and pathways.
Petite canals turning around corners, isolating buildings and pathways. Diminutive bridges connecting one cube of land to the next. An ingenious webbing of tiny plots that as a whole becomes Venice.
And at night, the cracks and corners are illuminated. Hidden light crosses the canals and skitters across the surface. Boat traffic slows and the waters still. Windows at water's edge spill a mystery glow into the night.
All the while your footfalls bounce off of surrounding walls and thin corridors spill you into dark piazzas with long-quiet wells closed with heavy iron lids. The canals, now quiet murky mirrors, stay still and silent.
You know you will find your hotel - know that it must be out there somewhere - but it still feels as if Venice might just have swallowed it whole. And now waits quietly for you to discover its mischief.
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