Last Word: Love at First Sight

To where do I feel the most compelling need to return is a question that follows me like a faithful hound. Given that I have visited nearly all of the world’s major countries and can, theoretically, go anywhere, from whence do the siren voices call most seductively? Although I always try to provide a satisfactory and plausible answer, in fact, I would prefer a different question. The one that haunts me after half a lifetime of travel is where would I most like to see again, as though it were for the first time?

Recently, I learned that the two-year restoration of The Gritti Palace in Venice is complete and that the hotel reopened to guests on February 1. Suddenly, I fell through a hole in the past and recalled, in perfect high-definition, the first time I sat on the hotel’s outdoor terrace overlooking the Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute. The sky was an intense Canaletto blue, and the water that lapped against the pilings was that inimitable Venetian milky green. I treated myself to a Bellini and a plate of carpaccio and was overwhelmed by a state of infinite well-being.

I will return to The Gritti this year to check on the renovations, but however delightful the experience, I know my visit will lack the impact of that magical first occasion.