Dream of Venice

Finally, my grandmother summarized her impressions: “This is the finest winter portrait of Venice I have ever seen” (but then she has seen quite a lot, she is 92 years old). She recognized at once these were the colors of winter – verde acqua on sunny days. Venetians can do that, concentrating on the picture they have in front of them and taking in its colors with all senses.

Il libro più luminoso che ci sia  – the most luminous book on Venice, has been my family’s and friends’ opinion. The audience included experienced local photographers, some have published photography and books on Venice themselves:

You must have experienced and loved Venice to succeed in creating such a book … The result is, with this book you hold the keys to experiencing Venice with all five senses – and that’s what Venetians love about his book.

Looking at the unique colors of Venice, feeling the pale and soft winter sun on your face, breathing the salty sea breeze, touching the texture of walls, listening to the sea gulls in the distance. Everyone can do that with this book in hand, and that’s the novelty.. all you need is to take your window of time and let the impressions sink in.

DREAM OF VENICE is a travel guide of a new kind – making both the resident and the newcomer experiencing Venice with all five senses AND one’s heart, thus honing intuition.  

This impression is even enhanced by the book’s artistic layout done by JoAnn Locktov, which provides the ideal frame for the pictures taken by Charles Christopher.
We were also touched by the remarks of the contributors. There is so much love and friendship for Venice in their words … and for its inhabitants, as the book is dedicated “to the people of Venice, past, present and future.”
My grandmother was particularly moved when I translated the book text how people weep when they see Piazza San Marco. There is this special atmosphere of a place where Venetians love to go, but do so usually at night or at dawn as in the warm season it is always crowded.

Of course we became interested where this keen interest, understanding and profound knowledge of the essence of Venice have come from.
I found an interview given by JoAnn Locktov given during her book presentation at Book Passage, where she explains how she came to love Venice like a close family member.

I discovered another explanation in the Blog Holywaters which published an interview with Charles Christopher in 2011, He referred to his first visit to Venice when he was 14 years old, walking about town in the midst of its “surreal nature” and “labyrinthine calli”, and how in his “franctic exploring”, he discovered a “stone house with a walled garden” … He then describes how he succeeded in finding that house three decades later… We can understand, Venice has these corners whose beauty can haunt you …and you can explore the ESSENCE of these corners in the book Dream of Venice, with your senses.