As I walked along the Dorsoduro embankment this morning, peaking into the side alleys and canals, I felt Venice as a protodream. The other dreams made sense.

The Dorsoduro embankment

A lesser one, Venice, California, the quiet part a couple of blocks inland from the beach.

More importantly, the Venice of the North. I walked toward Punta della Dogana. Looking over to the right at La Giudecca, I could feel the idea of the University Embankment.  The Spit-of-St. Basil-Island-bound pedestrian would glance over to her right across the Big Neva, about the same width as and just a notch steelier in color than the Giudecca canal.

The Giudecca canal

She would see the Admiralty Embankment across the Big Neva to the right, and to her left will be all the canals.  All the canals that never gushed out from Peter’s magnificent visionary dream.

The St. Basil Island lines’ dream

Punta della Dogana