Journal of a Tour in Italy, and also in part of France and Switzerland

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

341-342

text excerpt

The open space, with the buildings, are, take all their parts together, by far the finest sight of the kind that I have ever seen; the church, with its many domes, is after the style of St. Sophia's at Constantinople; and in the piazza you see, among the people of many nations that walk about there, great numbers of Greeks and Turks, dressed in their crimson caps and white turbans, big breeches, and crimson jackets and leggins [sic] embroidered with gold. Every coffee-house or house of refreshment, and the colonnade, were crowded this evening with ladies and gentlemen, the women eating ices and the men drinking coffee or smoking tobacco. The Turks, Greeks, and Dutchmen, keep somewhat distinct from one another in their coffee-houses; every man of them has a pipe from one to four feet long stuck in his mouth, and all seem to be contending who shall make most smoke. In the evenings the people are entertained by the performance of a grand musical band of Austrian military, who make a most ostentatious display of their art in the middle of the piazza, and aid, by their "damnable music," to lull the poor Venetians into a forgetfulness of former independence.

excerpt from 'Journal of a Tour in Italy, and also in part of France and Switzerland' pp. 341-342 (202 words)

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1518083454433