Defeated by the Barbarians

Today's plan was to do St. Mark, Doge's Palace, then lunch, then go see "Rome and the Barbarians" at Palazzo Grassi (and then on to Torcello, depending ... ).

Actually, the exhibition was Annie's idea. We had been passing Palazzo Grassi at least once a day on the Grand Canal, and the huge banner announcing the show had caught her attention. So she made it a "non-negotiable" for today.

Palazzo Grassi is huge and gorgeous. Renovated in 1984 by Fiat for temporary exhibitions. And it's expensive. 21 euros for our entrance, another 10 for two acoustaguides. That's $60 to get in the door.

Annie was right to get us there. An absolutely fascinating look at the Roman world from Julius Caesar to the year 1,000, as the Roman imperium civilized the greater part of Europe, fought the growing barbarian threat, fell in 476, then slowly revived as the pro-modern world of the early middle ages.

Sculpture, jewelry, household items, arms and armour, burial hoards, inscriptions, mosaics, enamels, textiles and manuscripts. You name it, they had it. If this show came to NYC, it would be a blockbuster at the Met. It was worth a whole day, and probably a second visit after reading the catalog.

But Annie and I were EXHAUSTED. We gave it our best, but after an hour we looked at each other, made a quick visit to the gift shop, and talked about how sorry we were that brother Daniel ... and Sam Kahn, and Steven Diamond, and all the other thoughtful boys we knew couldn't be there to see it with us. (Trust me, it had "boys will love this" written all over it.)

So ... off to gelato, then home for well-deserved nap. Methinks this will be our earliest night yet. Don't know that either of us will see the far side of 9 p.m.

And tomorrow is our last day!