MY VENICE
“The Splendour of the Floating City”
«I liked the way the city had attracted my attention. But, in order to discover it, I asked it to stop hiding behind its masks. I wanted it real. To allow me to discover its secrets, understand its problems and hold a direct conversation with it. And it was promised to me, and all disguises were thrown off as our conversation began…»
A journey through time, myth, History, the magic of Art and life is what Barbara Athanassiadis manages to achieve with the discerning eye of an experienced traveller. It is the same eye that captured reflections of Italy in her earlier narratives, the books A Year in Tuscany and Feeling Rome.
My Venice is the final book left to complete in her unique literary trilogy that approaches time, place and people, both in the past and in the present.Without directing our steps, the author transports us through the canals, the narrow streets and the squares of Venice, and she focuses our attention on works of Nature and Art, drawing on legends and historical omissions.
The “Winged Lion” leisurely embraces the shoulders of our romantic heroine, and the “Seagull’s Flight” even reaches the “Empress Sissy in Venice”. The “Tiny Murano Spheres” roll down and stop before “The Fork of the Byzantine Princess” as “Torcello” flirts with the “Venetian Women in the Harem”…
“A must-read book for any true traveller to Venice”
BOOK REVIEWS
Barbara Athanassiadis's MY VENICE is a small gem of a book. A clever combination between a story and a travel book, it lures the reader through the floating, glittering and legendary city of Venice. The book succeeds in capturing its audience by its unconventional, romantic story while, at the same time, perfectly conveying the ambience of the world's most alluring city. Navigating expertly and simultaneously through the misty canals and the intriguing romance, Barbara helps us evolve towards becoming "sentimental travellers" rather than just visitors, of the glittering city.
She takes us by the hand, and dancingly guides us, light-footed and smiling, among the meandering waterways, helping us discover the beauty of the "inner" city. Through her, we wander off the beaten track, in places rarely visited by tourists, as well as gliding through the ethereal canals among the magnificent delicate palazzi and the famous spots of the Laguna.
The Serenissima and it's evocative mystery, seen through the penetrating eyes of a very gifted and eloquent travel writer, becomes part of our inner selves, in the most intimate way.
MY VENICE is a splendid, multi-layered and exclusive "guide extraordinaire", an absolute must-read for both armchair and actual travellers.
Zoe Niarchos, Art Historian, BA (Hons), MA (Hons), MPhil