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Contents.
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War—The American Forces Victorious—“Home Again”—Italy in Sight—The “City of Palaces”—Beauty of the Genoese Women—The “Stub-Hunters”—Among the Palaces—Gifted Guide—Church Magnificence—“Women not Admitted”—How the Genoese Live—Massive Architecture—A Scrap of Ancient History—Graves for 60,000 159
Flying Through Italy—Marengo—First Glimpse of the Famous Cathedral—Description of some of its Wonders—A Horror Carved in Stone—An Unpleasant Adventure—A Good Man—A Sermon from the Tomb—Tons of Gold and Silver—Some More Holy Relics—Solomon’s Temple Rivalled 171
“Do You Wis zo Haut can be?”—La Scala—Petrarch and Laura—Lucrezia Borgia—Ingenious Frescoes—Ancient Roman Amphitheatre—A Clever Delusion—Distressing Billiards—The Chief Charm of European Life—An Italian Bath—Wanted: Soap—Crippled French—Mutilated English—The Most Celebrated Painting in the World—Amateur Raptures—Uninspired Critics—Anecdote—A Wonderful Echo—A Kiss for a Franc 183
Rural Italy by Rail—Fumigated, According to Law—The Sorrowing Englishman—Night by the Lake of Como—The Famous Lake—Its Scenery—Como compared with Tahoe—Meeting a Shipmate 199
The Pretty Lago di Lecco—A Carriage Drive in the Country—Astonishing Sociability in a Coachman—A Sleepy Land—Bloody Shrines—The Heart and Home of Priestcraft—A Thrilling Mediæval Romance—The Birthplace of Harlequin—Approaching Venice 207
Night in Venice—The “Gay Gondolier"—The Grand Fête by Moonlight—The Notable Sights of Venice—The Mother of the Republics Desolate 217
The Famous Gondola—The Gondola in an Unromantic Aspect—The Great Square of St. Mark and the Winged Lion—Snobs, at Home and Abroad—Sepulchres of the Great Dead—A Tilt at the “Old Masters"—A Contraband Guide—The Conspiracy—Moving Again 228
Down Through Italy by Rail—Idling in Florence—Dante and Galileo—An Ungrateful City—Dazzling Generosity—Wonderful Mosaics—The Historical Arno—Lost Again—Found Again, but no Fatted Calf Ready—The Leaning Tower of Pisa—The Ancient Duomo—The Old Original First Pendulum that Ever Swung—An Enchanting Echo—A New Holy Sepulchre—A Relic of Antiquity—A Fallen Republic—At Leghorn—At Home Again, and Satisfied, on Board the Ship—Our Vessel an Object of Grave Suspicion—Gen. Garibaldi Visited—Threats of Quarantine 244