Almost Gone (dola).

Venetian pizza delivery.

Venice, Italy - Wispy clouds, like flaming feathers, fanned dart-like trails left by the passing planes that pinned the sky's eyelids awake.

We had arrived in Venice to a colourful, albeit cooler, morning.

Taking bridge after bridge, people literally poured out of jigsaw streets on temporary, raised sidewalks into St. Mark's Square, which was awash in six inches of water brought by the rising tide. Venice is, after all, composed of 118 islands.

Each has a church.

We visited the Doge's Palace, which was the seat of government until Venice ceased being an independent republic in 1797. On the 'secret tour,' we saw where decisions were made and the archives were kept, as well as the cell from which Cassanova escaped.

No, he didn't leave his little black book behind, either.

As the tides ebbed, Mass began in the square, which was punctuated by a beautiful choir.

And, of course, the whirring flap of pigeons.