September 1705
Piazza San Marco, VeniceAntonio walked through the crowds of the Piazza San Marco today, carving a path through the throngs while somehow managing to hollow out a bubble of space around himself. He smiled and waved his right hand, but I couldn't quite interpret his meaning. Was it a signal of greeting to the throngs or just his manner of clearing a path for himself and his retinue? Young girls were bunched behind him – indulgent students from his music class, no doubt – and they were followed closely by a gaggle of younger children whose clothing bespoke of the modest incomes. Last behind these was a ragtag army of adolescents who followed every celebrity, known or unrecognized, who strode across the stones in this great piazza.
I recognized some of the children in the sec
