Sunday 8 April 2012

A Waning Gibbous and a Fairy Tale

Hands up, who doesn't love the moon, now my lunatic loves? Driving back from the Coast tonight, I enjoyed the luxury of an hour or so of thinking about all sorts of things; mostly favourite travel moments and listening to the Go Betweens (on repeat - sad, yes, I know). The Easter traffic was particulary bad for making progress, but good for thinking.

Arriving in Brisbane I was greeted by a huge, buttery yellow, waning gibbous moon, low in the sky, just above the Kedron Brook. Here's the best shot I could take of it! The full moon was last Friday night and tonight's about 95%. Hello, moon.

A favourite lunar experience involves dining at Hotel Cipriani, Venice, Italy, where I insist you can order your own moon! A not quite silver-white, maybe platinum-made huge, shimmering paillette, floated gently on a piece of string, somewhere between entree and main meal, right on cue. All yours, entirely.

Look hard and you'll spot a five hundred year old bronze-patina and jewelled tortoise relaxing around Cips. He nudges out the gantry and sets the moon. The jewelled tortoise on the lawn winks knowingly at the waiters as they take the order for the moon. You don't have to spell it out to them, they just know. If the tortoise thinks you understand, he'll wink at you too, if you look hard enough, and take the time.

As you savour to eat and sip, the moon hovers patiently, he illuminates the water just enough to see small fish flick and splash, all the while maintaining the atmosphere of calm, that is this small luxury hotel. He paints a silver highlight on the water, just where it's needed, to satisfy anyone's view. He's perfect. This is the magic and mystery of Venice. The moon's very happy with the setting. It's one of his favourites. He can't resist Cips.

Photo above by Ines Seppi (National Geographic Magazine) described as' 'A magical night with the full moon illuminating Venice, from San Marco Square'.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Rudy Maxa on Venice, (SmartTravels.tv), says, 'Fairy tale Venice has a fairy tale hotel'.
I couldn't agree more about Cipriani.


This post is for you, lovely Grace. For always inspiring me and lots of others, by noticing the 'small things'.

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