COVER N.115 - ITALIA

Postmark:  Pratovecchio 52015 - 11-05-2022
Posted on the 11thy May; received on the 17th May 2022
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Curious cover I got from Italy. Thanks a lot, Roberto!

Usually, covers with one single stamp may look a bit naked, but this one is far from that. Not only is the stamp quite big and interesting, but it also features additional machine applied postage that had to be applied upside down, because of the location of the address lines , I guess. On top of that, there is yet another machine applied postmark, on the back of the cover issued at Firenze CMP, in the same date, the 12th May.

You can't go to Florence without at least taking a peep through the door at Florian's in Piazza San Marco.

Florian, established in 1720, is said to be the oldest caffé in the world, something which is not hard to believe, given the somewhat decadent  aura (after all you're in Venice...) that exhales from its lavishly decorated rooms and from the silverware where the espresso cups come to your table. 

My first encounter with Florian was quite accidental: one summer night in 1980 I was inter-railing through the south of Europe and I stopped in Venice, one of the landmarks of my journey. Students we were so empty pocketed we were too and if  Italy was expensive, than Venice was way above our standards... moreover, August (not April, sorry T.S.) is the cruellest of the months and we couldn't find a place to sleep since all youth hostels there were were completely full. so we took our backpacks and  ended up in Piazza San Marco, late at night wondering what to do. We  went around the galleries in the  square and noticed that other travellers like us were sleeping on the flor, so we decided that if this was good for them, it would be just as good for us. We picked the nicest spot available: a couple of doors to the side of Florian, If I remember correctly, there were a couple of stair steps and we unfolded our sleeping bags and readily fell asleep so tired were we. 

Mid way through our invigorating nap, I was awaken by a warm breath blowing into my face and I have this vision of a dog showing me its teeth while someone was holding it on a leash.

"Sorry guys, I have to go inside to make the round. I'll let you be here, but at 5 o'clock you'll have to pack your things together and get out of here". The nicest security guard I'll ever know, I'm sure. Turns out we were sleeping right in font of the door of a museum, or some other important public instituion, and we were blocking off the entrance to the Security guard who was doing the night round.

The following morning, at 5, we packed  and went somewhere else, not without first going by Florian's windows, taking a peek inside and wondering "hmmm good place for the morning coffee...."

On the 03DEC2020, Poste Italiane issued a nice self-adhesive B Tariff stamp celebrating the 300th anniversary of this famous Venice institution, this being the stamp used on my cover.