Aboard the gondola, Giacomo Toscanini sat facing Mathias. They were crossing the Canal Grande, then they would navigate around San Marco and return. Toscanini loved to travel around Venice this way. They stopped briefly at a mooring near the bridge to the Rialto, and Toscanini had a servant fetch green olives, fresh Piacenza cheese, a few sausages from Modena, and wine that had just been delivered from Crete. The nobleman often dined aboard his gondola, looking out over the city, watching his world. "Seen from this vantage point, Venice doesn't seem like it's in any of its terrible troubles at all magister," said Toscanini.

The Lion and the Rose