Sisterchicks in Gondolas! Read Online Free PDF Page B

to stand. The beautiful, inlaid mosaic design on the marble floors was mesmerizing. On two of the walls a life-size fresco filled the area with noble grandeur. The left wall was covered with a faded tapestry that I’m sure had a detailed story all its own. The wall directly ahead of us was framed with three windows that had to be ten feet high and came complete with billowing sheer drapes.
    “Look at the ceiling,” Sue murmured, head back, gaze fixed on the decorative trim and the painting of a serene blue sky and fluffed-up clouds where three floating cherubs reached for each other with pudgy hands. “Who painted this?”
    “Who knows?” Steph said with a shrug. “I’d guess it was one of the many greats who turned Venetian homes into their private art schools. The dining room is this way.”
    Sue and I didn’t move. We were still captivated by the beautiful ceiling.
    “It’s like the Sistine Chapel,” I said.
    Steph chuckled over her shoulder. “Not exactly. It’s nice, but you’ll soon see so much of this kind of Byzantine and Romanesque art that it’ll all start to look the same.” Motioning to one of the three couches in the room, she said, “That sofa with all the old silk pillows covering it is the most comfortable for sleeping.”
    I did a quick count of the luxurious chairs and couchesin the room. Eleven. And three small, square tables set up like our version of game tables or card tables. Only nothing was “folding” about these tables with their carved wooden pedestals and inlaid wood tops.
    Sue and I drew close as we headed for the dining room. “Did you have any idea this place was so extravagant?” she asked.
    “None at all. I thought it would be an old building, but since it was ‘restored,’ I assumed it would be a modern apartment inside with chrome appliances and plastic dishes like the time-share condo my parents used to go to in Aspen.”
    As soon as we stepped into the dining room, I knew we wouldn’t be dining on plastic dishes. Two ornate china cabinets offered us the finest in stemware, china, and crystal carafes. Another solid table with carved legs and six matching chairs sat under the most amazing glass light fixture I’d ever seen. The long plumes of glass fanned from the top of the chandelier like elegant ostrich feathers. The perfectly balanced glass holders for the five light bulbs that rested under the fanned-out plumes transformed the center of the room into a carnival of light the same way a spewing fountain in the center of a town plaza brings life. Above the radiant light fixture the painted ceiling portrayed another scene of floating angel babies. Built into the front wall, between two more ten-foot windows, sat a stately working fireplace with a marble mantle. “I feel like I have to sitdown.” Sue steadied herself by grasping the back of a chair as she stared at the high ceiling.
    Steph glanced around as if trying to see what Sue saw. “The floor is uneven under the table so be careful when you walk around the backside. It shouldn’t be a problem, but just know that it’s permanently sloped due to the building’s settling. Are you ready to see the kitchen and bedrooms?”
    “Do you want to wait here?” I asked Sue.
    “No, I’m ready. I’ve just never seen anything like this in my life. I can’t believe we get to stay here.”
    As if a breather for our senses, the kitchen was mild. No painting by undiscovered masters appeared on the ceiling or walls. Everything was simple. Sue couldn’t stop running her hand over the marble top of the kitchen table. The table was rectangular and large enough to fit six chairs around it comfortably.
    “Do y’all know how much this grade of marble goes for in the U.S.?” Sue asked. “I mean, even a cutting-board size of this sort of marble. This is incredible.”
    Steph told Sue to brace herself before she showed her the large sink, also in marble.
    To this day I don’t think Sue has recovered from the marble