The Sunbonnet Babies in Italy

by Eulalie Osgood Grover

A few years ago the tower which had stood on this spot for a thousand years fell quite suddenly, for the bricks with which its walls were made were turning to dust. But the Venetian people soon built a new tower just like the old one on the same spot, and they expect it to stand another thousand years.

Molly and May climbed to the top of this tall tower and looked out over the wonderful city surrounded by the beautiful blue water. They saw the green trees of the public gardens, and the orange and blue sails of fishing boats coming slowly in, loaded with fish caught out in the deeper sea. They tried to count the many gondolas moving quietly through the busy canals, and they watched the tiny pigeons fluttering about on the piazza below.

Around three sides of the piazza are handsome little shops, with a broad covered sidewalk in front of them. Nearly everything that is nice can be bought in these shops, from beautiful laces to delicious ice cream.

The Sunbonnet Babies often had cherry ice cream

The Sunbonnet Babies often begged to sit by one of the small tables on the covered sidewalk and have some cherry ice cream while the band played in the center of the piazza.

The Piazza of St. Mark is really a wonderful place. It is the open-air reception room for all the Venetian people, as well as for many strangers who come to visit their city—yes, and for hundreds of beautiful pigeons, too.

But Molly and May loved the whole of Venice. They liked to wander along the busy, narrow footpaths and see how the people worked and played. They found they could walk all over the city on these narrow streets, for there are nearly four hundred little foot-bridges which cross the many canals. Some of the bridges have steps going up on one side and down on the other.

The largest and finest bridge is called the Rialto Bridge. It has two rows of small shops on it, much like the famous bridge in Florence.

Molly and May liked to go shopping on the Rialto. They always bought a bag of big red cherries, for Italian cherries are almost better than chocolate creams.