European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 30, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Luxury hotel on Nellil doubt room. Moderate hotel on Nikki Doum room. We to. Onici and to Ortii Traat us none Trtat Tutt Jaeqer by Paul Hofmann new York times Hether you stay in a $450-a-Day suite in a deluxe hotel an the grand canal or spend $40 or a double room in a pensions in a narrow Alley near the Santa Lucia Railroad terminal the essence of Venice its Plaza and canals and markets is there to savor for Iree. Is it Ime for the Queen of the Adriatic and it is no less True for All the other cities and resorts of Europe that have lately acquired an expensive gloss behind the cosmopolitan facade of the expense account and Jel set Edens Are Liro Aless values and priceless treasures. They carry no Price lag they cannot be bought and carried Home they simply require a zest for exploration and a measure of personal involvement. Tim tgan1 hotel and restaurants and boutiques around St. Mark s Square Are like so Many others ill new York and elsewhere. But the Piazza it is like no other in the world. You May linger As Long As you like step into its Basilica and Marvel at its treasures All for free. The images of Venice Are made common by paintings and photos in books and on television. Vet Onca you Ara there everything looks sounds and smells so different from your imaginings. The Church of St. Mark seems More exotic the Square larger or perhaps smaller the air is by turns Langy from the Adriatic sea and pregnant with the sirocco the laughter and shouting of children resounds As they Chase pigeons. So too he name Rialto hackneyed by use on movie House marquees and newspaper columns no longer evokes the Argolies from the Levant unloading their exotic cargos of spices and Silks. Bui at the place itself the Bridge spanning the grand canal in the commercial Center of Venice one can easily imagine the activity of centuries ago in that Lagoon City. And there is a Richness of humanity in the bustling and haggling and banter of the open air Emporium near the Rialto listed with wriggling Lish and Scampi purple Radicchi from Treviso and peaches from Verona glassware from of Turano and machine made lace. Go there to watch the Commerce conducted in the soft venetian dialect. On the Mainland near Venice Are palladia s Villas a string of Serene buildings from Vicinza to Padua. In them one recognizes the models for Jefferson s Monticello and for countless courthouses and Post offices and municipal buildings throughout the United Stales. In another place from another ago. Are the Art and architecture echoed so often in the West. In the floodlit classical ruins of Athens visitors from society hat might designate an Art Deco Structure As a historical landmark and a disused factory a relic of Industrial archaeology will gain a deeper perspective. The City s treasures Are reminders thai the Western Page 14 the stars and stripes world has is strongest roots there. Its Art and literature its Pursuit of rational thinking and philosophical speculation still have meaning 2,500 years later. Then there Are places whose very names cab to mind the upheavals of history. A metro ride to the place de la Bastille in Paris is in order As the 300th anniversary of the French revolution approaches. The Square will sound with plenty of polished oratory in 1989. And a new opera House is rising there. You might have expected