Maggie in Venice

ABOVE: An Austrian shell fragment from 1849 decorates a wall in the Campiello Albrizzi.

In the winter of 2010-2011, Maggie will be living in a new rental apartment in Venice (that is, if you can apply the word "new" to a flat in a palazzo that has been owned by the same family since the 18th Century).

The apartment is in the Campiello Albrizzi, near the Campo San Polo, and we booked it through Homeaway.com. The owners claim to love dogs, and Maggie is easy to love, so we anticipate a happy relationship with our landlord and landlady.

The Campiello Albrizzi is notable for an unusual landmark: a shell from the Austrian siege of Venice during the Revolution of 1848-1849, which set fire to the Palazzo Albrizzi and subsequently was mounted on a wall with an inscription by Gabriele d'Annunzio. (See top photo.)

D'Annunzio's text proclaims eternal enmity toward the Austrians, but today's Venetians--and Austrians--seem to have moved beyond their 19th Century antipathies.

The photo above has nothing to do with Venice (or even with Maggie), but we can't resist sharing it. The Bearded Collies in the photo were seen during a recent visit to Wittenberg, Germany, which bills itself as "Lutherstadt Wittenberg" and is the city where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Schlosskirche door in 1517.

ABOVE: Maggie's modeling role model beams from a Rome supermarket shelf.

by Durant Imboden

Dog food is expensive in Venice, and we're trying to figure out how we can get Maggie to earn her keep. Modeling might be the answer: On a recent trip to Rome, I saw two facings of a biscotti box featuring a Bearded Collie when I was shopping at the Despar Supermercato in Termini Station.

Perhaps Maggie could land a similar packaging gig. She certainly likes biscotti per cani, and she isn't picky about the brand.

Or maybe she could become a paw model. Or show off canine lingerie. Or dye her beige hair black, then pose as a knockoff of Tim Allen in The Shaggy D.A, like the Hollywood street performers who play Superman, Batman and other movie characters for tips from camera-toting tourists.

Side note: In a recent post about looking for lodgings, we described our shock upon learning that Maggie's Venice apartment--and ours--won't be available in 2011. Fortunately, we've already managed to book another apartment from a landlord whose family "loves dogs." (More on this later.)