To Charles Augustus Strong
HÔTEL ROYAL DANIELI
Venice, Italy. September 13, 1931
Dear Strong,
(This change in my handwriting is caused by the hotel pen.)
I was surprised and pleased to find your letter. I am afraid we may find the Hôtel de Londres a bit shabby: they are charging me 55 lire a day for half-pension, with a “good” room and bathroom: but we shall see.
I came here yesterday by motorbus and motor launch: not a bad trip: and I found Venice en fête on account of the King’s visit, of which I was ignorant. I have a room in the entresol of the old building, almost on the quay, and it is amusing after the Alpine solitudes of Cortina. I had been left at the hotel with half a dozen ladies, some of which had an odd look and very blond hair. Perhaps they were friends of the proprietor and clerks, being entertained in the absence of the Herrschaften.
Yours ever,
G.S.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Four, 1928–1932. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow NY