To my surprise, the father superior sent his own personal boat to fetch me. It resembled an admiral’s yacht. The boat was extremely comfortable, with lavish furnishings and fittings. I was even the sole passenger, but sadly, the journey lasted no more than five minutes. A pity, as I would have preferred to stay on such a fine boat for a round-the-world trip. In my job I had often needed to sail on various vessels across the oceans of the world.
The island of San Lazzaro is located toward the south of the Venice lagoon, next to Lido. St. Lazarus, the man whom Jesus healed and raised from the dead, was the patron saint of lepers. The island had once hosted a leper colony, hence its name. In my work I had visited the leper colony near Ventspils in Latvia, and I thought it fortunate that the
