To George Sturgis
Hotel Miramonti
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. July 19, 1931
I did go to Venice early in June, and staid at the Danieli for a fortnight; but it was too warm for comfort or for literary work, and I came on here, where I am comfortably settled for the summer. Strong has also been here for two weeks, and I have had a chance of seeing these mountains from a somewhat higher point of view that my feet nowadays can reach; but there isn’t much variety in the shorter drives possible from here, and I am not sorry, now Strong is gone home, to return to my daily pedestrian round in the valley. It sometimes occurs to me that, since now I could afford it, I might indulge in an automobile of my own: it would be pleasant for travelling and seeing many architectural things of interest, which have hitherto never been within my radius. On the other hand, I don’t like motoring for its own sake; the dust is a terrible nuisance and bad for my throat; and the noise and slight constant tension in passing this road-hog or rounding that steep turn, makes the thing rather tiring.
Moreover, what should I do with a chauffeur, idle most of the time? Perhaps next year, or even this autumn, if I can get Cory or some other youngish friend to come with me, and look after the business trifles involved, I may try hiring a motor for a long trip–say to Naples and Sicily: and that experience would show me whether a motor of my own would be desirable.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Four, 1928-1932. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA