Albert Sattin

Nerissa's Ring is the last two words of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It is "upside down" because the merchants in the play were on a pilgrimage from Venice to Belmont, the home of the queenly princess, Portia, whose assistant was Nerissa. Shakespeare asserts that one can get from Venice to Belmont either by land or by sea. It turns out Belmonte is an inland town in northeastern Portugal which fits that geography. Furthermore, today's...