Day 2 - the Jewish Ghetto & the north side of Venice

Well, we nearly slept the day away! I felt as if I was getting a cold yesterday, so took a dose of Nyquil before bed, and Andrew was up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night because of the time change. That, combined with the lack of sleep on the plane and we didn't wake up until after 8 am - can you imagine?! Despite our late start, Lorenzo was kind enough to still have breakfast waiting for us when we emerged. Thick, black espresso, blood orange juice and lovely fresh croissant stuffed with apricot preserves - heaven! By 10 am we were on our way out the door invigorated by our good night's sleep and a lot of caffeine! Here's a few shots from our wandering...

This photo is a good example of why you can't just ask any person on the street to take a photo and expect it will turn out ok. Seriously - was she even trying to get us in the shot?!

An ambulance (was bringing someone back to their house on a stretcher).

One of the small neighborhood markets. Look at the beautiful hot peppers in front!

Our plan was to head over to the Jewish Ghetto today, then wander over to the train station and scope out the area where we would board the cruise ship. Just a few minutes walk from our hotel, we found the mother of all pannini shops - which we marked on Andrew's phone GPS to return to later! Then we continued on in what we thought was the direction of the Ghetto. About 15 minutes later we were surprised to find ourselves on the north side of the island. We were supposed to be heading more west, but it's very hard to figure out where you are here with all the winding streets! Oh well, a happy mistake. From the north side we can see San Michele, which is also known as "Cemetery Island", about a 1/2 mile from shore. We didn't know anything about the history of this island before this instant, but now that we've stumbled upon it, we'll likely check it out on Wednesday when there will be several cruise ships in Venice (including the one we are going to board), flooding the little island with bodies. From what I've read about San Michele, it is fairly untraveled by tourists, so should be nice and quiet.

San Michele entrance.

Re-orienting ourselves, we start off again in what we are once again sure is the right direction to the Jewish Ghetto. This time, we are successful. The Jewish Ghetto in Venice is steeped in history, not all of it good. It was first inhabited in the early 1500's, when Jews were forced in to segregation. Gates guarded by Christian soldiers were kept locked at night - for the protection of the Jews, unfortunately. When Napoleon came in the 1700's, the area was de-segregated, and many Jews moved to other areas of Venice, leaving only a small Jewish population in the ghetto. During the holocaust, the remaining Jews were captured by the Nazi's, and taken to the concentration camps. Only a very small number of Venetian Jews survived to return.

Memorial for the victims of the Holocaust.


Andrew feeding the creepy pigeons that swarm you non-stop here. There are signs everywhere that say "Do not feed the pigeons!"

Next we headed south to the area of the train station and the people-mover. We are likely going to take a train to Verona in the next day or two, so wanted to see where the station was. The people-mover (I pictured an outdoor version of the moving walkway in an airport, but it's actually more like a monorail) will take us to the cruise ship.

Last stop was the Correr Museum, located in San Marco square. The square itself was packed today with Holland America passengers, however the museum was blissfully empty and quiet. Correr houses many works of art and household items portraying Venetian life and history - very interesting. I got one photo of a library of books and a Murano glass chandelier, before I was told "Senora, no foto!" by one of the staff. Oops, scusi!

Fresco on the Basilica di San Marco - construction on this "permanent" version began in 1094, with some additions dating as late as the 1400's. The original/temporary building was constructed in 976. Stuff is so old here!

Bell tower in St. Mark's Square - the Campanile. The original, built in the 900's, was damaged by an earthquake. This "new" version was finished in 1513.

By the time we finish at the museum, we're pooped after nearly six straight hours of walking today. We head back in the direction of our marked pannini shop. Salami, arugula & swiss for Andrew; mortadella, zucchini and peppers for me! We take our pannini to go, and finish them off, along with the remainder of our wine from last night, as an early dinner. We then spend some time relaxing in the room. I read a little and watched a tv show on the laptop, Andrew napped.

As I type this, it's almost 7 pm, and Venice is coming to life for the evening. Lorenzo informed us that most of the restaurants don't open until now, as Venetians eat late! We're about to get up and head out for another evening stroll. Venice is lovely at night, the streets and cafes full of locals walking arm-in-arm, or having a glass of wine. My goal is to find some tirimisu and a cappuccino! Tune in tomorrow to see if I succeed...