May 4: Museums and the Ghetto

Another great day of museums and wandering the streets. 

Alanna practicing her pedicure skills.

We all managed to oversleep this morning, except Dorothy, and by the time we had breakfast and got to the Doge’s Palace, it was after 10:00 and the line for the entrance snaked around the corner and was moving at a snail’s pace. We decided to do the Loggia Galleries instead. On our way through St. Mark’s square (Campo San Marco) we ran into two people Alanna knew from Partings, the salon where she used to work. It is such a small world.

We started with the Correr Gallery, housed in the Palace of Napoleon, and saw the beautiful marbles based on classical themes. Ian decided to play tour guide, and had everyone in stitches as he gave a running commentary on what each picture and painting meant. The building was as interesting as the works of art, with the sumptuous paintings on every surface.

Dionysius and a Satyr.

Several museums flow into one another, and lead from the centre part of the loggia on Campo San Marco back to the cathedral area, but on the second floor. The next section was the history of the City of Venice section, which had amazing models of the ships that the Venetians used to control European shipping for so long.

The library

Napoleon had a thing about staircases, and Dorothy had to climb this one before her tour of the museum even started!

 A section was closed to prepare for new exhibits, and it was interesting to watch them conserve a wooden stand for displaying texts that was probably older than Canada. It’s amazing when the parts of the museum become objets d’arte in their own right.

We enjoyed the Archeological Museum, with its marble sculptures going back to the Fifth Century a.C (as they say for BCE in Italy). There was a good selection of red figure pottery, and even some Egyptian Mummies. The Venetians controlled shipping and were really good at grabbing things they wanted from other places. They even “rescued” the body of St. Mark from Alexandria to bring him to Venice. 

Alanna and I had a good time mocking the various depictions of the Venetian Lion. I think they should have picked an animal they had actually seen before to be the symbol of Venice, although Alanna thinks my idea of “The Bunny of Venice” might not have been grand enough for the tastes of the time.

We finished up in the library, which is a Baroque masterpiece, equivalent to anything one would find in the Doge’s Palace, and then headed for the vaporetto, as we needed a place to sit down! We decided to take the vaporetto to Lido, the beach island, as that is the terminus and we thought we might be able to get a decent seat. Unfortunately, the teenaged girls in the handicapped seats refused to give Dorothy a seat. We finally got one for her, but the rest of us stood for the twenty minutes to Lido. Then everyone had to get off the boat before it could move 20 feet down to pick people up.

It was a packed ride around the outside of the islands – the boring side – but at last we arrived in Guglia and decided to eat before we went into the Ghetto. The waiter brought us a selection of Jewish appetizers, and it was fabulous! Our waiter spoke English with an Israeli accent, and Alanna’s Israeli beer was called Maccabee Lager. I think maybe I pronounce Maccabee incorrectly. 

Alanna at a door in the Ghetto

The synagogue

We wandered through the Jewish ghetto, the oldest ghetto in Europe, and were pleased to see the evidence of a growing Jewish community in the area today.

We picked up a gelato, and walked around window shopping, before heading back to the apartment on the vaparetto. I stupidly chose the wrong wharf to embark from, and we went around the outside – the boring side – yet again. 

Back at the apartment, Dorothy and Mom lay down for a rest, and Ian, Alanna and I went for a walk around our neighbourhood. We saw a terrific student art show, and they gave us a catalogue! We walked to the Arsenal, and peeked inside (it is a military base, and you can’t go in), then wandered the streets and alleys of Venice while the sun set. We picked up some tarts, made a cup of tea, and here we are, pleasantly exhausted!