Venice - San Gorgio, I Frari, Merano, Jewish Ghetto, Grand Canal

Got out later than intended and had a bit of trouble figuring out the vaporetto (boat bus), and ended up on the number 2 vaporetto around the outside of the city (instead of the one that goes up the grand canal), which provided interesting views of the more industrial part of the city, such as it is. It appears that Venice still has a fishing industry.

We got off at San Gorgio island where we explored the church and went up in the tower for the view back over Venice.

From Venice

From Venice

Back at San Marco Square we found a long line to go into the cathedral, so we decided to move on to the I Frari church, where we admired the famous art by Titian.

Next we took the vaporetto to Merano Island to see the glass making (after an accidental stop on the cemetery island).

From Venice

Mary and her parents remembered being on Merano Island 15 years ago and watching glass being made in a factory setting for shipment around the world. We weren't sure if we would find that again though, as there is now a lot of imitation Venetian glass made in China. We saw it for sale in Asia and wondered at it, and according to Lonely Planet, a lot of what they sell in Venice is now made in China. The first place we went to that claimed to be a factory, we paid to see a demonstration, and they were clearly only working glass as a show when people were there to see it. How disappointing! We wandered later into another facility where there were 2 guys actively making stuff, that actually looked like it was for sale and not just a show. It was a smaller operation than we'd seen 15 years ago, but cool. Still, I don't think we can really recommend the trip out to Merano to see it any more--they were only doing the kind of stuff you can see everywhere these days.

From Venice

We didn't get back in time for San Marco, but Josh went to the Galleria dell'Accademia while everyone else went back to the hotel for some planning for the rest of the week.

On the way back to the hotel we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in the vibrant heart of the Jewish Ghetto, which was the original ghetto, but in fact never was a "ghetto" at all. There was just a Jewish community near the copper works, which was called a "ghetto," and that's where we get our word for a segregated community. There was a monument to the people taken away to concentration camps during WWII. There is a new Jewish community there now, but they are mostly not the same families. Anyway, it was the first and only place in Venice we went that felt like a real city with real people living their lives. The square was a block from a school and full of children playing. There was only the smallest handful of other tourists.

After dinner we look the slow vaporetto the full length of the Grand Canal while listening to the Rick Steves commentary.

From Venice

From Venice

At San Marco, we enjoyed listening to the live music coming from the fancy cafes and danced in the square before taking an express vaporetto back to our hotel.

From Venice

From Venice