20100120 – 3rd Day in Venice

Jeremy says that my writing is best when I am upset about something. So today’s post will not be as good as yesterdays. Today was a very good day. To start things off, we were better prepared for the weather. I wore a t-shirt, a turtle neck, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, a coat, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, my heavy winter gloves, and my hat. To make things even better, the weather was not as cold. Thus, I was comfortable throughout the day.

We wanted to use up the rest of our museum pass and visit the Art Museum and the History Museum attached to the Museo Civico and the Palazzo Ducale. We took the long way to the museums and once again were privileged to get lost in the winding streets and dead ends of Venice. The only truly annoying aspect of the day occurred during this part of our wanderings. We stopped at the Post Office to mail a postcard. I only had 20s on me. The lady behind the counter asked if I had anything smaller to pay with. I didn’t. Then, she started lecturing me about how they weren’t a bank and how we shouldn’t use them to break our larger bills. She was incredibly rude. I didn’t have a smaller bill to pay with. Jeremy stepped in and brought out a Euro coin, but I really wished that he hadn’t. This is a post office. They should be able to accept legal forms of tender in Italy.

Anyhow, we left the post office and I eventually took 3 deep breaths. At 10, we visited the heated museums. The museums were neat. They weren’t the best that I have seen, but they were worth the visit. We saw some really cool swords and guns. They also had some great artwork by Venetian street artists.

After leaving the museums, we took the long way to our next destination, the Museo Ebraico. This museum is in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice and includes a tour of a number of synagogues. Prior to outright persecution and the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, they were required to live in this section of the city. They could visit other sections of Venice during the day, but by midnight they were required to be back in the ghetto. What was most impressive were the synagogues. Because the Jewish population was not allowed to construct places of worship that were more impressive than the Churches, they were forced to hide their synagogues. From the outside, you can hardly tell that they even exist within the normal looking buildings. Further, the tour guide mentioned that the floors in the synagogue were made of Venetian Flooring. It seems that they constructed the floors with a material that allowed for more movement than normal floors. This makes sense, and helps to explain how the floors can go through incredibly warping without cracking.

After this, we took the long way back to our room and made frequent stops at different mask shops. I think that both of us would like to purchase a mask, though it will take some searching to find some that are cheap enough but still look good.

On a final note, we had heard about the temporary walkways that the city sets up when the canals flood. We have started to notice these walkways. They are basically temporary risers that are about 1.5 feet high and 4-6 feet wide. I simply cannot imagine the entire population of Venice and all of the tourists on these walkways. When they are in use, things must be packed.

I spent an hour or so exploring the web and checking my e-mail in my new favorite wifi hotspot and Irish Pub while Jeremy chilled out back at the room. Then we headed out for the evening. On the way to the pizza place, we stopped into a ton of mask shops. It may be that we have found what we are looking for. But more will either be said or not said about this in future posts.

Tomorrow, we are going to purchase a half day pass on the Vaporetto, Venice’s staple form of public transportation. We are going to visit some of the different islands around Venice and we want to take a poor mans tour of the grand canal. Today, we also rode the ghetto gondola, the traghetto. I know that gondola rides are equated to Venice and it would surely seem like every tourist should pay for a ride. But these things cost a crazy amount of money. The traghetto, on the other hand, is a quick ride in a gondola, across the canal, and it only costs 50 cents! It was exactly what we both wanted and for a whole lot less money.