Walking Around Venice

On the first morning in the campo outside my rooming house, I ran into the Shaker Heights marching band playing a concert. Those of you who also are on Facebook know that I welled up at both the American and Italian national anthems.

The Grand Canal is crossed by only four bridges during its two mile meander through Venice. The newest one links the train station to Piazzale Rome, which is where the buses park. It was designed by Calatrava and opened only within the past two years.

Moving downstream and within sight of the Calatrava bridge is the Scalzi Bridge (or Bridge of the Barefoot).

There is a long gap between the Scalzi and Rialto bridges. When I was taking my vaporetto ride along the Grand Canal, I found this building to be particular to my liking.

The Rialto Bridge

The Accademia Bridge, the one closest to where I stayed and the one I used most often.

Chiesa San Giorgio and its campanile are on an island at the end of Venice and across from Piazza San Marco. The view from the top of the campanile is much less crowded and cheaper than from the campanile in San Marco. I suggest it to those of you traveling to Venice in the future.

Wandering the streets, I ran across the church in which Vivaldi was baptized.

Being as Venice was the composers birthplace, there were many concerts in his honor. I went to one the first night I was there and enjoyed myself. The second night, I went back but for some reason the group raced through “The Four Seasons” as if were trying to get it done with in half the time. Unfortunate.

Can anyone help me figure out how to read this clock?

The Venetians, being the great businessmen that they were, were tolerant of Jewish residents, but only to a point. The Jews were the bankers and lenders and because of them were instrumental in the economic growth of Venice.

The Venetians required that all the Jews live in a fenced in area near the foundary (geto in Italian) thereby giving us the modern term, ghetto.

Because the Jews were confined to a 3 square block area, they had to build up, not out. Therefore, the tallest residential buildings in Venice are in the ghetto.

Here’s an active synagogue which has police protection at all times.