Day 2: A Pizza My Heart

Today was a fun-filled, action- packed race through Venice! We slept in this morning after being up around 36 hours straight. We woke up and ate a quick, but yummy, breakfast at the hotel. Then, we walked to the Jewish Ghetto. The main part of the ghetto was located in a square that was really pretty. We wandered into a Judaica shop that was owned by a man who was a true character. I picked out two beautiful, murano, hand-crafted mezzuzahs for my (hopefully) new apartment. Allie, mom and dad also picked out some special pieces to bring back. We also went to an art studio that had one of a kind pieces of artwork. They had an illustrated Torah scroll with every single Torah portion. It was incredible! I have never seen anything like it!

Around noon, we took a private water taxi over to the island of Murano to visit the Murano factory. We were greeted by a man named Paolo who took us in to see the furnaces. He told us that each oven was over 2,000 degrees!! It was so hot in the room that we were sweating bullets. Then, we saw a demonstration of one of the Murano masters blowing glass. He demonstrated the making of a flower vase and a horse. It was incredible how fast and expertly he worked! Paolo then took us upstairs to see some already made pieces. We were extremely surprised at how expensive everything was! He told us that the price depended upon how famous the master who created the piece is and how intricate the piece is. We went to the souvenir shop and I bought a necklace and a bracelet, both with Murano beads. We stopped for a quick lunch of sandwiches and French fries and then took the "water bus" back to Venice. 

We arrived back in San Marco Square to find where our Gandola tour was. We finally found it, and got on! It was so interesting to see the city from in the water, vs. above on the bridges. We were led down many waterways and even got to experience riding on the Grand Canal. Though our gandelier was not a hot Italian man, it was still a memory I will treasure forever (except for my mini breakdown when I thought my phone was broken). 

After getting off the gandola, we went and sat outside for a glass of wine. As we walked around near there, I stopped in a store selling Venetian masks. Since coming to Venice, I have learned that the history of masquerade in this city dates back hundreds of centuries. Typically now they are worn for Carnival in March. I decided to purchase one as a decoration. While trying to decide if I wanted it to hang or be displayed on a shelf, the lady said, "or you could wear it to parties!" Of course I would, considering I attend so many masquerades at home! 

We then went back towards San Marco Square and ate in a restaurant a little ways off of it. Everything we ate was absolutely incredible!! We had bruschetta and a caprese salad as an appetizer. Then we all shared a margarita pizza, which was made in a brick oven in 90 seconds! We finished the meal off with two different pasta dishes. One thing was better than the next. 

After dinner, we journeyed back to San Marco Square to see it at night. Though it was a bit understated, we still thought it was beautiful and we got to listen to a string quartet play Skyfall! We capped off the night with gelato. I got Reese's and semi-sweet chocolate. It was amazing! Though we are not quite ready to leave the beauty of Venice, it will always have a "pizza" my heart! Tomorrow we will journey on to Florence! 

Buena Serra:)