Venezia: parte due (part two)

Enchanting, captivating, beautiful ... even on my second day, Venice has maintained her hold over me. It's been one of those days in which I've tried to cram a lot in, just so I don't miss out on anything! Sometimes this can be self-defeating, as the constant activity can wear you out and artistic masterpieces can become a blur. Thankfully, I managed to stay on the right side of sanity!

I kicked the day off with my first Italian cappuccino. Quite good and certainly better than the burnt dishwater they serve in old London town! From here it was on a vaporetto to the city's premier art gallery, L'Accademia. A most impressive gallery filled with works by Venetian artists, and definitely worth paying the extra for the audioguide, which explained a lot of the pieces. One of the best known is Paolo Veronese's Feast in the House of Levi. There were also some wonderful works by Giorgione and Gentile Bellini.

From here I headed to the Jewish Ghetto, in fact the world's first ghetto. It was established in 1516, allowing Jews to reside in Venice, but only in the restricted area (the gates to the island were locked at night) of a former copper foundry. The word ghetto is derived from the Italian word for foundry, gettare. I joined a guided tour from the Museum of the Jewish Community, visiting three of the five Jewish synagogues (German, Italian and Canton). It was one of the highlights of the day, particularly learning about the history of Venetian Jews over the centuries, including the Spanish Inquisition, Mussolini and World War II.

From Venice

Venice did lose some of her charm when I came up against the flood of tourists along the main thoroughfares between the train station, Rialto Bridge and San Marco. So many tourists I almost lost my patience! However, I got over it once I was off the beaten track. After an average calzone for lunch, I headed to my first church (no shorts today, as you have to cover up in church), Chiesa di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, mostly shortened to Frari. This is an amazing church, not just for its architecture and intricate wooden choir, but particularly for its art. Titian's 1518 Madonna of the Assumption draws visitors into the apse. Frari certainly has the edge over galleries, because the artwork has been designed for the building's architecture. I should also give (grudging) praise to Rick Steve at this point. I downloaded a few of his free audioguides (podcasts), including for Frari and the Grand Canal, and they made these sights a lot more meaningful. I'm sure the fellow tourists on the vaporetto thought I was missing out on the atmosphere by listening to music, when in fact I was noticing all the sights they missed!

After dropping into nearby Chiesa di San Rocco (Church of St Roch) to see a few masterpieces by Tintoretto, I resolved to fit in another museum ... Ca' Rezzonico, a palazzo on the Grand Canal. I am so glad I did, as it was probably my favourite museum of the day! The rooms bring to life 18th century grandeur and I preferred much of the art to that found in L'Accademia. The only downside is that the palace is huge, and the many artworks and salons can be a lot to take in late in the afternoon. For this reason I decided this was to be my last museum of the day. I caught another vaporetto for a relaxing trip to Lido, a 12km long barrier island where the Venice Film Festival is held. I strolled along the waterfront before returning to my hotel.

Final stop for the night was dinner. I found a cute little bar/restaurant facing onto the water, lights twinkling on the distant island of Murano. I had a lovely prawn, tuna, corn and tomato salad (I needed something light after eating lots of heavy pasta, breads and meat in my short time in Venice), washed down with some white wine. And good value too (comparatively speaking, as Venice is expensive) ... a third of the cost of my dinner the night before! Mind you, I did have two courses on my first night, because I made the mistake of wandering for too long hoping I'd find somewhere better (and less touristy) and ended up getting so hungry I had a headache and was starving! On top of that the restaurant I picked had reasonable food, but the slowest service. One waiter for dozens of patrons. It took 20 minutes to take an order, another 20 minutes for bread, and another 20 minutes for the first course. So I (eventually) appreciated every morsel!

Although I have mentioned some of my favourite museums, none of these have been the best thing about Venice. The highlight (in addition to travelling down the Grand Canal) has been putting my map away, wandering off and getting lost in the streets and passageways. This feels like the real Venice (although just 60,000 Venetians live in the city nowadays), as you cross canals and walk beneath washing hung from windows high above. Magical!

From Venice