Giorno Due - Il vecchio Ghetto Ebraico

Jenny and I looked at the map today and decided that we would explore an area that neither of us had been to before - the Old Jewish Ghetto.

It was so nice to get away from all the other tourists.  I get that we are tourists ourselves, but that doesn't mean you should have to mix!

We past some absolutely beautiful buildings today.  Check this one with the garden.  As Jenny keeps saying, all you need is a bit of greenery to make it look nice.

Today is clearly washing day as nearly everyone had the laundry out for all to see.  The beautiful sunny weather probably helped too.

I wonder how many garments have ended up in the plonk?

We tried our best to stay off the main streets with the souvenir vendors selling exactly the same as the previous cart.  When you head down the back streets, you never know what you're going to find.  This little back street was a little narrower than the others.

There were quite a few derelict buildings in this area, in fact, all over Venice.  They must have some stories to tell.  If only the walls could talk!

Venice has flooded a few times before and you can see in some parts where the water would have risen to.  I think this door perhaps has some tell tail signs.

There are special shops that you can buy your door knobs from.  I love all the different, quirky ones around Venice.  These are my favourites thus far.

I also love to peak into people's secret gardens.  It makes Venice seem more lived in rather than a museum of a city. Anyway, if you're going to put a lovely peep hole into your front door, people are going to peep!

Who were these little tiny people who lived here?

This was a beam that sat above a doorway.  Just imagine how old this piece of wood actually is.  The emblem is a winged lion holding an open book.  The winged lion part represents Saint Mark and the open book represents the state's sovereignty.   There are over 300 winged lions in the city of Venice and this is just one of them.  It just blows my mind to think of who would have passed though this doorway over the years.

Wandering around we were trying to imagine how you would actually live somewhere with no cars or bikes.  What would people do in an emergency, and then we saw this ambulance.  

Everything on the water here.

So as history would tell us, the Venetians got into a bit of financial strife back in the day and to save themselves, they turned their back on the Catholic Church for a bit and invited the Jewish people to move to Venice, bringing with them their skills and their knowhow and most importantly, their money.  The Jewish people were compelled to all live together in a "ghetto" under the Venetian Republic - this is where the term 'ghetto' originated.

We knew we were getting close as the signs were written in Hebrew.

Then at last there was one more bridge and we were there - the New Jewish Ghetto.

Apparently Napoleon opened up the locked gates to the ghetto to allow the Jewish people to roam free in Venice, but most just stayed there with their community.

The Ghetto today is still a centre of Jewish life that counts about 400 Jewish people.  There is a population of about 1000 Jewish people who live in Venice, and those that don't live in the Ghetto return there during the day for religious services in the two synagogues.

This young chap seemed to be the only Jewish person in the area though.... and he seemed to be following us.  We saw him at every turn.

There were some lovely floral decorations in this area.

Jenny had read about this restaurant back in Perth.  There was a big write up in the West Australian and it seems, plenty of other papers around the world (they had an article stuck up in their window).  

So, it was decided that because we had found ourselves in this area at lunch time, it was only fair to try out some of the Kosher meals on offer.

What a lovely spot to do a bit of people/boat watching whilst waiting for our lunch and let me tell you - there were jobs on.  You've never seen such a busy place.

There were water taxis and the Vaporetto - the water bus, the Polizia, work boats delivering stuff, the postal boats, tourist boats..... the lot!

I tired the Humus with 'meat' - unspecified..... scrumdidilyumptious!

And Jenny, a sardine lover from way back chose the sardines with onion.  I didn't taste it, but she said is was delish!

We even got a bit of music thrown in.  These guys were good fun.  They played well known music, it wasn't too loud and overpowering and they didn't mind posing for a picture!  After a couple of songs one of them walks around holding out a little tupperware container asking for donations.  I popped in €1.75 - the only change I had.  Not bad for a bit of lunch time entertainment.

I thought I'd share this little gem of an idea for public toilets..... foot peddles for turning on the taps - so you don't have to touch anything.  Great for the germaphobes out there!

We decided to catch the Vaparetto back to the hotel and Jenny was telling me about the building that used to be painted all gold, but it was faded now.

As she was telling me, I was taking a photo of this building because I was fascinated with the flooding part at the bottom, as well as it's amazing features.... and it turns out - this is it!

 A bit of gelato to finish of the day time eating......

Stracciatella for me and lemon sorbet for me Jenny.  Honestly, we're as happy as Larry with our choices!

Grazie Venezia!