Last day in Venice

Pictures: 1) on the ferry looking toward Venice on the way to Murano, 2) murano glass structure in Murano, 3) on the ferry

Yesterday I went back to Venice from Padova. I planned to go to Murano, Burano, and another island. On my way to the ferry port, I stopped in the old Jewish ghetto. This was started in 1516 when over 3,000 Jews moved to Venice where they were allowed to lend money for interest; however, to keep tabs on them, the ruler at the time forced them to live in a certain section which locked from midnight to dawn each day. The word used to describe the area was “geto” which was translated to “ghetto” by the Jews who found the original word hard to pronounce. From what I saw, they weren’t living in bad conditions like during the Holocaust, but it was the origination of the word ghetto.

I reached the ferry and during the ride over to Murano, I felt pretty good (because there are no allergens in the water). However, once I got there, my allergies got worse than ever and I was sneezing and blowing my nose nonstop. I watched a glass maker for a while, which was pretty neat, and then I walked around looking in all the shops. I thought since that is where the glass is actually made that it would be cheaper than in Venice proper, but no - it was definitely more expensive, so I didn’t buy anything except some rather disappointing gelato (it tasted like ice cream and the cone was like cardboard). Finally, my allergies were so bad I was just sick of being there, so I took the ferry back to Venice. I returned to San Marco’s square so I could bring back the watch I’d bought the day before because it wasn’t working. They replaced it for me without hassle, thank goodness.

I then took another ferry back to the train station and caught a 5:30 train back to Padova. Tiziano said he was going swimming after work, so wouldn’t be home until about 9:30. I decided to make dinner for us and walked down the road to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for potato soup. I bought the following for a little less than 5 euros: one large banana (for me), one onion, 4 huge potatoes, 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, one pint (or was it a liter? - anyway about 1.5 liters I think)of milk, and a box of chicken bullion cubes. It was actually pretty funny trying to find the chicken bullion cubes. I asked a woman in the store if she spoke English and luckily she did. I tried to describe what I needed, but they clearly aren’t called chicken bullion cubes in Italy. She went with me to a man who worked there and tried to translate what I was describing. She said, “So it’s chicken?” and I said “No, they’re little cubes that smell salty and are sort of yellow and you put it in water and it makes broth…” and all of a sudden her face lit up and she realized what I meant. Haha Their chicken bullion cubes are a little more brown and a little bigger, but otherwise I guess they’re about the same.

I got back to the apartment and I caught up on my online shows as I started to prepare the soup. It takes SO long to cut up 4 huge potatoes, the celery, the carrots, eand the onion all without a chopper. At one point Carissa (who was ballroom team captain at UNC) called me on skype and I talked to her as I chopped. Since she was talking through her computer to, I could turn my webcam on so she could see me - and watch me cry over the onions. Haha

It was finally done at 10:30 when Tiziano walked in (an hour late). He’d already eaten, but he had a little bit. I had two bowls - my throat had been hurting badly all day from constant sneezing and the warm soup helped. We jarred up the rest and put it in the fridge.
Before bed I took 2 benadryl, which helped some I guess, but I still wore up several times to blow my nose. By morning, I realized that perhaps I actually have a cold that just masked itself under my allergies. I still can’t be completely sure since my eyes were itching like crazy and the sneezing seemed brought on by the air, but given that my snot is no longer just clear, I’m probably a bit sick.

I slept until 10, took a shower, and then got ready to leave. I booked a hostel for Munich tonight (only 16 euros and includes breakfast and a free tour) and I’ll stay with a CSer the next 2 or 3 nights (her name is Katharina and she also loves to dance).

I met Tiziano near the train station at 1 pm and we got lunch at a sandwich shop before I caught my train at 1:49. Now I’m writing this on the train as I speed through the alps. I should arrive in Munich in a little over 3 hours from this point - the total was 6.5 hours. I have been dozing on and off, but now there are some women in my car who are chatting away in some other language and it is a bit harder to nap.