Venice

Today was my first full day in Venice for this trip. The day started with a walking tour by a local guide, who lives in Venice. We wondered through streets that I would have gotten completely lost in by myself. The guide pointed out not just how confusing the streets were in terms of layout, but also how they were named so unhelpfully. There are many streets who are named “field by the church” or “way to the sacristy”, but the streets never clarify which church they are near. The afternoon included a glass making demonstration and a walking tour near and including the Jewish ghetto. The original ghetto is in Venice. According to our guide the name comes from “ghèto“, which means foundry in Venetian, because the ghetto was founded near a foundry because when they decided to segregate the Jewish people in the 1500s, they forced them to live near land no one wanted live by. The tour that included the history of the ghetto, was perhaps the most fascinating part of today.