Day 2 Cannaregio

The main part of Venice is divided into 6 areas or sestieres. This morning I went to Cannaregio, the more northerly one. Apart from the main pedestrian street from the railway station to the Rialto bridge that wanders through the southern part of Cannaregio there are few tourists. I wandered through back streets and along small canals. I went to a church – Madonna dell’Orto -(Madonna of the Garden). It is a medieval Gothic church, but quite light inside. Apparently it was first St Christopher’s, for the patron saint of travellers to protect the boatmen who ferried passengers to the northern islands. A statue of the Madonna was found in a nearby vegetable garden a century or so later. This statue had remarkable powers so they changed the name of the church. I hope not too many boatmen suffered from neglect. In the church there are several large paintings by Tintoretto who was a parishioner. The outside was interesting and not too ornate. See photo.

I visited what is referred to as the Jewish Ghetto. In 1516 all Jews living in Venice were confined to an islet in Cannaregio. The area was named the Ghetto after the word geto in Venetian – a foundry which previously occupied the site. The word has been used many times since! Nearby I found a nice café and had an espresso and jam-filled croissant for E2. I know of nowhere in Australia where you can get a croissant and coffee for $4. The best part – their toilet was brand new and included Public toilets in Venice cost E2.

I went to another church – Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Apparently a painter painted a picture of The Virgin and child and put it in a little niche in his outside wall to protect his home from robbers. The painting was found to have miraculous powers and so a church was built and the painting was put above the altar. I quite liked the church - quite small and light with lots of light shades of different marble.

I called it quits after that church and walked to the nearest vaporetto stop. I just missed 1 so had to wait a bit over 15 minutes for the next. The stop was right next to the hospital and the from the waiting pontoon you could see the ambulance boats. In the time I was there 2 left with blue lights flashing and 1 arrived and unloaded a patient.

I stopped at the nearest trattoria to my apartamento. I went in and found I was the only female apart from a waitress. All the other customers were local workmen. The previous night I had made a list of all the Venetian specialities I want to try but there was no printed menu and when the waiter rattled off all the options, none of them were on my list. I still had a nice lunch.

This evening I went out for a stroll with many other locals along the nearby shopping street. The street ends at the lagoon and when I got there discovered it is a bit tricky to take a photo before the setting sun goes behind a cloud juggling a chocolate gelato with gloves on. The result is attached. The mist is still hanging around the lagoon muting all the colours. It is cold.