What happens in Venice Stays in Venice was a concept well before Vegas. Depending on who you believe the wearing of masks was either a social equalizer or a licence to misbehave. One mask that definitely had a practical purpose was the Medico Della Peste—the doctor’s mask. This white beaked mask held herbs that they believed repelled the plague (which attacked Venice numerous times) and covered up the horrible smell of the disease. The genuine mask shops here are fabulous.
Well, we don’t have any secrets that need to stay in Venice, but we did have a fabulous last day. The Guggenheim Museum is housed right on the Grand Canal in the former home of Peggy Guggenheim. Peggy, herself Jewish, fled Paris just days before the Germans arrived in WWII. With her she took and protected a very large collection of Modern Art that would have surely been destroyed. We are still benefiting from her efforts—we were personally delighted by the Jackson Pollock and the setting. Now, not everything we enjoyed yesterday was valued at millions of dollars. Probably my favourite memory of the day was taking the traghetto across the canal. The traghetto is a gondola that transports locals from one side of the canal to the other for 70 cents (2€ for non-residents-the thrifty tourist’s gondola ride). An older man stood along with us. Italian leather lace-ups....a suit jacket...faded blue eyes...a cigarette hanging from his lip...a certain dignity that comes with age. “Good morning, sir”, I said in Italian. “You are German”, he asked in German. “No, Canadian”, I replied. “You will never forget Venice”, he said with a smile. Simple, but profound—No, we will never forget Venice. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
24 Comments
Ash
10/9/2018 05:22:03 am
What is the purpose of having the houses so many different colours
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Ray
10/9/2018 10:48:36 am
According to a story, fishermen painted their homes in different colors to be able to easily spot their homes from the water as they returned home from sea. The colours are now part of the charm of the towns and you must get permission from the town to change your house colour.
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Keenan
10/10/2018 07:47:05 am
Did you buy any,if you did for how much
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:32:16 am
Yes the masks were amazing but we did not buy any. We did pay one mask shop $1.50 just to take pictures in the store. At a quality handmade mask stores the masks started at about $50 and went up to over $1000.
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Keenan
10/10/2018 07:47:43 am
Many*
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:32:47 am
😄
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Fatima and Sham
10/10/2018 07:49:02 am
What are those mask representing?
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:35:40 am
The post explains the Doctors mask, many of the others were worn to parties and festivals.
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Brynly
10/10/2018 07:49:38 am
Have you bought any suvineres.
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:37:51 am
We generally do not buy souvenirs. However while in Burano known for it's lacemaking we did buy a lace cushion cover. I did by a Croation soccer shirt.
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Jesse
10/10/2018 07:50:45 am
How fast did the cart across the canal go
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:41:42 am
The traghetto, a boat exactly like a gondola except rowed by two men takes less than 5 minutes to cross the canal. With all the traffic going up and down the canal they have to time their rowing to dodge between the traffic.
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Sophia
10/10/2018 07:53:00 am
It their grocery store the same size as ours or is It smaller if so how much smaller do you think they are.
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:47:25 am
All the grocery stores have been smaller. The ones in Venice were different in that they were made by joining a number of ground floor rooms together so instead of walking aisles you walk through rooms. The really big difference is much fewer choices. Only one or two brands of anything. Except; cheese, cold meats, olives and bread, for these items there are many many different types.
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Katie, and olivia
10/10/2018 07:53:16 am
Ho long was the traghetto ride?
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:47:43 am
Less than 5 minutes.
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Maddie and ruby
10/10/2018 07:53:43 am
Where did you get them, and what country was it in?
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:49:20 am
The masks were in a store in Venice. We did not buy any.
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Jill and Nathan C
10/10/2018 08:00:15 am
We love those masks. They look like the ones that people would wear to a masked ball
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Ray
10/10/2018 10:49:58 am
That is exactly what some of them were used for.
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The other Mrs. H
10/11/2018 10:18:54 am
Hello!
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Ray
10/11/2018 10:54:07 am
Happily we did not see any accidents. Unfortunately the were three deaths from boating accidents in Venice this summer. The city council has passed new laws to try to cut down on boat traffic.
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Ellie
10/12/2018 09:13:18 am
What are the masks made of?
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Diane
10/14/2018 05:37:03 am
Traditionally they were made of paper machier
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