The last few days

Click HERE to see the photos.

You will have to ask Mike about this, as, of course, there's a story behind his pose.

Saturday, September 29

Mike here. I feel like an adult forcing a child from an amusement park, Margaret will be dragging her heels and looking back longingly as we do our last activities, pack and prepare to fly out.

On Friday, Sept 28, we went back into Venice but with a different agenda. We had pinpointed several different, out of the way stops in neighborhoods of Venice that we hadn’t toured with a goal of avoiding the main tourist areas like San Marco. We used several of the “hidden”, “overlooked” internet listings to find things to do.

The Cannaregio area is next to the train station and our usual practice is to jump on a water bus and take off. This time we walked into this area and quickly got past the hotels and tourists that cluster near the station on our way to the original Jewish Ghetto. We got turned around a bit but that is normal for walking in Venice. We knew we were close when we saw a Kosher restaurant. Unlike the visible Christian churches the ghetto area temples are hidden and tucked away. We needed a refreshment stop next and one of the posts had mentioned a locals only bar (A La Vecia Papussa) that specialized in small tapa like food and we meandered our way there through quiet streets, local fruit and fish markets and venetians going about their daily business. There were occasional tourists like us trickling through but not the full flood stream of organized tours and people bumping along with roller bags. As part of our Antonio Canova themed focus we had noticed a multimedia Canova exhibit at the Misercodia Scuola but didn’t plan on going there until we turned the corner and there it was. Since we had been at the Canova museum in Possogano they gave us a special rate and we thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits. It was a massive exhibit in a massive building. It would have been the ideal start of our Canova tours in Italy but hindsight!

Our last destination in Cannaregio was a “bridge of fists”. All during the 1600s, venetian neighborhoods would battle each other across low bridges without railings or parapets that separated these areas. Losers would get dumped off the bridge into the smelly canals. This lasted for a hundred years but in the early 1700s, fisticuffs escalated to sticks and knives and the battles were banned.

Next we kept going and crossed the Rialto Bridge on our way to our final Canova stop in the San Polo area. Canova has his ashes entombed in a church he designed in Possagno but his actual heart is in Santa Maria Gloriosa Dei Frari (his right hand is somewhere else). This is not a church for the meek and humble, huge family tombs decorate the side walls and Canova’s is no exception. The pyramid clashes with the other monuments but is of the same size and hubris. The floor to ceiling tomb next to Canova’s is too awful to contemplate, the upper half is in white marble showing the noble family, the bottom half supports the family with columns of black stone carvings of slaves/porters in ragged clothes carrying the bags of goods that made the noble family rich. The floors are uneven with a multitude of burial “footstones?”. Very close to the church is a small store that sells made-in-prison merchandise and we had noted that down as a destination.

Finally back across the canal for a spritz and some wine and a short walk to the station and we’re back in Mirano for dinner. An entire day with no water rides but 13,000 steps.

Margaret here. Mike says it all, except for food. The bites we had at the local “Bar” were delicious—small fried fish and a spinach pie. Since it helps to pace yourself, we also stopped at Campo San Polo (a large open square) for spritzes and panini and to people watch. After our visit to see the tomb of Canova’s heart (ick), we found a shop that sells clothing and accessories made by women in prison. I found a really cool t-shirt.

From there, we decided to walk to a café near the Ferrovia. It took a while, because I kept finding cute little shops and had to do more gift-buying. Relaxing by the bridge, Mike with a spritz and me with white wine, we reminisced about our month in Italy. It hardly seems like it’s been that long. We hopped on the 6:25 train to Dolo, then drove into Mirano to get pizza at the hotel restaurant. We arrived a little after 7:00 and the place was empty. When we left, the place was full of families and lively conversations.

It’s Saturday now as I write this. Today we will visit one last time with Sara and Lina and the gang at the restaurant, then tomorrow we will drive to Venice, drop our luggage off at a hotel, return the car at the airport, and take another trip into Venice for the day. If I sound a little weepy, I am. It’s been an amazing trip. So many wonderful people. And it’s been so great to connect with my Italian family. It’s very hard to leave this beautiful country.

Arrivederci! Spero di riverderti presto!