From the original Lido to the original Ghetto

I had a sudden realization that this week is our last in the Venice area (before we head down to southern Italy for 8 days) and though we have seen so much, there is still much to see.  So, we decided to spend the next three days seeing parts of Venice that aren't always seen on a trip to Venice.  Today's journey started us on the Lido - an 8-mile long sand bank that forms a natural barrier between Venice and the open sea.   Since 1857, when the first bathing facility was set up - a first anywhere in Europe, the word lido (which literally means beach or shore) became the Lido - a word now commonly used for any beach resort (or a deck on a cruise ship).  Though no longer the prestigious resort it was in the 1930s, it is a really great place to spend a day!

As the Lido is the only island in the lagoon with roads, we rented bikes and toured around for a little while in the backroads of the island but were pretty anxious to get to the beach.  We locked up our bikes and went into one of the private beach clubs and found that cabana rentals are half-price after 2:00 (which it already was) and the cost goes down dramatically the further you are from the shore. 


Cabanas come with a shade, two beach chairs, one lounge chair, a table and four chairs, and a changing area.  I feel badly that I didn't have more philosophical problems with having to pay to use the beach - it just made me so happy to have a little cabana where I could sit on a lounge chair and read and change clothes and not worry about all those little things that sometimes make going to the beach feel like a challenge to me.  We paid 35 euro to be in the third row (the cheapest) but  couldn't leave our stuff unattended so someone had to stay by the cabana.  Rachel and I went to the ocean first but after a quick dip, I traded with Julia.  I was at first worried about having the girls out of my sight and in the ocean, but the waves were small and there was a life guard on duty - and I really wanted to sit in the shade and read my book.  So, we made a system where they had to come check in with me every 15 minutes.  It was clear that the cabanas are used mostly by locals who must rent them out for the summer.  The old men next to me had a card game going that seemed like a regular event.  

Bike rental closed at 7:00 so we had to pull ourselves out of chairs by 6:30 to ride back there.  We hopped on the vaparetto going to the train station and started walking from there towards the old Jewish Ghetto.  Just like the word Lido originated in Venice, so did the 'ghetto'.  In 1516, the doge restricted Jews to living in a special neighborhood, near the former foundry (geto) - and in time the word "ghetto" caught on as a term for any segregated neighborhood.  Entering this area of Venice (not far from the train station), suddenly there are kosher restaurants and synagogues.  The buildings are also taller because of the influx of Jewish immigrants in the 1600s, all still restricted to the same area, so they had to build up.

The Holocaust Memorial in the Campo de Gheto Novo

Inspired by my experience the night before I really wanted the girls to be in Venice one night after dark. Our usual pattern is to spend the day but to head home to have dinner with Jim in Treviso (where the food is also better).  Though not able to recreate the true experience of being alone on the water in a water taxi, the girls still got to experience the beauty of Venice at night.  We walked as far as the Rialto (stopping for a rare smoothie and then dinner along the way) and then took a vaparetto up to St. Mark's Square.  I was hoping that the water bus back down the grand canal would be less crowded than during the day, but as it was heading to the train station it was jam packed with people leaving town, even at 10:00 at night.  Still something worth experiencing for sure.