Or, Day 1 *AND* Day 2, or
As Is Tradition: The Day That Never Ends
So far, our current Excellent Adventure 2024 is off to an auspicious start: we experienced no traffic at all, all the way through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and even Brooklyn (the Belt Parkway was eerily free flowing – unheard of!). That is, until we approached JFK airport. Apparently something huge was going on (my guess – the usual major road construction), because Google maps took us on a scenic tour of the south shores of Brooklyn and Queens, taking us to places we had never been before, or it had been a very, very, very long time. For example: I cannot remember the last time I was in Rockaway, Queens other than maybe in college? I did not think to take photos; it was a very pretty drive.
And I learned something new: The reason Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens is called “Cross Bay Blvd” is because…it crosses Jamaica Bay. I’ve driven past and across Cross Bay Blvd many, many times without a thought as to why it was called that. Who would have thunk?
Parking our car at the SmartPark lot was simple, easy, and fast. We were at Terminal 4 in no time. The flight itself was uneventful (always good). I slept maybe an hour, which seems to be what I do on long flights.
We zipped through Passport Control, our bags came quickly, a cab was immediately available for a flat fee of $40. We were at the hotel sometime after 10:00 a.m. Really couldn’t get much smoother than that!
We’re staying at the Hotel Santa Chiara in Piazzale Roma next to the bus station and arrival point into Venice. We picked this hotel because of Venice’s logistics – the city has no wheeled transportation (no cars, bicycles, golf carts, etc.). This means you have to walk everywhere. The vaporetti (water bus system) is fantastic and can get you close to your hotel, but inevitably you have to walk some distance lugging your bags. You can hire a porter to schlep your bags for you; those guys are amazing how they haul huge dollies full of luggage over bridges and through the tiny streets at top speed. Good luck keeping up with these guys. Which I couldn’t do 20 years ago; now it’s impossible.
The airport taxi was able to drop us off within a short walking distance of the hotel. And all the vaporetti lines have a stop in Piazzale Roma. Perfect!
We were able to check in immediately. The view out our window isn’t much, but that’s ok – we know what’s waiting for us on the other side of the bridge.
We rested for a bit and then ventured out. We decided to walk to the Jewish quarter, hoping that the Google maps’ estimate of 15 minutes would be correct. Unfortunately, no, not really. We had to deal with 3 bridges: one not so big, one not so bad because of side-ramps meant for luggage trolleys, and one ginormous monster that just took me a while.
We did take a break along the way to have lunch. The server tried multiple times to entice us to order a full sea bass, including bringing the whole fish out to us on a plate. Nope, nope, nope – one thing I’ve learned from many years of travel is to keep meals on the first day small. I’m not normally a pasta fan, I selected cheese and spinach ravioli. It was delicious!
After lunch, we made our way to the Ghetto di Venizia – the first Jewish ghetto created in the 1500’s
For anybody who is not familiar with the origin of the word “ghetto”, take a look at this link on Wikipedia. Good bet it’s not what you think.
We first came to Venice in 1999. We had a blast touring all the old synagogues and shopping in all the stores. My favorite was a shop called David’s Shop selling Judaica items made of Murano glass. Andy and I bought two kiddush cups (one red, one blue, both with 24 k gold embelishments) that we’ve been using every Friday night ever since.
We came back to Venice in 2011. Bought two more kiddush cups – both purple and a different design from the first ones.
So, my main goal this trip was to buy two more kiddush cups to give us a mis-matched set of six.
Lo and behold, David’s Shop was still there! We picked out two more kiddush cups – one green and one amber (not yellow, we were told, definitely amber).
We had a great conversation with the shop owner, who’s been working with the glassblowers in Murano for over 50 years. He told us that there were no kiddush cups for several years during COVID; if we had come just a couple of months ago, there would have been none. He has to order thousands of cups at a time, with a certain number in each color/pattern. His sister is the person who personalizes each item upon request. Apparently she is now in her 70s with aches and pains in her fingers and her neck, and she really wants to retire. He said he’s thinking about retiring in 3 or 4 years, too. So glad we were able visit this time!
Fun coincidence: on a wall was a photo of a bar mitzvah invite to a congregation in Rockville, MD! The photo shows the invite and the kiddush cup as engraved in 24 K gold leaf by the shop owner’s sister. The photo cuts off the name of the congregation, but we’re pretty sure it’s not ours. Still an amazing coincidence!
Of course, we bought much more than 2 kiddush cups, including a Murano glass yad – a pointer for reading out of the Torah. Wonderful conversation with someone who felt like an old friend. As we were leaving, he threw in an extra fridge magnet.
Went a slightly different way back hoping it was a little easier. Depends on the definition of “easier”. Chilled out – Andy went to the grocery store to get breakfast stuff.
We decided to walk back a different way in an attempt to avoid the really big bridge we tackled on the way here and take an easier bridge. Kinda depends on your definition of “easier”. The path we took replaced one huge bridge with another huge bridge (maybe even higher), but the steps were smaller and maybe easier to navigate.
After a rest at the hotel, we made contact with the rest of our group. They had spent the entire day on a “let’s cram as much Venice as we can into one day” tour involving many huge bridges. We decided to meet them where they were staying.
This time we decided to try the vaporetti – the public water bus. We Made contact with the rest of our group. We decided to go to them – spent a whole long day climbing all the bridges in Venice. Decided to try the vaporetti (water buses) instead. Took us several tries to figure out exactly where to go to catch the correct bus. The good news is – the location of our hotel is the end of the line for ALL the bus lines. The bad news is – it’s really confusing to decipher which is the correct dock for where we wanted to go. Eventually we figured it out, and it was super easy after that.
We had a wonderful dinner, but we were fading fast. We found our way back to the vaporetti stop (note: there is no visible marker indicating where the stop is from the main street).
Tomorrow: Hoping to go to Burano, but the weather forecast is bleak: TBD
Maryland Meshugas 