The Mediterranean Cruise - Day 2 - Sunday, April 29, 2018

Day two actually began the night before with George (Dell) and Karen Sennentz finally arriving via London at 10:30 Saturday evening, although without Karen’s luggage. This morning we all bounded down to the breakfast room, which turned out one of the most delicious hotel breakfast spreads ever encountered. Fresh fruit, perfectly cooked scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, sweet rolls galore, cereals, cheeses, breads, even sparkling rose Prosecco, together with juices, coffee, and cappuccino.

At 9:30, all struck out for a walk to Piazzo San Marcos for a guided tour of the Plaza, the Doge Palace and a walking tour of the area. So much information, so well presented by our guide, Bruna. As today was Sunday, no tours of the basilica itself were allowed until afternoon, but given the crowd at the Piazzo, we were not discouraged for this omission.

We left our guide at 1:00 near the Rialto Bridge, after first enticing her to lead us to a small Bar/Ristorante for a refreshing glass of wine or beer and a small snack for some.

After the break, we separated into two contingents, one to head for some shopping and then back to the hotel for rest and conversation in the lobby garden and bar.

The other group, consisting of the Needelmans, the Coverts, and Ann Hosford soldiered on to the Jewish quarter for some investigation. The further away we traveled from Rialto and the San Marcos area, into the Canaregianno region, the less dense the crowds and the more we noted what appeared to be local residents. We learned that the term ghetto is derived from the Venetian word gheto, meaning foundry; the early Jews in the area were first foundry workers, and then were confined to this area to live and flourish. During WWII, Venice was the only city to protect its Jewish citizens, saving and protecting over 1,100 from the holocaust. We toured three synagogues and a short portion of the Jewish Museum.

After the long trek back to the hotel, we learned that we had posted over 18,700 steps - nearly 9 miles. No wonder there were some aching dogs.

Frank and Jean Daharsh had arrived in the afternoon from Omaha (the last of the group to rendezvous.)  Karen Sennentz’s luggage arrived and all was right with the world. We met in the lobby at 7:00 and struck out in search of restaurants as Dell had researched earlier in the afternoon. A long walk later, although three dropped back to eat closer to the hotel, we commandeered a large table and sat down to a surly waiter, good food, and an indecipherable bill. As the establishment did not accept credit cards, nor did they serve coffee, we settled on an amount that was acceptable to the waiter and mostly fair to the diners.

Back to the hotel by 9:30 and some well deserved rest in preparation for our transfer to the Oosterdam Holland America ship tomorrow