Yesterday a Shakespearean scholar, Shaul, came to our apartment to discuss The Merchant of Venice. It was an interesting discussion but my class and I were not told to read The Merchant of Venice, so the discussion was mostly based on the movie. I think our professors are having trouble communicating exactly what they want. 

After our discussion, we walked over to Gallerie dell'Accademia, a wonderful collection of Venetian art. It was SO incredible to see some of the artists I've studied in person, rather than in a text book or on a slide. There were video cameras everywhere, so I couldn't take any pictures, but this was my favorite painting:

The Tempest

Today it was FINALLY a comfortable temperature. Since we've been here, it has been exhaustingly hot. 85 to 90 everyday. Today was 72, but really windy! I was wearing a dress and I had to keep doing the "Marilyn Monroe" dress hold. First we went to Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia and listened in on a lecture by Ferit Orhan Pamuk, authour of My Name Is Red and Nobel Pize winner. So cool, right!? The only problem was that the lecture was said in English, Italian and Turkish so it was kind of hard to follow. Plus, again, none of us had read the book, so we really had no idea what was going on. Bringing us to the lecture was a good idea, just not really well executed. It was cool to see what a classroom/lecture hall looked like though.

After that we walked over to the Jewish Ghetto. It was SOO interesting to see the different synagogues. The ghetto was very different than the rest of the squares in Venice. For one, there were trees and plants...very little nature besides water in the rest of Venice. Also, the buildings were much taller than the rest of Venice because the Jews were confined to one small area, so they would build new floors on top. Again, no pictures allowed, but I got some from outside.

the ghetto

outside the synagogue museum.

The Ark where the torah is held. The one picture i snuck before the tour guide came in. 

The synagogues were so beautiful and ornate. It was so interesting to see three of the oldest temples in the world.

Matzah ball soup for lunch! the matzah ball was kind of brown looking, like a whole wheat matzah ball. I was so glad it tasted just as good as Bama's. I also had some falafel. Not as good as Israel, but better than New York!

After our tour, we slowly walked home and looked in some shops, my favorite thing to do. Tomorrow were going on some type of overnight in the Alps? The details are fuzzy but I'll report back later!

xo - sam