Mandatory Venice, Part 4 (Masks and a Gondola Ride)

We had planned to take the “Row Venice” excursion and learn how to row a gondola, but it got cancelled due to the weather forecast, so we joined the group heading to Ca’Macana to learn about the history of masks in Venice and how they’re made today. The shop was a short walk from our dock.

This building is in Venetian Gothic style
The terrace (Altana) is the Venetian equivalent of a backyard
The tide is so high this mornibg that boats cannot cross under this bridge safely
“Rio tera” on a street sign means that it had been a canal before being filled – usually by the Austrians during their occupation of Venice because they didn’t know what to do with canals!
Fresh produce for sale right off the boat!
S. Barnaba Church (18th Century), now the Leonardo da Vinci museum

When we reached the shop, we were greeted by Victoria, who’s been making masks for 15 years (a veritable newcomer!). She showed us a short presentation about the history of masks, demonstrated how to make a mask, and let us handle some masks (which turned out to be a problem for me – my hand turned red and started to itch; fortunately, Venice has fountains everywhere and I was able to rinse off whatever was bothering me as soon as we left the shop).

Ca’Macana (mask shop)
David mask
Making a mask
The mold
Painting the mask
After adding gold paint
Gilded cat mask
Up close with the cat mask
Doctor’s mask used during the Black Death – The beak was filled with herbs for protection and filtration

Some people stayed at the shop to make their own masks, but Diane and I wandered back to the ship for lunch.

I wonder if this means what I think it means?

Gondolier at work

The weather was better than the forecast, so we decided to take a gondola ride. We’d passed a gondola stop on our way back from the mask shop, so we walked there. There were two gondolas parked at the stop, but no gondoliers!

Waiting for the gondolier

We waited for 15 minutes and were ready to give up; then my phone rang. It was Jean, one of our new friends who wanted to go out exploring with us (her sister wanted to stay on the ship and Jean didn’t want to explore on her own). We went back to the ship to meet her and then headed back to the stop – there were still two gondolas parked, but now there were gondoliers, too. Off we went for a quick tour of the Dorsoduro and the Grand Canal!

Finally on board!

Our friend Jean

Will we fit?

Welcome to the Grand Canal
Browning died here
You’d think no one in Venice had ever seen a gondola before

The gondola ride was short but fun. We walked around for another half-hour until it started to drizzle fairly seriously; we returned to the ship before the skies really opened up.

Our farewell dinner was enjoyable and delicious. Diane and I had had our waiter Ion on our Rhine cruise last year; he remembered that our table always ordered French fries for dinner…so he brought a bowl for us to have with the main course (beef tenderloin or pan-fried branzano), though it wasn’t on the menu.

Farewell dinner

We leave Venice early tomorrow. The week here has been excellent, but we’re ready for something different.