We wound our way through the crowds and into the bustling market. The market reminded me a little of our Seattle Pike Place --- but in Italy, you can purchase some very unusual meats and fish. For example, one of the shops is exclusively HORSE meat. (See picture). The locals maneuver their way past the curious tourists to purchase their daily groceries which must be like driving home and getting stuck every night in a traffic jam!!! Most of the tourists, like us are just looking. The food market closes in the early afternoon and virtually disappears, leaving only the little shops.
We headed on to get a late lunch in Santa Croce, stopping in shops along the way. The weather was perfect and spring like, so we were able to sit out next to a small canal at a little spot that are known for excellent pizza. We ended up sitting there for a while enjoying the atmosphere before heading off to the Natural History museum.
The Natural History Museum was fascinating. I'm assuming since we are so close to Africa that much of the culture extends north into Italy. The exhibit contains a collection from a famous Venetian safari hunter, including giraffes, rhinos, tigers and many other taxidermic heads. He left his amazing (and scary) collection to the museum.
On our way back to the hotel, which seemed like a long ways as we weaved through the streets like a maze, we happened upon a friend of Nancy's, Marisa, who owns a small bead store. She gave me a quick lesson in bead history. It's fascinating that beads were used for trade in Africa hundreds of years ago and are now turning up back in Venice as people are collecting them because of their rarity and historical significance.
I learned a few facts about different colors and patterns that represent the when and where they originated from.
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