Venice to Ferrara to Florence
Our day started by loading the group with all our luggage into four water taxis. We were taken to the bus station where we met our bus for the day. It is amazing how life in Venice revolves around water transportation with no motor vehicles or even bicycles o the streets.
After loading the bus it was off to Ferrara. On the way our wonderful educator, Lana, gave us background material and a historical perspective of early Jewish life. She centered on the Jews of Tuscany.
The bus parked in a large parking lot and we walked to the museum. In many places busses are unable to drive on the narrow old streets. The museum is very new and originally it was not on our itinerary. The group was split into 2 and we saw the exhibit on the first 1,000 years of Jewish life in Italy but also got the background from the beginnings from Abraham on. The next stage for the museum is to have the exhibit that deals with the Renaissance. Some of the group enjoyed a maze outdoors in a garden that had a quiz on different aspects of kashrut.
Some of the pieces in the museum were inscriptions from ancient Italy, some coming from the catacombs. They presented some interesting aspects of Jewish life.
There were two recommendations for the museum. One was to have a few benches around so people could sit for a while. The second was to raise the signage higher so people didn't need to bend over to read them (if they were even able).
From the museum we walked into the center of the old part of the city. We passed many stalls of street vendors for clothing, etc. Inside the walled city there were other booths.Peope had time on their own for a little lunch, some walking around and of course for some gelato.
The ride to Florence was a mixture of napping, viewing some beautiful countryside and a bit of discussion and education. The beautiful hills and mountains of Tuscany were wonderful to behold. On the road which went through these mountains there were many tunnels right through them.
When we arrived in Florence, the bus pulled into a parking lot and the driver got out for a while to register the bus with the local authorities in order to be given permission to drive downtown to the very narrow streets of the more historic district. During this time which lasted for the better part of a half hour Lana answered numerous questions about what people saw and heard in the museum. She and I discussed some of the historical factors in regards to Josephus, Masada, Yotephat, and the name the Romans gave to Judea/Palestine. She said that after Herod his three sons were given rule in the land called Palestina. I had thought the name was given later. In both cases it was given as a slap in the face to the Judeans/Jews.
The most unusual part of the day was getting up to the hotel on those narrow streets with many cars parked on both sides of the streets often extending into non-parking areas which prevented the bus from passing and turning. First there was a blocked off street. Then when the driver came to the corner of the hotel's street there was absolutely no way to turn. BWithin a short time three cars were behind us. Finally a bellboy was summoned from the hotel who had us all back up down the long narrow passage. At one point a car pulled in at a slant to drop off people at a different hotel and had its rear sticking out into the street. They moved and we finally backed out and after a few manouvers we circled around in order to enter the hotel's street straight on. Half way down the block there was a reversal of the one way direction and the bus was supposed to turn into a narrow entrance to a parking lot. This too could not be done due to an illegally parked car. A bit of traffic again backed up and finally we unloaded in the street near the hotel.
After a short hour we met in the lobby to go to the Reform congregation, Shir Hadash, for Kabbalat Shabbat and a dinner. It resides in a community center room and the handful of congregants from the congregation along with the rabbi greeted us warmly and set up. We had thought we'd get an introduction to Florence's Jewish story and the congregation itself. The noise in the room as well as the soft speaking didn't quite allow that to occur.
One of the congregants served as cantor and most of the tunes were familiar, often one's we do at Sinai. The Lecha Dodi was done in the Florentine style. There was also a young man present who now studies in London and played a glorious violin piece during the silent prayer. The Torah was read and they gave us 2 alit. We had the four past presidents on the trip do one after Jan and I were offered the first. I also gave a short dvar Torah. There were also four Brandeis students on study abroad who attended.
After the service there was a light dinner that they brought in since our group overwhelmed them in number. We were more than twice their number. It was wonderful to speak to them,many of whom were ex-pats. We had a lovely evening before returning to the hotel.
After loading the bus it was off to Ferrara. On the way our wonderful educator, Lana, gave us background material and a historical perspective of early Jewish life. She centered on the Jews of Tuscany.
The bus parked in a large parking lot and we walked to the museum. In many places busses are unable to drive on the narrow old streets. The museum is very new and originally it was not on our itinerary. The group was split into 2 and we saw the exhibit on the first 1,000 years of Jewish life in Italy but also got the background from the beginnings from Abraham on. The next stage for the museum is to have the exhibit that deals with the Renaissance. Some of the group enjoyed a maze outdoors in a garden that had a quiz on different aspects of kashrut.
Some of the pieces in the museum were inscriptions from ancient Italy, some coming from the catacombs. They presented some interesting aspects of Jewish life.
There were two recommendations for the museum. One was to have a few benches around so people could sit for a while. The second was to raise the signage higher so people didn't need to bend over to read them (if they were even able).
From the museum we walked into the center of the old part of the city. We passed many stalls of street vendors for clothing, etc. Inside the walled city there were other booths.Peope had time on their own for a little lunch, some walking around and of course for some gelato.
The ride to Florence was a mixture of napping, viewing some beautiful countryside and a bit of discussion and education. The beautiful hills and mountains of Tuscany were wonderful to behold. On the road which went through these mountains there were many tunnels right through them.
When we arrived in Florence, the bus pulled into a parking lot and the driver got out for a while to register the bus with the local authorities in order to be given permission to drive downtown to the very narrow streets of the more historic district. During this time which lasted for the better part of a half hour Lana answered numerous questions about what people saw and heard in the museum. She and I discussed some of the historical factors in regards to Josephus, Masada, Yotephat, and the name the Romans gave to Judea/Palestine. She said that after Herod his three sons were given rule in the land called Palestina. I had thought the name was given later. In both cases it was given as a slap in the face to the Judeans/Jews.
The most unusual part of the day was getting up to the hotel on those narrow streets with many cars parked on both sides of the streets often extending into non-parking areas which prevented the bus from passing and turning. First there was a blocked off street. Then when the driver came to the corner of the hotel's street there was absolutely no way to turn. BWithin a short time three cars were behind us. Finally a bellboy was summoned from the hotel who had us all back up down the long narrow passage. At one point a car pulled in at a slant to drop off people at a different hotel and had its rear sticking out into the street. They moved and we finally backed out and after a few manouvers we circled around in order to enter the hotel's street straight on. Half way down the block there was a reversal of the one way direction and the bus was supposed to turn into a narrow entrance to a parking lot. This too could not be done due to an illegally parked car. A bit of traffic again backed up and finally we unloaded in the street near the hotel.
After a short hour we met in the lobby to go to the Reform congregation, Shir Hadash, for Kabbalat Shabbat and a dinner. It resides in a community center room and the handful of congregants from the congregation along with the rabbi greeted us warmly and set up. We had thought we'd get an introduction to Florence's Jewish story and the congregation itself. The noise in the room as well as the soft speaking didn't quite allow that to occur.
One of the congregants served as cantor and most of the tunes were familiar, often one's we do at Sinai. The Lecha Dodi was done in the Florentine style. There was also a young man present who now studies in London and played a glorious violin piece during the silent prayer. The Torah was read and they gave us 2 alit. We had the four past presidents on the trip do one after Jan and I were offered the first. I also gave a short dvar Torah. There were also four Brandeis students on study abroad who attended.
After the service there was a light dinner that they brought in since our group overwhelmed them in number. We were more than twice their number. It was wonderful to speak to them,many of whom were ex-pats. We had a lovely evening before returning to the hotel.
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