Lesson 7 Venice Diary

Preparation Day 1

My school’s drama club is preparing Shakespeare’s This morning we flew into the airport and came to

play The Merchant of Venice so that we can perform the island by water taxi. After the long flight, it was

it at our school festival in August, and I have the refreshing to travel across the water by boat. Our

best role: Portia. Portia is one of the most significant driver even let my younger sister take a turn steering

female characters in Shakespeare’s plays. She isn’t the boat, and she was thrilled!

just some princess in a palace. She runs off to

Venice, pretends to be a lawyer, and saves the life of

At last I stepped into Venice with a pounding heart,
her husband’s friend Antonio by arguing his case at
just like Portia. The first thing that impressed me
a trial. Anyway, the more I practice the play, the
about the city was how colorful it was. The walls
more closely I seem to follow her path in Venice.
were covered with bright blues, greens, oranges and

every other color. We stayed at a building that used

This year my parents are celebrating their 20th
to be a palace hundreds of years ago.
wedding anniversary. This is why we have been

planning to take a special family trip for several

It was a home turned into a bed-and-breakfast and
years. Finally, with summer vacation about to start,
was run by a very sweet old lady. The lady told us a
we discussed travel destinations. Naturally the first
lot about the palace and the area as well. By the
thing I suggested was Venice.
time we were ready for dinner, I was extremely

hungry. I’m glad I was so hungry because we went

My younger sister and my parents were all excited
to Dalla Marisa, a traditional Italian restaurant. There
about seeing the canals and gondolas, so they
are no menus at the restaurant. The guests simply
agreed right away. I can’t believe it! We’re going to
eat whatever Marisa is cooking that day. Since it was
see the real Venice. It will be like the theater come
Tuesday, we had fresh fish with bread and salad.
to life!
There was far more than I could eat, but it was all

delicious.
Day 2 Day 3

My mother said, “You can’t say you have been to On the third day, we took a tour of the city with a

Venice unless you have ridden a gondola,” so we all tour guide named Piero. We started in St. Mark’s

climbed into one of the famous boats. Our gondolier Square, the cultural center of Venice. From there, we

sang ‘O Sole Mio’ as the boat floated down a canal, could see St. Mark’s Basilica, a huge cathedral,

and his powerful voice sounded nearly professional. holding hundreds of dazzling mosaics and fantastic

works of art. Right next to St Mark’s Basilica is

After the gondola ride, we took another boat to the

Doge’s Palace, and we went inside. One of the most

Island of Murano, which is famous for its

impressive rooms was the Four Doors Room. It was

glass-blowers. We visited a glass factory and watched

filled with paintings of Greek and Roman myths. My

an artist melt glass in a very hot oven.

favorite painting was Neptune Offering Gifts to

Venice, which shows the mythological god of the

sea, Neptune, giving treasures of the sea to the city

I couldn’t believe how he was able to make the hot
of Venice. Then our tour guide took us to the
lump of glass into an elegant horse with just a few
Compass Room.
skillful movements of his tools. Another thing we had

to see while in Venice was the mask shops.

When he explained that this was where trials were

held long ago, I could imagine myself as Portia

Like glass-blowing, the craft of mask-making has
entering the Compass Room to defend ‘the merchant
been considered an art in Venice for hundreds of
of Venice.’
years. Our trip to the mask shop did not disappoint

us. There were dozens of masks in all different colors

and designs. My father said, “Why don’t you pick out

a mask to take home? It would be a great souvenir.”

So my sister picked a green mask with a long nose,

and I chose a mask with gold patterns around the

eyes. When I put the mask on, I felt like I was the

character Portia, hiding her identity, ready to save

the day.
PORTIA: A pound of that merchant’s flesh is yours. Day 4

SHYLOCK: Most rightful judge! I’m writing on the airplane, on my way home. As I

PORTIA: Wait a minute. There is something else. This look down at Venice from the sky and see the

contract gives you not a drop of blood. It only gives canals, I realize that this city is one of a kind. Now

‘a pound of flesh.’ If you spill one drop of blood, that I have seen the actual city, I’m even more

Then by the laws of Venice, You will lose everything excited about acting in Shakespeare’s play. Our trip

you have. to Venice was short, and it’s already time to say

SHYLOCK: Is that the law? goodbye. However, I will treasure these memories

When we walked out of the Compass Room and forever.

across the Bridge of Sighs, we could see the

charming canal that flows under the bridge, leading

to the prison. On our way back to the

bed-and-breakfast, our tour guide told us, “Venice

was built on wet and muddy land by people who

were trying to escape from armies from the north

and east.”

When I heard that, I was quite surprised. Who would

have thought that this city, born from tears and

suffering, would turn into a place of such great

beauty?

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