Overall I felt that this chapter could have related to salt a little bit more. I thought that the Venetians were very smart people. They were able to make tons of money over salt, when others could have traded just like they did. I always thought that crossing the seven seas meant crossing many different sees, so I was shocked when it meant you sailed over a strip called the seven seas that lasted 25 miles.
The Venetians were very smart when it came to getting salt. The ponds they produced seem quite amazing, they would have been cool to see. It was cool that the people of Venice were able to come together in their time of need, no matter how different they were from one another.
This chapter leads us back to the Chinese again, every place we go China is connected in some way. I do not think that Venice should have caused so much trouble for the other salt countries, they were just trying to make a living like they were. I also do not think the the government had the right to tell the merchants how much and at what price they could sell their salt for. I think the Venetians took their power over salt just a little to far.
I always thought that the Italians were the first ones to discover pasta. I never dreamt that it actually came from the Chinese. I also never knew that it sometimes came from the flower of a tree, how weird. I would say based on Marc Polo's book that he definitely went to China.
6 comments:
The sevens seas thing surprised me too. I thought the saying came from sailing over many seas. I found it interesting to discover where the saying originated.
I was a little interested by the seven seas idea. I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed that this chapter wasn't as blunt ab out its connection to salt. I would have never guessed that I would read about the "real" Marco Polo .lol.
I couldn't believe that the Seven Seas were only 25 miles long either! That's like from here to Butler, which is definitely not far at all. It really gives me more appreiciation for my good buddy, Marco, because if a 25 mile trip was nuts, then how crazy did you have to be to go all the way to China!
Totally agree in 2 ways
-this chapter really seemed to stray away from salt
-China needs to gtfo my life. It's everywhere.
I agree that the Venetians were very smart! They knew exactly how to make a good profit for themselves. Even though they were just a tad salt obsessed, they did pretty great things.
Yeah, Mr. K goes more on a food kick in this chapter, but I guess the book is about that sort of thing. Anyway, you are right about the Venetians being smart. They controled the salt trade and made tons of $$$
Yeah, the 7 seas thing is neat. This book is full of explinations for words and terms that we use every and each day. I like the history of words and terms like that.
Marco Polo and China are the tie in here. I guess your class seems quite burned out by "The Good Earth" as the anti-Chinese comments continue to show up on these blogs? Too bad since next sememster we'll be spending at least 3 weeks on China.
Nice job with your blog so far
Mr. Farrell
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