14: Poveglia Island

We're going all the way to Italy this week to talk about Poveglia Island! Ever since it was claimed by people in the year 421, it has seen nothing but death. Leyna gives us the timeline from when it started off as a stronghold for battle, a quarantine zone where over 160,000 people met their deaths,  and then eventually turned into an abusive mental institution run by a malicious doctor. Did you know the term quarantine comes from the Italian word "quaranta giorni" meaning forty days? That's how long people had to isolate themselves during plague times...Not these plague times, the other plague times...
Lauren tells us about the spooky encounters that thrill-seeking tourists and locals have experienced, and why they vow never to return to the island. 

Our drink this week is a Bellini Cocktail which contains white peach puree mixed with Prosecco.  Ironically, some of the best-tasting peaches in Venice are found on Poveglia Island.  It couldn't have to do with the soil being made of human remains....could it?