Our first full day in Venice! We slept hard last night as we recovered from jetlag and travelling. Woke up, got ready, took the lift downstairs and were about to step out of the hotel for our big sightseeing day when we were greated with this sight:
It’s the annual high tide phenomenon known in Venice as the “acqua alta”. It happens every morning because of the exceptionally high winter tides. This is different than the flooding we all saw on the news last month – that was due to heavy rains. This is just plain old high tide. So Venice is prepared for the acqua alta in many ways. One way is that the hotels (and street vendors) sell temporary wellies like these:
Not the most stylish and intended to last a very short while. €15. But you see just about every tourist dragging their feet around in these. Frankly awful.
“Frankly awful.”
Wearing these felt like what it must feel like to a dog when they have to wear a cone to prevent biting and licking wounds that need to heal. But they did help us get out of the hotel, and as the tide receded shops began to open and then you started to see vendors that sold more substantial wellies like these, also €15:
So we switched to these and it’s much better. Of course they aren’t perfect fits, and it feels like you’re walking around barefoot, but they are much more substantial. Venetians, of course, are much more prepared with stylish wellies like these.
Even with the inconvenience, this seems to be the time to be in Venice. There are not hordes of tourists, and the few lines that exist are short. More later!
