(Sorry about the delay. The Internet crapped out yesterday and we weren’t able to get back on until today….because we’re in Paris!)
So rewind a day and sit back and enjoy.
Ciao!
What I didn’t tell you in the last post was Venice has an alarm system that sounds exactly like The Hunger Games chimes in Catching Fire. The first time Alison and I heard it was about ten PM.
We about peed our pants.
Side note: I mentioned the wind when we were put walking but it was somehow worse inside (a minor exaggeration) and had been making load whistling noises and banging of the shutters all night.
Anyways. The siren starts chiming these two extended notes and repeats them two or three times. After sitting in silence for a few seconds in fear that the whole island is about to sink into the Adriatic Sea (a reoccurring fear of Alison’s) we put boots and coats on and went downstairs to investigate.
Turns out the siren is to let the Venetians know there is an announcement about to be made. What follows is an indication of the tide levels. One extended note for every ten cm the sea will rise. One would think that the water would rush out, but I guess with the combination of wind and canal design, the water instead floods the streets.
Like major floods. I also woke up to the alarm sounding this morning, but this time it indicated 30cm! During our breakfast the water crept from a small pool outside to flooding the entry to the hotel. Not daunted by the rising water (now that the falling into the sea theory had been debunked) we set off in search of “boots” and Saint Mark’s Square.
Alison’s boot quickly developed a leak and after one submerged alley her foot was was soaked. We had to buy another set at the square which thankfully held up better. The wind was still crazy strong and there wasn’t a lot to do with everything flooded. So what were we to do?
Shop. And lust after the expensive leather and jewelry that we decided we would return for some day. In reality the prices were super fair and most of the shops had some really interesting things, not just tourist trinkets. It was refreshing to spend the day outside of a museum.
Tomorrow we hop on a plane to Paris and by tomorrow afternoon be wandering the shoreline of the Seine. Forecast says sunny for the next five days. Fingers crossed.