That was Robert Benchley, funny man. But it's true. I'll have better pictures in daylight, shortly, but this is the worst year in decades for the put-upon Venetians, who suffered the indignity of "high water" more times that you want to count. The worst part is that the city's most popular spot, the imposing Piazza San Marco, is also at the lowest level in Venice, so it gets flooded first. The Venetians are resourceful, though, and they have a system of elevated walkways ready to go, sturdy planks atop metal sawhorses, so the citizens of La Serenissima don't have to get their Gucci loafers wet.
Venice in winter, everyone agrees, is better: not so many tourists. Eighteen million a year, but they're warm-weather lemmings. What's most noticeable is how quiet the city becomes, once the lemmings leave. Why? No cars. The occasonal drone from a vaporetto, or the song of a gondolier, but no hotrods. Everyone rides public transportation, too, sitting in the vaporettos, three abreast like airplane passengers. No cars!
Geekspeak for a moment: I shot the Grand Canal photo from the Accedmia bridge last night during a break in th rains with my little FZ8 Lumix, aperture-priority, ISO 400 as I recall, bracketing three exposures +/- 1EV, then assembling them with Photomatix Lite HDR software. Not quite point & shoot, but close enough.
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