Ilze and I woke up three times this morning.

We know jet lag is best beaten by keeping out and about so after tea last night we went for a short walk and only meant to go to Rialto but then there was “this”,  and then there was “that” and then “we have come this far so we may as well” and then “no I don’t have my Vaporetto pass” so we had to walk home and just beat the rising tide back in.

The reason that the organizers of the orienteering event moved it to next weekend was because of the expected high tides and risk of acqua alta for this week. We knew it would be high because our host had rolled out the carpet, ummm I mean rolled up the carpet.

But still Venice by night is a major on the scale of the bucket list.

It makes you laugh

It makes you sigh

and it makes you weep.

Santa Maria della Salute makes you cry

Dozing quietly in the moonlight.

The flood walkways already up in San Marco

Hurrying home to beat the rising tide.

In bed by 10pm but up again at 2am because your stomach says  its lunch time.  And then up again at 5.45am  because the  flood siren has gone off  with that eerie rising scale that indicates its depth. Its an ethereal and haunting noise rather like the call to prayer that Debbie and Ian and ourselves first heard back in 2012. Then, we then had no idea what it was or meant, but now we held our breath and counted 4 octaves on a rising scale which meant 1.4 metres high. Sigh and go back to sleep, we don’t flood till 1.45metres. Then up again at 7.45am because we have to dash to the supermarket for supplies and be back before 9am and the flood waters lock us in until midday.

We just made it on time although Ilze got wet feet.  The waters duly rose and after the novelty wore off what to do for the  next three hours?.  Back to bed.

Street sweeper keeps to the left

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View from our front door.

Rising as the waters fell, we made our way down to the Historic Naval Museum in Arsenale as an  excuse to ride down the Grand Canal.  Actually it was because the last time we were here, it was closed for renovations and I particularly wanted to see the section in the Venetian Navy of the 14th and 15th Century. They had Ikea galleys. A fast, 100 oar beast with several cannon, manned by volunteers and every winter they would take them to bits and store them in the high and dry. When the enemy came in sight, teams of men could put them back and launch them at the rate of five or six a day. Most European naval vessels were water logged, worm and barnacle riddled hulks at the end of each winter.

If you cant have a Golden carriage?

Its a Doge thing.

We made it home by 6.00pm, have dined, wined, and a little Limoncello and are off to bed as the rising evening tide laps outside our door. (and hopefully stays there)

Still the red carpet has been rolled out.

Pete.

Its a 10