Monday, October 29th, 2018. Our arrival in the fabled city of Venice was less a gentle gondola ride and more a wade into watery wonder. Instead of the postcard-perfect canals reflecting centuries of history, we were greeted by an altogether more dramatic scene: Venice submerged.
They say acqua alta, the high water, is a part of Venetian life. But the deluge that greeted us on our first day was something else entirely. Reports trickled in of the worst flooding in over a decade, the water levels in places, particularly around the iconic St. Mark's Square, creeping alarmingly close to three feet. The romantic notion of exploring the labyrinthine alleyways quickly dissolved into the more pressing reality of navigating a city rapidly turning into a temporary lagoon.
Our initial plans for a leisurely exploration were, shall we say, dampened. The heart of Venice, the areas we had dreamt of seeing first, were simply unreachable. Instead, our initial hours were spent confined to the periphery – the areas around the airport and our hotel becoming our unexpected initial playground.
But even in these less celebrated corners, the power and strangeness of the situation were undeniable. The familiar sounds of rolling suitcases were replaced by the slosh of water, the usual bustle punctuated by the lapping tide against doorways. Reflections danced on surfaces that should have been dry, turning ordinary streets into shimmering, albeit inconvenient, waterways.
Armed with whatever photographic tool came to hand – my trusty Sony phone for quick snaps, the surprisingly capable camera on my Amazon tablet, and my reliable Nikon D330 SLR for when conditions allowed – I tried to capture the surreal beauty of this unexpected introduction to Venice. These first images aren't of grand palazzos or bustling markets. They are a testament to the resilience of a city facing a formidable force of nature, a glimpse into the everyday adapting to the extraordinary.
They are pictures of a city holding its breath, waiting for the waters to recede, but even in its submerged state, radiating a unique and unforgettable charm. This wasn't the Venice we expected, but it was certainly a Venice we will never forget. Stay tuned for more as (hopefully!) the waters subside and we can venture deeper into the heart of this incredible, if currently very wet, city.
Clicking any of the images below should open a link in another window to my Colin Green Photography store on Zazzle.
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| Taken at the Venice airport boat moorings waiting for my transfer to the city. |
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| This was my first proper land based view of Venice, taken from the boat landing area near St Marks Square looking across the water to the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. |
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| Looking down from my hotel room at San Marco Palace to the flooded courtyard below. |
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| Flooding outside Doge's Palace at the entrance to St Mark's Square. The water got deeper than this crossing the square, reaching chest height on me before I successfully reached my hotel. |
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| The hotel steps. |
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| The Hotel Steps again, looking up towards the sky light. |
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| Looking down towards the Alps Mountain range somewhere near the borders of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Italy. |
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| The rooftops of Venice viewed from my hotel room at San Marco Palace. |
