Acqua Alta

Our trip to Venice and the surrounding area was not only a great way to celebrate my birthday, but David had a meeting to attend concerning the project to protect Venice from flooding. And... we got a taste of acqua alta as there were weather conditions and tides cooperating to flood San Marco. We witnessed a minor flooding event as the water did not extend much further beyond Piazza San Marco and along the canal. Walking around, I could not help but notice that the tourists enjoyed the walking on the raised sidewalks, seeing the water spilling over the quays... personnally, I found it a bit annoying after the first high tide (of course, having managed buildings all these years, I kept thinking of the clean up, the damage, the liability...).

But even on gray days, Venice sparkles!






And... I did get a Venetian birthday gift in addition to the wonderful trip (thank you, D!).



There are serious glass artists remaining in Venice and they now have a DOC-type (like the French AOC --remember the terrior??) certification for pieces made in Murano --and not shipped to Murano from China and thus labelled Murano! This piece is by Afro Celotto... there is a great YouTube video of him at work in his studio... so next year...

December 1, 2008--the highest floods is over 20 years inundated Venice on Monday... the water was over a meter higher than shown in my pictures... now even the mayor of Venice wants the project built (he had opposed it!).