VENICE, ITALY — When I travelled to Venice Italy at the beginning of the month, I learned to expect the unexpected, including unexpected weather.
I arrived in Venice, Italy a little before noon on Friday, Nov. 2. After a walk around the city and a quick nap, we woke up to get ready for the evening. By this time, it had started pouring rain.
We went sightseeing and headed out to dinner. On our way back, we noticed that the water level in the waterways was rising.
The next morning we woke up and our Australian hostel mate informed us that the streets were in fact flooded. At first, I did not take his word for it. But when we walked downstairs we found that the lobby was filled with water above our ankles. We stepped outside to find that the streets were completely flooded and the waterways overflowed into the shops, restaurants and hotels. I had on suede boots that got completely soaked through. I had to ditch them for rain boots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM7JhIiwVAg&feature=youtu.be
Despite the fact that every business owners’ shop was flooded, no one seemed concerned. The Venetians went about their normal business. The receptionist at the hostel paid no attention to the two feet of water in the lobby as she checked in guests, the barista took my order as if her cafe was not inundated with water and the vendor selling me rain boots on the street was not phased. I guess he was just happy to have the business.
Video submitted by Audrey Horwitz.