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Previously advertised shows are now sold out
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Venice Visit: November 2019
ACQUA ALTA
Venice is our favourite city, and we have visited it frequently. We know our way around, and we’re welcomed back in the shops and restaurants that we go to in the Dorsoduro, the district we like best. I had the bright idea of spending my birthday in Venice, as it coincided with the Feast of La Saluté. This is a major feast day in Venice, when they build a pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal to the Salute, the church that was built in thanksgiving for delivering the city from the plague. It didn't seem such a bright idea to go when Venice had its worst floods in 50 years the week before we arrived.
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Our hotel, La Calcina, is situated on the Zattere, the long promenade that overlooks the Giudecca canal – that’s the one that the huge cruise-ships sailed up to enter and leave Venice, until fairly recently. We knew that the Zattere had been flooded, but the hotel confirmed when we emailed them that they were back in working order. Indeed, when we arrived, there was no sign that only 7 days earlier the sea water had flowed over the Zattere, coming up to the level of the top of the reception desk. There was even hot water for us, though this had just been restored just an hour before we arrived.
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In shops and restaurants, we heard tales of how the water had risen and been driven in by hurricane-force winds. Signora Debra from La Bitta restaurant told us how she had waded along the Calle Lunga to get to work, and the lady from our favourite pasticceria had drawn a wavy line on the shop window to indicate the highest level of the water. Yet life went on, though we saw damaged fridges, washing-machines and mattresses piled up on street corners. Yes, people were discouraged and tired and angry, but in the end, they shrugged their shoulders, cleaned up and started again.
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The report is contued HERE with more photographs
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