Picture of the Day - Gondola Bows

It was going to be a beautiful day in northwestern Italy when we boarded a pre-dawn train in Asti to travel east...clear across the top of the country to Venice. It was a five hour ride on one Italy's fastest trains, a Eurostar, including a one hour layover to change trains in Bologna. But, before we even got that far, the weather changed and in started raining. By the time we got to Venice, it was coming down in buckets and it never let up the entire day.

This was sad as I was taking Susan for her first ever visit to this magical city and I wanted it to be special. I had been there before and was anxious to share its magic with with her.

After arriving, we took a vaporato (the Venetian version of a bus) slowly down the Grand Canal, then around the back side of the city to its most famous destination, Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). I was worried that the heavy rains would cause the piazza to flood, as happens so many times during the year. But, that day, the floods never materialized. From St. Marks, we wandered in and about Venice's maze of tiny streets, across canal bridges, not worrying about getting lost as there are plenty of signs to help get you around.

The good thing about a rainy day in Venice is the city is nearly empty of tourists. You can wander at will without people, get into any ristorante with no waiting and enjoy a quiet meal. You can also take lots of pictures without people in them.

In my wanderings that day, I came upon a parking area that many of Venice's gondolas use to tie up for the night. But, on this stormy day, few gondolas ever left port as tourists aren't inclined to take a gondola ride in a torrential downpour. This was nice for me as I took several interesting pictures of the parked gondolas, of which this is one. If you look closely, you can see the rain drops on the water and on the highly polished bows.

But even in the rain, the city never loses its magic. Venice is one of my top five cities in the world and is worth many visits.