Lost in San Marco On a Foggy Venice Morning

Well here we are in Venice, finally, after months of planning, waiting, anticipating and stressing about being ready and prepared for the trip, we're finally here!

The trip was pretty uneventful as far as international travel goes, except for experiencing one of the longest nights of my life. Has anyone ever slept on a plane? I imagined that since it was an overnight flight from Montreal to Munich that we would naturally sleep on the plane, wrong!

Canal action near Piazza San Marco

Did I say very long? Because it seemed to go on forever! First my seat kept getting kicked and pushed so every time I would almost get to sleep, bam once again. And just to make it more fun, the woman behind us left her reading light on all night, it was about the only light in the whole plane left on, right over our heads, thank you very much.

The continuously crying, wailing kid a few rows away didn't help matters either, (not sure what the problem was but he was just fine the next morning) and after that oh so pleasant night, I was pretty much living in dread anticipation of how the jet lag combined with no sleep for 2 days would affect my lovely wife, because she is a lady who needs her sleep!

Sunrise at Riva Degli Schiavoni 

But now........it was all worth it, hands down, bar none, living with a semi-comatose cave bear wife, whatever the pain, worth it big time.
This morning, we narrowly averted disaster, yes you who know me have already figured it out, haven't you? I almost slept in and missed magic hour!!!!!!!

After the seat kicking old lady and the crying boy and all the rest of the factors that contributed to no sleep, I was almost led astray, almost.

Rose said, "yes I definitely want to come with you in the morning, I know it's early but I want to come." So I set the alarm, got everything ready, (just in case) and went to bed. 

But 5:45 came very soon, too soon for the cave bear anyway and about all I got out of her when the alarm went off was a dangerous sounding growl.
So I chickened out and closed my eyes for 20 minutes that somehow turned into an hour and before I knew it, it was 6:45 am, rats, no sunrise for me today!

But, as luck would have it, because of the rain yesterday and a bunch of other factors that I don't know a thing about, instead of a typical, boring sunrise we got fog.

It was perfect, I was like a kid in a candy shop, oohing and awing and running around in a very random unfocused way, making incomprehensible noises of pleasure as each new vista magically appeared through the mist.

First the famous Rialto bridge, just amazing to be there at that time with NO TOURISTS (except 2, Rose and I) and all of the locals going about their work, getting ready for the hordes to come.

The Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

As we savoured the scene together, I began to sense in Rose, some of the same excitement that I was experiencing. It was wonderful to see it together, and she soon got into it and began excitedly pointing out good shooting angles and details that she wanted me to capture.

We decided to head towards Piazza San Marco because you just never know what you're going to find and something like mist comes and goes and has a mind of it's own.

So if you're like me and you get a chance to photograph a misty morning in Venice on a 4 day visit, you keep shooting till the mist is gone, or your card is full or you or your battery are dead!

We found the square and it was amazing, a few more people were around and the mist was a little thinner, but it was just beautiful and a great way to experience our first morning in Venice.

Looking up at St. Mark's Basilica in the fog

During the course of the morning I had seen my lovely wife Rose go from "Clan of the Cave Bear' to "Lover of the Dawn" and hopefully the transformation is permanent!

I did get a little bit of a scare on the way back to the hotel though as her new persona cracked slightly. You see, I am a man with a good sense of direction, you know the type, "I don't need no stinkin map" and for sure "I don't need no stinkin directions."
And that's usually true, except in the maze that is Venice, but that's another story....

Moored Gondolas near Piazza San Marco

All Contents Copyrighted by the author, Doug Petry