It was early evening October 31, 2012 (Halloween) walking the streets wet with rain but certainly not flooded. The rain looked normal as we entered Harry’s Bar, sat down and ordered two Vodka Martini. Surrounded by both well dressed Italians and horrible tourists, not horrible people but dressed with outerwear gear, wet black and thin jackets.

I couldn’t help to think how this all works. After one hour the restaurant gets numb and the waiters seem restless. The waiters’ mobile phones are all ringing with text messages sent to the more than 42,000 subscribers by the institution Forecasts and Warnings Tides Center confirming the occurrence of an event of an exceptional tide.

The high tide of 140 cm at 23:45. The arrival of the northern Adriatic low pressure of a disturbance from the Atlantic, which caused rain and bad weather on the peninsula and the Adriatic winds sirocco at speed of 70-80 km/ h.

The cuisine is irrelevant at Harry Bar, as we prepare to depart except we have no water boots. The water is at the knee almost and there is panic. I request four garbage bags and two per foot. The waiter tapes it above the thigh and we are off.

The food at Harry’s Bar is borderline passe, if not passe but you go there because….when in Venice it is ritual.

The photo above is the day after the flood in the morning.