Fog in Venice

Fog covers the Veneto for hundreds of square miles. The big Anek ferry from Greece waits beyond the Lido unable to take up a tow through the basin of St Marks and the Guidecca Canal to the Port of Venice. So we are staying a second night in the city, wandering through misty passages beside limpid canals, waiting for the weather to change so we can travel south to Greece. On Monday night Lin and I strolled from Piazzale Roma to St.Mark's Square, taking a free boat along the Grand Canal back to our hotel. Next morning we took the new People Mover to the port. It dropped us in the middle - so it seemed - of nowhere. We needed to drag our cases half a kilometre through the fog beside concrete blocks, chain link fences and vast warehouses disappearing into cloud. Lin ahead of me in her raincoat made the front cover of a Balkan thriller. At last in the warmth of the departure building we were told 'There is no ferry and we don't know when there will be." We waited for hours, read, wandered among the waiting truckers and journeymen, stood outside for an occasional smoke peering into the mist listening for a big siren, sipped coffee, gossiped with strangers, read and snacked, and eventually returned to our hotel in a shared taxi with a promise from the company - one conscientious lady with a clipboard - they'd call if the weather improved. Now at 6am peering from the window of our bedroom it looks as if the air's clearer, so perhaps we shall be in Corfu by Thursday.

Constitution Bridge