Ten o’clock at night on a hot, humid day in Venice. I had just washed my hair and decided to go for a walk to let it dry. I was staying near the Piazza San Marco. Why not walk through it one last time before bed?
Then I saw the lightning. It was far away, and I never heard any thunder. The t-shirt vendor was stacking away his wares for the night, humming “New York, New York” along with the Caffe Quadri band.
I walked into the Piazzetta and could see the tower of clouds piling even higher. Still no sound but the band playing at the caffe.
Lightning shows beat an electric hair dryer any day.
It’s good you decided to go for a walk at the right time! (I see the salesmen of those high flying, lit up things are still going strong.)
Oh yes, I should have explained the blue UFOs for anyone who is not aware of them. Vendors in the Piazza shoot these skinny blue tops into the air and catch them on the way down. Sort of ruins the old-world feel of a thousand year old piazza, don’t you think? And takes away from the lightning show.
Exciting. I miss Midwestern lightning storms (as long as I was inside and could watch them through a window). This had to have been fun.
It was so exciting! I stood there like an idiot staring at it for the longest time, then moving to a new area and staring at it from there.