Venice, day 1

Well here I am in the most beautiful city in the world. I had hoped that, coming to the mediterranean I would leave the rainy weather behind, but barely an hour after I arrived I already heard a peal of thunder and a few minutes later it was pouring rain. It's like the bad weather is following me! However, the rain didn't last long, and the sun came out very soon. But something funny I noticed was the huge, deep puddles left at Piazza Santa Marco. Who would have thought Venice would have such bad drainage?
Venice of course is an island in a lagoon criss-crossed by narrow canals. I have yet to see a road, and the last car I saw was at about 9 o'clock this morning on the mainland. Travel is strictly by water or foot, and to call the lanes labyrinthine would be an understatement. However, you can't walk five metres without being astounded at the beauty of the city - if someone in Venice tells you to get lost, take it as a compliment.
Anyway, I spent most of today so far just wandering around, so I have little in the way of stories, just pictures. One thing I was surprised at was prices. People keep saying how expensive it is, but it's really not as bad as I expected. Now Venice isn't exactly a bargain basement city where you can live on small change alone, but this internet cafe aside I was surprised that it wasn't more expensive.

You can get to the top of that tower, but disappointingly
it's via elevator, not stairs.