C21st souvenirs

Forgive the interlude, but this is amusing and I’ve just realised it. I’m collecting aps. I’m a hoarder. I’ve always collected train tickets and newspapers and local gig lists and programs and the like, but they are heavy and I’ve tried to wean myself off this habit. But now I find I’m collecting mobile phone aps. The train timetables and underground maps replaced paper some time ago and Google Maps became central to my travel experience more recently and my mobile virtually replaced my camera years back. But it’s Hi!Tide Venezia that had me realising the pleasure of collecting local virtual experiences. We’ve been in Venice immediately following some of the highest acqua alta (high tides) for yonks. This one reached and damaged the mosaic floors of the glorious Basilica di San Marco for only the fifth time in its 900 year history. That’s a tragedy. Our experience was more pedestrian. We were hemmed into our apartment by water that flooded our entrance. The Acqua Alta is a product of tides and winds (the Sirocco, a warm wind from Africa that pushes water up the Adriatic). So I was delighted when someone told me of this ap that predicts the Acqua Alta. Hi!Tide Venice. Souvenir hunting for the C21st century.