Mick Jagger told us decades ago; you can’t always get what you want. I keep that in mind when traveling. It’s always nice to get the sunny days, but I prepare for rain and wind just to be safe. Sometimes when you get lemons you have to make lemonade. This happened to me recently in Venice, Italy.

We’ve all seen the classic postcard photos of St. Mark’s square or the Grand Canal with gondolas floating on a romantic evening ride. Those pictures may even be the incentive to visit. Preparation for the recent trip included reviewing travel books, repeated viewing of a Rick Steves’ episodes about art and history of Italy in general and Venice specifically, always on sunny days.  Our trip was characterized by stormy, overcast skies.

Of course, the rain didn’t change the sites. St. Mark’s square and cathedral didn’t mysteriously move to another place and the city didn’t just decide to close the venue to the public. The gondoliers still needed to pay their bills and the food was as wonderful as ever. What needed to change was my attitude about what images I would capture to bring back with me. Since many of the postcard images that inspired my visit won’t happen without the sun, I switched to lemonade mode.

Our visit was supposed to begin with a visit to San Giorgio Island, a visit to the top of Maggiore’s bell tower at San Giorgio’s church and a photo of St. Mark’s square compete with the basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the famous clock tower perched on the edge of the sea. The weather eliminated the taxi ride across to San Giorgio for the duration of our stay. Instead, I looked for other ways to capture this beautiful city built on the water.

Venice’s canals and gondolas remain beautiful and timeless regardless of the weather. Likewise, the various stairways, doorways, and piazzas were still there, and the local people, some strangers, and others old friends, met for dinner or to buy something to take home.

The Doge’s Palace

 A protected view of the courtyard inside the Doge’s palace provided an opportunity to capture its Venetian Gothic columns and interior court. The space was mostly deserted due to the weather. I could imagine the space in its prime filled with conversations about trade and government or the party scene at night as the wealthy turned out for some gala affair.

The frescas and artwork on the walls are easily accessed from any number of good books about Italian art from the ancient and gothic through Renaissance and late 19^th century eras. I couldn’t get permission to display them on my little blog anyway, so I didn’t photograph these scenes.

The Doge’s palace was the seat of government during the heyday of the Republic of Venice and was a combination Congressional building and White House. Adjacent to the palace is the jail.  Jails have never been pleasant places to be, and this was no exception. The doors were extremely small, and the structure was built from stone. I’m confident the building was never warm in the winter and uncomfortably hot in the humid summer. Looking into the spaces for the prisoners and walking through the hallways our conversation moved to reasons for incarceration and conditions during the prisoners’ stay. “Imagine being in here because you couldn’t pay your bills. How were you going to pay them from here?”, one of my fellow travelers commented. “The prisoners had to pay for the food and whatever bedding and clothing needed while in prison. All while not being able to earn a living.” I added there was likely little effort to control the vermin running around.

We spent the better part of a day visiting the Correr Museum across from St. Mark’s Basilica. Filled with both archeological items and part history, the Correr is directly across from St. Marks. We remained aware of the rain throughout the day and occasionally we would look out the windows only to confirm the storm was in full force while we were dry inside. When we emerged on to the square it was still raining and blowing so hard we decided to take a respite in our canal side hotel, catch up on a little reading and plan our next steps.

The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge

A couple of hours later the front had blown through and the sun greeted us just in time for an early dinner and stroll on the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. We took the short walk to the Rialto with the sun glistening off the damp streets and the skies mostly clear. During our break I viewed a Scott Kelby video about taking travel photos while on vacation. His advice, “when you see great light find something to photograph”, jumped out at me when we stopped at the top of the Rialto Bridge.  The light, part translucent and thoroughly brilliant was nothing short of spectacular. For about two hours we had the Venice we thought and hoped we would visit with the Grand Canal, the gondolas, and the sites lit as though I had put in an order from the lighting department.

A Different St. Mark’s Square

After dinner I mentioned to the concierge at our hotel that I planned to go out before sunrise and take some photos. The forecast was for an overcast morning. He mentioned it would be foggy, “too bad for my luck in getting good pictures”, he stated. Foggy mornings mean a different photo opportunity.

The sun rises behind St. Mark’s Basilica. On a clear morning the streetlights on the square would have made for interesting photos next to the backlit skies. If I had been given that sunrise, I’m sure I would have captured some interesting, if common, images. The fog, however, presented a unique opportunity, especially because I love images in black and white.

A good picture should tell a story. With the diffused lights on the square and the ghosty tower in the background, these photos dare me to write a narrative to match their mood. Maybe someday I’ll give that a shot.

Picking up Mick Jagger’s lyrics, I didn’t get what I wanted but I think I got what I needed. I didn’t get the postcard photos I had in mind when I planned this trip. I guess I can always buy postcards and pretend I was at that Venice. Instead, we visited at a unique time and when the skies and colors weren’t perfect, I still walked away with images I can be proud of and will remind me of my trip. After all, I like lemonade.