For the Venice leg of my journey, I decided to last minute stay in Lido, the neighboring beach island next door. After spending a day in the crushing mass of tourists, crammed into humidity filled spaces, I was quite glad that I did. Just look at these streets. Wide sidewalks either filled to the brim with flowers or cafes, shops, and gelato stands.

The beach itself was rather large with many piers taking bathers from their famous bathing huts to the Adriatic Sea.

You could rent any number of colorful huts to store your stuff, change, or just nap in the shade.

The piers would make for a great runway show.

The early morning beach was desolate. The sand was the finest, softest of any I’ve encountered. The water was cool, but not cold and would certainly be refreshing as the sun got brighter.

From the roof of my hotel in Lido, I could look back toward Venice and enjoy a (cloudy) sunset with bursts of color that were as tropical as anywhere.