Tide is out: Saint Mark's Square, Venice

Sometimes I wonder to myself about the reason I took a certain photo. Then, like the one above, I remember clearly that the day before when we were in Saint Mark's Square, the tide was in and the square was full of water. In order to get around then, workers put out these metal and wooden platforms making a raised sidewalk to get from place to place. On this day, the water was going down and the workers stacked the platforms ready for use next time. I have seen pictures where people are swimming or kayaking in the square with unusually high tides. The melting of the polar icecap means even higher levels in the future.