The mini bus ride to Venice is pretty straightforward and only Euros 30 (aside from a terrible accident which slows us up as soon as wee arrived in Italy|) – hop on, hop off! We are deposited in Tronchetto and find a vaporetto that takes us to San Marco, where it is a short walk to the delightful Hotel Flora. Down a side street, it was a former palazzo and is set around a leafy courtyard where we breakfast each morning. Our room is tiny (servants’ quarters we guess) but it is ‘location, location, location’. After a couple of yummy Venetian G & Ts we set off for dinner via La Fenice, where there are elegantly clad ladies and gents enjoying some sort of performance, taking a breath in the interval, to the restaurant Ai Mercanti, which I strongly recommend.

Straight to San Marco in the morning – heaving, unsurprisingly. After a long struggle with online registration (the apps seem to want every last detail of your personal info which is suspicious) we manage to get tickets to the Campanile. It is a gorgeous day and the views, 360 degrees, are simply stunning. We decide to give the Doge’s Palace a miss as the queues are appalling, and it requires registering for yet another app, which I can’t face.

Next tick box is the Guggenheim Museum. We wend our way through the streets, over canals, and the Academia Bridge, to Dorsoduro, stopping at various leather and paper shops en route. We are surprised to see that most stalls and almost all low-end shops, especially leather goods, are run by Indians and Chinese. Later we learn that not only is the labour welcomed here, but many of the goods are in fact Chinese-made, even Made-in-Italy-stamped handbags! Tongue in cheek says it is legacy from Marco Polo who was Venetian…

Typical Venice scenes

The Guggenheim Museum is a haven of tranquility on a hot day. We wander round the rooms, marvelling at her collection. Rather too many Max Ernsts for my taste – but he was her second husband! I was fascinated to see the Rudolph and Hannelore Schulhof Collection there, as the Schulhofs are distant relatives by marriage (he came from Prague originally). Particularly like the Kandinskys, Picassos, Dubuffet – and the huge Anselm Keifer (all shown below). Not so keen on the Cubists…

It is now late and we trek round to the far side of Dorsoduro looking for a recommended cicchetti eatery – sadly it is closed! Even more tired we retrace our steps and revive ourselves with a lovely spritz for me and beer for Hil, and some pizza, followed by a delicious ice cream cone.

After a rather mediocre early supper, we go to the church of Santo Stefano, where the Interpreti Veneziani frequently play Vivaldi concerts – The Four Seasons being the most popular naturally. The cellist is an act on his own! It is packed.

On day two we really want to go to the Ca’ Pesaro to see their modern art collection but it is a Monday so we have to change plans and visit the Ca’ Rezzonico instead, one of the most splendid Palazzos in Venice, right on the Grand Canal, where one Robert Browning lived in 1888. However, we mistake the Academia bridge for the Rialto and get completely lost, looking for the mercato, which of course is not there! The nearest we get to fresh fruit and veg is this barge, below!

The grand ballroom, with its chandeliers and frescos is impressive, as are many of the frescos and paintings. Perhaps the most famous works are the early Canalettos, some of them the only pieces still in Venice. I also love some of the Chinoiserie, a panel of which – this lovely camel – is reproduced below.

I particularly love the porcelain collection:

At last we manage to find a perfect cicchetti place in a side street and indulge in spritzes and yummy squares of deliciousness.

Our last stop on the way back is the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, to give it its full name. It’s massive and famous for its works by Titian (Madonna left, Assumption on the right), Bellini altarpiece(bottom centre, the Madonna enthroned by saints) and a statue by Donatello.

Before we return for a rest, we stop off for a welcome ice cream and to buy a pair of the famous Venetian slippers for Claudie. I bought the ones in the centre…

Our final appointment for the day is with Sandra’s friend, a Spanish concert pianist who has lived in Venice for 26 years, in three apartments in the same Grand Canal palazzo. It is a privilege to sip G&T, nibble elegant canapés, and learn about the side of Venice you don’t see as a tourist, and to admire his drawing room – the old ballroom. We are allowed to take a couple of photos as mementos, including of the grand piano. A special evening for our last in Venice. Thanks Sandra for arranging it!

The next morning, bright and early, finds us on another vaporetto speeding along to the main station at Ferrovia, to board our express to Florence. We try and spot last night’s palazzo from the water – think it’s this one; there were two identical ones owned by the richest family in Venice for several centuries, money made from the pepper trade, and then gambled away.

The early morning is when the action happens, before the tourists are up and about. Great barges of soft drinks and groceries, dredgers, other commercial boats, all jostle for space on the canal. The palazzos, now mostly big hotels, sit serenely on the water. We feel that we have covered a lot of ground in two short days.