Again, it is March and there is still a pandemic on. This means that St Mark’s Square, ‘the drawing room of Europe’ (Napoleon), is mainly empty. Some tour groups, including one all wearing the same jacket (scary) and some individual travellers but apart from that …..

This is a memorial on the way to the square to the leader of the abortive 1848 rising against Austrian rule. It’s now part of a hotel but please note the cannons and cannon balls.

After the square we went on the obligatory tour of the Doge’s palace. There are a lot of reminders about, including a rather fab exhibition, that Venice was 1600 years old last year. I’m not sure how they know the exact date, considering that it was in the 5thC, but maybe their records go back that far.

Incidentally, all the buildings in Venice are flexible enough to move if required, but the only one so far I’ve actually felt so it was the Doge’s palace. One of the floors vibrated quite a lot whilst we were standing on it.

After staggering out of the Doge’s palace – there are a LOT of stairs – two of us went for a very expensive sandwich at Florian’s cafe in the square. After picking the wrong cafe, I then got a bit of my sandwich plucked from my fingers by a seagull. Hmph.

Returning to the hotel, we barely had time to sit down before we were off on a gondola ride to the end of the Grand Canal, with Michael, our lecturer, pointing out all the palazzi on the way.

After this, we went to a private palazzo that wasn’t marked on our itinerary as the owner (a marchioness, no less) didn’t want it publicised. She showed us round, particularly the room – for which her husband’s ancestors had completely rebuilt the house – with two vast Canova statues of Ajax and Hector. We also got to see the piano nobile

of the house which has not been redecorated since the 1820s. The staff served us coffee and biscuits. The marchioness was delightful, absolutely from a world before the current one. Probably in her 70s, perfect deportment, blonde hair in a style she will have had for years, expensive but tasteful clothes. They have the family gondola on display on the ground floor and she told us how she used, when she was young, to do races with the neighbours in it, round the whole of the island of Venice – 32 miles!

Quick lie down at the hotel, followed by dinner at the Bistrot de Venise. All the recipes were historical (but delicious) and there was a different wine with each course.

Then…….after hours visit to St Mark. Just us in there whilst Michael (our lecturer) explained everything. Stupendous.