KYQ4: Venice: escaping Brexit

Doges Palace

Grand Canal from San Maria Della Salute

Doges Palace, evening crowds

Parade of Army and Navy in San Marko

From the Campanile at San Giorgio Maggiore

Grand Canal From Accademia Bridge

Academia Bridge

What can you say about Venice that has not been said already? It was my fourth visit, the first one a day trip from the Dolomites in the 1970s when the snow conditions had made skiing impossible. The next two trips were to celebrate special occasions in the 1990s so we knew the lie of the land. This short break worked out perfectly including the flights and timing. We had four days of bright March sunshine with temperatures cool enough for walking but warm enough for ice cream.

There were queues for St Mark's Basilica but the rest of Venice's crowds were comparatively modest, which meant quiet museums, tables at cafes and space on the vaporetto. Our hotel was well located between the Rialto and San Marco, it was a modern refit of an old palace, providing comfortable rooms, good breakfasts and excellent service. We were even given a room upgrade. I had booked with less than a week to go to escape the agonies of the planned Brexit day of 29 March. Never had a short holiday been so perfectly pitched, we both wanted to be in Europe not the broken UK that the government had carelessly curated.

We did not wish to be in the UK on such a day, although as the time approached, Mrs May had managed to delay the event by three months to give her a last chance to negotiate a deal that could get through parliament. As we ambled along the sun-soaked canals of Venice, I reflected "through the window of my eyes, to gaze on the rain-drenched streets of .. England" where life as we have known it is in grave peril. Many other disgruntled Brits had the same idea. We are Europeans at heart, it's all about geography (and history) really, something that PM May would understand if her geography degree had been at a less cerebral university than Oxford. Voters have been distracted and diffused by the appalling mess that the government has made by calling a referendum and not having a Scooby about what to do next.

Apart from the usual jaunts around St Mark's several times a day and two hours in the Doges Palace, one of my favourite buildings, we explored the quieter locations. We escaped the crowds by taking a short trip on the vaporetto past the aircraft carrier moored opposite the Doges Palace to San Giorgio Maggiore. It provided the best viewpoint in Venice by taking the lift up the Campanile. We lingered in the piazza, walked around the yacht moorings, and the Qwalala glass sculpture and visited the Borges gardens.

We spent two afternoons walking through the Dorsoduro District, the location of the second-best viewpoint at Santa Maria Della Salute. The largest art collection at the Gallerie Dell' Accademia disappointed us, with a major refurbishment taking place. However, the nearby museum at Ca' Rezzonico was a revelation for its exhibits of baroque paintings, carved ebony furniture, chandeliers and magnificent rooms adjacent to the Grand Canal. I extolled the virtues of Giandomenico Tiepolo's anti-portrait painting, New World, to another passing UK visitor whom Aileen told me later was Harriet Walter, the Shakespearian actor who recently played Clementine Churchhill in the Crown. I am immune to the offerings of Netflix and seldom manage to go to the theatre so my ignorance was genuine.

The best of Venice is the absence of traffic. The haphazard streets are dissected with canals, and crossed by elegant bridges, the buildings are decorated with sublime features, and the urban fabric oozes diverse charm. The Austrian urban theorist, Camillo Sitte, has always fired my imagination with his advocacy of piazzas enclosed by buildings on all sides and the art of urban design on a human scale. Attributes that are sadly lacking in most of the UK's towns and cities.

In Venice, there are examples of what he meant around every turn as you meander through the city. Glorious piazzas appear as unexpected treats with statues, carvings, and materials in subtle colours. They take precedence over the usual urban hotch-potch of advertisements, signage and standardised street furniture. The piazzas have an abundance of inviting tables, ice cream parlours, benches, fountains and small shops with wonderful window displays. The sounds of the city are not vehicles but the contented voices of residents and visitors from all parts of the world. Exploring the live history of Venice is a vibrant and inspiring experience. It is perplexing why we have forsaken this aspect of life on a human scale to accommodate the intrusion of the car into the hallowed centres of our built environment.