One spring day in the late 1300s, the hardworking people of Venice woke to an
extraordinary sight: three convicted criminals had been buried alive, heads
downward and with only their feet visble, among the flagstones of St Mark's
Square.
Times have changed, so we are told, and now the only people getting in over
their heads are the tourists herded along the labyrinthine alleyways into
the city's extortionate trattorias. Money and ruthlessness remain close
allies, however, so when I saw Caspar, our 12-year-old, turn his back on the
majesty of the Doge's Palace and enter into negotiations with a hawker
wearing a Bono T-shirt, my response was immediate: “Right, everyone back on
the boat.”
How many times in our travels - or in our lives, for that matter - have we
longed to utter those six simple words? Yes, we had a way out, an escape
route, or what business people like to call an exit strategy. And escape
routes don't come more beautiful than the Grado, a 10.2m (33ft) Pénichette
or canal boat moored just a short ferry ride away and ready to deliver us
from the madness that is St Mark's Square.
La Serenissima has bequeathed many things to modern Venice, but timeless
serenity isn't one of them. For that elusive commodity, you have to look
elsewhere, and the Grado and her sister vessels, part of a Locaboat Holidays
fleet, offer a convenient, comfortable and, when hotel rates are taken into
account, surprisingly cost-effective way of exploring the more peaceful
reaches of the Lagoon.
We had been introduced to the Grado late one evening at the company's base at
Chioggia, the busy fishing port on the Lagoon's southern perimeter, about
40km (25 miles) from Venice. For me, at least, the meeting was not without
apprehension. My only previous experience handling a houseboat had come
during an ill-fated holiday with my then partner on the Noosa lakes, north
of Brisbane, one scorching Australian summer two decades ago. The words
“voyage” and “damned” spring to mind. True, no fatalities resulted from my
errant seamanship - unless you count the relationship. Could it have been my
panic-stricken cries for “Help!” as I tried to raise the anchor - no
sniggering, please - during a late-night storm?
Life may have moved on since, but it's fair to say that my seafaring skills
haven't. Add congested waterways, Italian impatience and the presence of two
mutinous boys of 12 and 11 to the mix, and it was a fretful husband and wife
who went to sleep that night contemplating our next day in charge of the
good ship Grado.
We needn't have worried. A 45-minute onboard briefing over coffee and fresh
pastries the following morning provided enough reassurance to have us
casting off and setting out for Venice. “Just follow the bricole,” we were
told.
Our eldest's first thought was that this was some obscure Italian dessert, and
his face must have betrayed either confusion or delight because a photograph
was hastily produced. Bricole, it turned out, are the wooden posts sunk into
the lagoon floor to mark the intricate network of navigable channels.
As the Grado motored smoothly northwards, Chioggia's bell towers slowly
receding in the early winter sunshine, Caspar and 11-year-old Elliot took
the opportunity to explore their temporary home. Two single bunks in the
forward cabin gave the boys plenty of space to retreat when the demands of
map-reading, sightseeing and keeping lookout proved onerous.
A double bunk in the rear cabin came with en suite shower, offering a
surprising sense of privacy for a boat this size. The dining table in
midship quickly became the focal point for snacks and impromptu meetings to
plan the day's excitement.
And the highlights weren't slow in coming. Minutes after cruising past the
Hotel Cipriani on the Giudecca - a favourite with film stars and US
presidents among others - we suddenly found ourselves on the Grand Canal,
Venice's magical skyline spread out before us.
The view from the water delivered a dramatic history lesson: how many
conquering navies had returned to this very sight over the centuries? Our
two junior adventurers, however, seemed more impressed by the innumerable
churning, wheeling craft - from giant dredges to our own tiny houseboat -
and the possibility of maritime mayhem.
We tied up that night, the only boat in the company's private mooring on the
neighbouring island of Le Vignole. Once known as Venice's vineyard, the
island is now sparsely populated and its silent charms were especially
welcome after our visit to Venice, now a 15-minute vaporetto ride away.
We had little time for history lessons, however. Exhausted by the day's
adventures on the Grado, not to mention the flight from Bono and St Mark's
Square, we quickly fell into a deep and undisturbed sleep. Had we known - as
we were later to learn - that until recently the island's younger
inhabitants made their own late-night entertainment by untying houseboats
from the moorings and watching the ensuing spectacle, perhaps our slumbers
would not have been quite so peaceful. We were told that this example of
local humour was a thing of the past, although the assurance came with a
knowing Italian wink.
Having survived the journey from Chioggia to Venice and beyond without
incident, other islands beckoned, and breakfast was spent consulting maps,
guides and each other. There was no need to choose, however: the northern
reaches of the lagoon are ideal for island-hopping, and the islands of San
Erasmo, Burano and Torcello are within easy reach.
Burano's distinctive multicoloured dwellings - painted in individual hues by
their fishermen owners to make identification easier when returning home
with the day's catch - came into view after only 90 minutes. Tying up was a
simple affair, followed by a five-minute stroll into the central piazza for
lunch. The half- dozen restaurants were doing a busy trade with visiting
tourists, and it was only after a meal of local seafood that one of the
houseboat's greatest benefits was revealed: while other diners were
hurriedly ushered back into water taxis to be returned to their Venice
hotels, we could linger on, enjoying a coffee and then a stroll around the
near-deserted streets.
Neighbouring Torcello, with its striking bell tower, and the nearby monastery
island of San Francesco del Deserto, offered ample scope for diversion and
we paid several visits. Invariably we returned to the sheltered moorage at
Burano, where Caspar and Elliot quicky mastered the tricky maze of streets,
guiding us back to the Grado after an evening out.
Back at Chioggia, after six days on the Lagoon, I realised the two boys had
been offered an all-too-rare insight into Venice: that despite its majestic
excesses, the city is part of a wider, and even more precarious, culture.
Even odder, though, sitting at my desk in London, is the number of times I
think of the little Grado and wish that she were moored near by - the
perfect getaway.
NEED TO KNOW
European Boating Holidays (0845 450 5229, www.locaboat.com)
has one week aboard a Locaboat Pénichette in Venice from £1,000 for four
people.
EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) flies from
Gatwick to Venice from £47.98 return
CITIES BY WATER
Amsterdam
Cruise through flower fields to Sixhaven Marina, mooring in a tree-lined
backwater off the main canal. From £610 a week with Le Boat (02392 224252, www.leboat.co.uk)
Bruges
Potter through picturesque canals, climb the spiral steps of the Belfort and
stock up on chocs. Three nights from £363 with Boating Holidays (01756
701200, www.boatingholidays.com)
Birmingham
Explore the city's industrial heritage along canals to regenerated historic
Gas Street Basin. From £830 a week with Waterways Holidays (0845 1271020, www.waterwaysholidays.com)
Carcassonne
Discover the Canal du Midi in southwest France. From £555 a week with
Hoseasons (0844 8471100, www.hoseasons.co.uk).
Prices are for boats sleeping four.
Caroline Hendrie
