Venice

Monty Don has a new programme on Gardens of the Adriatic and a Venetian friend of mine – G – whom I met first in Tunisia nearly 40 years ago has written a walking guide to the city.

So in this extraordinary time, where travel is so difficult, I was able to enjoy two different takes on this extraordinary city.

I have been there three times: the first in 1989, then to see G and, thirdly, on a cookery course.

It has its limitations: it’s touristy and expensive, the restaurants are below par and it’s very easy to get lost.

Nowadays it has a real problem with the giant cruise ships.

Against that, to take a gondola, or to enjoy a negroni at the bar of the Gritti Palace, and witness the buzzing water world of the Grand Canal should be on everybody’s wish list.

It is a place you associate more with water than gardens but Monty Don takes us on a tour of public and private gardens which is always entertaining.

He knows his stuff but has that gift of presentation that is informative and welcoming but neither pretentious nor egotistical.

Above all, on a cold wintry night when the sun had long set, how glorious it is to see those magnificent sunlit palazzos that ring the Grand Canal.

G is descended from a line of Doge.  

After a successful career as a film executive he made enough money to fulfil his dream of purchasing his own residence in Venice.

He then wrote a biography of one of his antecedents Doge, Leonardo Dona, who sponsored Galileo, and now an enchanting guide to his city called Seven Days in Venice.

He describes himself as a flaneur.  

There is no exact translation of this French word but “stroller” is possibly the nearest.

G strolls around Venice pointing out the famous monuments – and its illustrious history as a maritime power – and its restaurants.

It’s written in Italian but he intends to produce an English translation.

My Italian is good enough to get about 80% comprehension.

Rather than keep a dictionary beside me, I keep a guide book on Venice and cross check the monuments he describes.

Most of all, it is a book written by a local who knows the city intimately which gives it an advantage over the more commercial guide books.