So she’d just enjoy this weekend for what it was.
The end.
Roland held her hand all the way on the plane, and when he walked with her to the end of the jetty at the airport. ‘I thought we could take a water taxi into the city,’ he said. ‘It’s the best way to see Venice for the first time.’
Once they were on the lagoon, Grace understood why he’d suggested bringing a hat and sunglasses. The reflections of the sun on the water were so bright that she would’ve been squinting without them. ‘Right now, I feel like a princess,’ she said.
‘That’s the idea,’ he said. ‘Watch the horizon.’
The water was pure turquoise and she couldn’t make anything out at first. But then she saw rooflines, all spires and domes. As they drew closer, she could see that there were houses packed in tightly along the shoreline, with bridges arching over the entrances to the waterways running through the city.
‘Venice rising from the water—this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,’ she whispered.
Roland’s fingers tightened around hers. ‘And it gets better. Watch.’
As they grew closer, she could see the architecture more clearly. There were shutters at the windows of the houses; plaster peeled away from some of the brickwork, while other houses looked as if they’d been recently restored.
Their driver took them under a bridge, and now they were really in Venice.
‘I’ve never been in a city without any traffic noise, before,’ she said. And it was odd to hear the swish of the waves and hear people talking where she’d usually expect to hear engines revving and horns blasting.
‘What’s that building?’ she asked. ‘All that latticed plaster reminds me of the icing on a wedding cake.’
‘That’s the Palazzo Ducale—the Doge’s Palace,’ he said. ‘And that tall tower opposite—the one with the red bricks and green roof—is Galileo’s Tower.’ He smiled at her. ‘We’ll walk through St Mark’s Square later, so you can have a closer look at them.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. Coming here was a treat—but coming here with someone who knew the place and could help her to find all the most interesting bits was better still. And the fact that that someone was Roland...
When their driver moored at the jetty, Roland helped her from the boat.
‘I still can’t get over this,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen documentaries and photographs of Venice in magazines, but the real thing is beyond anything I’d dreamed about. I think,’ she added shyly, ‘I like this even more than Paris.’
He looked pleased. ‘I hoped you’d like this. Let’s check in, and then we can go exploring.’
The hotel was part of an old palazzo; the decor was all cream and navy and gold, with marble flooring and a fountain in the reception area. Roland had booked them a suite with two rooms. Because they were only staying for one night, Grace managed to unpack her overnight case very swiftly.
The streets outside were crowded, yet at the same time it was so much quieter than she was used to in London, without the traffic noises. Gondolas and small rowing boats glided through the narrow canals; there were bridges everywhere, with the sunlight reflecting off the water and dappling the undersides of the bridges.
Shops crowded against each other, offering glass and Venetian masks and marbled paper; tourists posed for photographs on the bridges and in the little squares. ‘All the signs seem to point either to the Rialto or San Marco,’ she said in surprise.
‘In this part of the city, they’re the two main destinations and all the streets lead to them—though sometimes it’s the long way round,’ he said with a smile. ‘Let’s start at the Rialto. There’s a gorgeous view of the Grand Canal from the bridge.’
The marble on the bridge had been worn shiny by countless hands skimming across it; and Grace leaned against the bridge to watch the traffic on the canal go by. When they finished crossing the bridge to go into the marketplace itself, she discovered that it was a sheer delight, full of colour—selling everything from fresh seafood glistening in the sunlight through to tiny wild strawberries and fragrant herbs sold by the handful.
‘This is amazing,’ she said.
He glanced at his watch. ‘Wait a second.’
And then suddenly bells were pealing all over the city.
‘Is it a special occasion, or does this happen every day?’ she asked.