It was around this time that our boat started to feel extremely slow. Presumably to reduce the danger of tourists ramming the Rialto bridge, our Elegance cruiser was limited to about 8kph. Back on the river this seemed more than enough. Crossing the central waterways, dodging the bows of eight lanes of shipping from rowboats to car ferries, it felt like tip-toeing across a motorway.
Thrilled by the view, and delighted to have survived the traffic, we pulled up at some free moorings just down from the Hotel Cipriani (where suites cost up to NT$150,000 a night). We piled off the boat elated, and headed to the restaurant Los Murales. Sitting down outside, we marvelled at the view back across the water to St Mark's.
Then the owner stuck her head out of the door to greet us: "Scusi! Closed!" She literally spat at us, even though it was an hour before closing time.
While having your own boat is a glorious way of seeing the sights of central Venice, it also opens the door to the numerous less-visited islands of the lagoon.
On our final day, we headed for lunch to the island of Torcello, a few kilometers across the water from Venice's tourist-swamped city center. On Torcello you suddenly find yourself in the middle of the countryside. We walked along a path from the deserted quayside to the stunning 11th-century church, and saw no one except old men pulling vegetables in the field.
Hidden in the heart of the island is a little cluster of restaurants. Among them is Locanda Cipriani, which although it looks nothing from the outside, is Italy's most famous restaurant, its sumptuous seafood a magnet for film stars and royals. It was shut.
We ended up having lunch back on deck. As we sat there, a ferry load of tourists pulled up at the quayside beside us. They spilled onto the land, looking at us with envious eyes. Lunch may have been only a commercially produced cake, but we felt like film stars all the same.
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