CondÉ Nast Traveller, December 2002
...We played "spot the palazzo" all the way under the Rialto Bridge and then past the Accademia before docking at a collection of red striped poles just opposite Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, which houses the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. All the children leapt off the boat and charged through vaulted stone arches and up wide worn stone steps, determined to be the first to bag the best bedroom. They needn't have hurried, as the choice was superb.
Through Venetian Apartments we had rented a marble-floored, first floor apartment in a palazzo next to the Conservatorio (the music school) on the Grand Canal. Furnished with huge modern sofas, efficient central heating, a galley kitchen and a glass dining table, it was light years from our ramshackle house on Norfolk. Hurling themselves onto a heap of grey silk cushions, the teenagers grinned and pronounced it excellent. The only familiar sight was the Christmas tree, kindly supplied by Venetian Apartments, standing, looking foolishly naked, next to the vast canal-view windows. Lily and Esme announced that they would be in charge of tree decorating, and immediately set to work...
