This month, JOHN TREW heads to Venice to try and escape the mid-winter blues.

Where did I go last month when I suffered a severe dose of mid-winter blues and needed to get away from our worst-ever spell of sub-zero weather followed by fog and floods?

It’s obvious - somewhere in the scorching summer sun of the southern hemisphere; golden sands crowded with tanned beauties in bikinis, and gentle surf which was warm enough to defrost my frost-bitten toes… right?

Wrong. I chose Venice, where I had only ever been in summer before; I soon learned why all the local ladies were wearing puffer jackets, four layers of make-up plus scarves and fur hats – they needed to keep January’s freezing fogs at bay as they travel on the open decks of the waterbus fleets which commute along the city’s many miles of misty canals.

Yet I enjoyed every minute of our seven-day stay, because its architectural grandeur and unique water-borne lifestyle makes Venice one of the most enchanting and uplifting places on earth.
Pulling back the curtain every morning on our hotel-room’s view over the colourful Grand Canal gave me a tingle of anticipation that set me up for a memorable week of sightseeing – with my (7-day, 50 euros) waterbus pass in one hand and my (12 euros) Civic museum pass in the other.

By the way, there’s no better time to enjoy Venice than during its annual Carnival which starts on the 26th of this month for two weeks of world-famous  masked balls, processions and festivities. You have still time to book!

We got off to a flying start by going down a whole day before our Ryanair flight was due to leave  from Dublin Airport. I spent ages on-line, looking for the best overnight hotel deal and came up with one that turned out to be excellent.

We booked our accommodation at the HILTON DUBLIN AIRPORT on Malahide Road  through the Hilton.co.uk website and also booked dinner and breakfast through their ‘advance meals payment’ special offer; this proved to  be really good value.

Our three-course dinner offered top-class seafood choices as well as imaginative starters and desserts. This really hit the spot at a fraction of the cost of a similar meal in downtown Dublin, just a few miles away.

Breakfast buffet - served in the same charmingly cosy restaurant with smiling staff -- also had plenty of choice, including lots of local specialities like my favourite fried soda bread and the Irish Times.

What will make any Hilton deal even more attractive to Northern guests is the fact that you can pay 5 Euros a day for secure parking on-site. A shuttle bus operates on a regular schedule from the Courtesy Bus Stop about 250 yards from the main terminals but I recommend that you call the hotel when your aircraft lands to let them know you have returned to collect your car.

Our choice of Venice hotel was also made following a thorough – and lengthy – on-line  investigation starting with TripAdvisor.com. As most regular travel surfers know, it’s best to see what reviewers are saying about an establishment such as the one we fancied, HOTEL PALAZZO STERN,  before booking it through one of the usual discount sites such as lastminute.com or hotels.com.

Frankly, I got the best price by going through the hotel’s own website and making a query which was answered by email with impressive speed by Domenico on the Front Desk. He turned out to be a mine of information and suggestions during our stay, as were all the other Venetian  receptionists, notably young Daniel who tended to recommend the restaurants his new girlfriend liked best! (There’s a fair selection of places to eat within walking distance of the Stern but none was outstanding. Eating out has always been expensive in Venice, where all food has to be delivered by handcart, since there are no trucks or vans. Budget up to 20 euros for a nice lunch and 30-40 euros for dinner. A decent pizza costs well over a tenner.)

In common with most of the fine buildings flanking the Grand Canal – which is still the best address in Venice after Saint Mark’s Square – Palazzo Stern is a former palace, last occupied by a collector of fine furniture and interior decorations which continue to inspire awe among guests.

The 24 rooms are finished with rich Venetian tapestries and mosaics which pay homage to the fact that this ultra-wealthy city was the Taste Capital of the World for centuries. However, you’ll also find mod cons like a speedy – and free – broadband connection (which we used a lot) and a hydro-massage bathtub (which we did not!)

The Australians who outnumbered all other nationalities during our stay  (it was the school holidays Down Under) spent a lot of eating time staring at the priceless Murano Glass chandeliers in the breakfast room while ever-smiling waiter ‘Junior’ scuttled around. In summer, breakfast and evening bar drinks are served on the spacious terrace which seems to float on the water alongside Ca’ Rezzonico, one of the main Waterbus Stops on Grand Canal.

This close proximity to public transport was a major reason for us choosing the hotel, which is the flagship of a small chain of Stern establishments.

It is also close to St. Mark’s Square (still the city’s biggest attraction in spite of extensive renovation work which makes it less photogenic) plus world-class art galleries such as L’ACCADEMIA and the  PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION.

Look up, look down or sideways – the whole of Venice is an outdoor museum. In addition, there are hundreds of churches, galleries and collections to be explored,  so you have to be selective if you want to avoid visual indigestion.

It’s best to purchase the Civic Museum Pass which covers discounted admission to the dozen museums operated by the Municipality including the one where you first purchase it.
In our case, that was the CA’ REZZONICO Museum of 18th Century Venetian Life and Art -- exactly next door to our hotel.

It proved to be a great introduction to the lifestyles of rich and indulgent citizens, from sedan chairs to the decorative masks which allowed people like Casanova to enjoy anonymous love affairs.

We used the Pass in another half-dozen places, so we really saved money as admission prices are high in Venice ( at least a fiver a time) to help pay for necessary renovations. Our two favourites were the little GLASS MUSEUM on the island of Murano (where we had a lovely, light Sunday lunch in a neighbourhood restaurant) and the CA ‘ PESARO Gallery of Modern Art.
That’s  where I took a sneaky photo of a full-length portrait by the Belfast-born impressionist painter Sir John Lavery.

His delightful ‘Lady in a Rose Dress’ was the antidote to about 1,342 Renaissance paintings of religious subjects I had seen during previous days in -- admittedly world-renowned – places like L’ACCADEMIA.

This Pass also does not cover the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which features my favourite American painter, Jackson ‘Jack the Dripper’ Pollock.

We had a lecture by a shy art student who was shocked when I asked if Peggy ‘collected’ male artists in more ways than one (Yes is the answer!)

However, you can use the Pass on what many agree is the city’s finest building – the DOGE’S PALACE -- and the other celebrated attractions around St Mark’s Square.

The Doges (Dukes) ruled what was Europe’s wealthiest city for centuries and their Palace is a vast complex of chambers, storerooms and courtyards – even a terrifying underground prison to which prisoners were despairingly dragged across the infamous BRIDGE OF SIGHS.

Here’s a final statistic I dug up which, I hope, helps readers to grasp the enormous wealth that  the Venetian Empire created to pay for the city’s immortal grandeur: At its height, one single industry,the Venice shipyards, employed 30,000 and launched an average of one vessel a day.

That payroll was almost the same as Harland & Wolff employed when the Titanic and her sister ships were being built in Belfast four centuries later!