If truth be told, the mighty Po, Italy's longest river at 675km, is no beauty. The waters are khaki, the banks are high, the wild life scarce; worst of all, the danger of flooding in its immense fertile valley limited the development of local communities along its course. In fact, there are no towns punctuating the 85km stretch covered by the KD Line cruiseship MV Venezia, from Venice to Cremona.
That's the bad news; the good is that the cruise offers a hassle-free opportunity to visit some of Italy's most interesting cities, all rich in history and, not surprisingly for a region referred to as the larder of Italy, good food. The Venezia glides between them in a watery green world far removed from urban pressures, her passengers relaxing on the upper deck, with no more effort involved on their part than remembering what time the coach leaves the next tie-up to transport them to another cultural delight.
Any cruise that begins in Venice is guaranteed to get off to a good start. There can be few more favoured bases from which to explore La Serenissima than from a vessel tied up on the quayside of the Sette Martiri, just a short walk from Piazza San Marco. From the upper deck, the vista down the Grand Canal begs to be photographed. To starboard, there is never a dull marine moment, a steam boat, car ferry, cruise liner, private launch, tug, freighter, taxi or gondola always on hand to liven up the scene. To port there is a steady passeggiata , with more Italians than tourists strolling out to the nearby public gardens.
Two nights are spent here, with the option of staying in the city during the day or taking a mini-cruise to the islands of Burano and Torcello. The former needs no guide - the rainbow paint, cobbled piazzas and photogenic bridges ooze instant charm. In Torcello, we needed enlightenment about the part this ghost island played in the history of the region - why its population, once 20,000, has shrank to 60; why its basilica, founded in 639, is the oldest building in the lagoon. Ship's guides kept us well briefed, in three languages.
Next morning, the ship followed the long thin streak of the barrier islands, Lido and Pellestrina, and crossed to the busy fishing port of Chioggia. This is emphatically no tourist honeypot. Hundreds of blue working boats lined the quays, shops sold food, not souvenirs, and the mood was down to earth, unlike its glamorous neighbour. In other words, a likely choice to eat ashore, with the freshest fish on the menu.
The unpromising exterior of trattoria El Gatto made us wonder if we had chosen wisely, but this proved to be a memorable meal. Here is a renowned restaurant, famous for its seafood. Alessandro, the chef/patronne's son, insisted we try the softshell crab, in season for a few brief weeks in May. Fried in oil and garlic, they justified his enthusiasm. Sea bream cooked en papillote was equally good. We insulted him by refusing the desserts; he brought us ricotta cheesecake anyway.
Monday was May 1. The significance escaped us until our coach arrived in Padua. Not only were the piazzas deserted, the shops shuttered, the famous fruit and vegetable market closed, but Giotto's illustrious 39 frescoes in the Capelli di Scrovegni, one of the high spots of the cruise, were not on view. Only four days in the year are they shut away, and this was one of them. The Orto Botanica, the oldest botanical garden in Europe, was closed, too.
We consoled ourselves with the Mantegna fragments in the 13th-century Chiesa degli Eremitani, the Donatello equestrian statue of Gattamelata, and a cappuccino in the famous Caffé Pedrocchi. Here, students argued and plots were hatched in the rebellion of 1848. Now it is a national monument.
Ferrara, once an important Renaissance centre, is today unusually tranquil, with more bicycles than cars. The city is dominated by the forbidding castle, seat of the powerful Este family, and surrounded by 9km of massive ramparts. From the vantage point of a café in the central piazza, you can admire the glorious triple facade of the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral before plunging into the cool maze of narrow medieval lanes.
In Mantua, Mantegna paid homage to the glory of the Gonzaga family's court with his cycle of frescoes that can be seen in the Palazzo Ducale. Be advised, though, it is necessary to make a reservation in order to see them.
Mantua deserves more than a few hours to explore the town's treasures and the 16th-century Palazzo del Te, an imposing country house on the outskirts. For us, the visit was spoiled by gaggles of school children. Italians are noisy by nature and so are children. Combine the two and bedlam reigns. We shall just have to go back at a quieter time.
Charles Dickens irreverently described Correggio's frescoes in the dome of Parma's 12th-century cathedral as a fricassee of frogs. Whether you share his view or that of Ruskin, who thought there were only two reasons for getting out of bed in the morning - Mozart's music and Correggio's use of light - nobody can deny that there is an even greater visual treat across the piazza, namely, the octagonal baptistry executed in rose-coloured marble, begun in 1196, with a breathtaking frescoed interior.
Parma overflowed with interest. The 1619 all-wooden Farnesi theatre (bombed in 1944 but skilfully restored) is a must-see, along with the entire city centre, neatly divided into half Renaissance, half medieval.
We also found time to drop in at a cheese producer's to sample the two-year-old Parmigiano Reggiano. (Parma and Reggio each claims to be the original home of the cheese, so the honours are divided.) Next to every cheese producer is a pig farm, where the animals consume the surplus whey.
The final stop was Cremona and the chance to see the Romanesque/Gothic cathedral, and 13th-century campanile from whose 112m high summit there is said to be a wonderful view. But when informed there was no lift, we decided that we were packing to many excess pounds from our culinary adventures to attempt an assualt on the stairs.
We returned to the Venezia for the captain's farewell cocktail party, a useful forum for discussing what goodies we missed on short stay in "the larder". One thing was sure: the cruise had served only to whet our appetites, and we shall be back to dawdle over selected second helpings.
The practicals
KD Cruises, Travel Renaissance Holidays, 28 South St, Epsom, Surrey KT18 7PF (tel: 01372 742033, fax 01372 724871, e-mail: info@kd-clipper.co.uk. A seven-day cruise on the MV Venezia costs £1,445, from April to October, including British Airways flights from Heathrow to Venice, and from Milan to Heathrow, and all transfers. It is possible on some dates to travel on the Orient Express from London before joining the ship at Venice. Italian Tourist Board: 020-7355 1557, www.enit.it/uk/
