Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

My Favourite Holiday: Writer Chloe Esposito picks Venice’s decadent mix of art, palaces and cocktails

Chloe Esposito
Chloe Esposito

CHELTENHAM-born writer Chloe Esposito now lives in London with her husband Paolo.

A former English teacher and management consultant, Chloe’s acclaimed first novel Mad is just out in paperback, priced £7.99.

Her second, Bad, is out next month, the third is under way and the trilogy has already been optioned by a Hollywood film studio.


MY favourite holiday of all time was to Venice, just last month.

Paolo and I visited partly to celebrate our seven-year wedding anniversary and partly to research a future novel, Dangerous To Know, which is set in this unique city.

We splashed out and stayed at the Hotel Danieli, an ancient palazzo on the Grand Canal.

It was our first weekend away without the kids for a year and we wanted to treat ourselves – the Danieli is pure Venetian decadence.

We especially loved the colourful Murano glass chandeliers and the panoramic views of Venice from the roof-top terrace.

We ate the most exquisite lunch at the Gritti Palace restaurant, where we gazed out over the turquoise waters to the Santa Maria della Salute church.

Our waiter recommended a Rossini – strawberry puree mixed with prosecco. I liked it so much, I had three.

Venice, Italy

Our guided tour of the Doge’s Palace blew our minds. Tintoretto’s masterpiece Il Paradiso is the largest canvas in the world and the dazzling Golden Staircase is decorated in gold.

We couldn’t resist a gondola ride. I loved watching the world go by, listening to water splashing against oyster-covered palazzo walls.

We took a vaporetto boat to the beach at Venice Lido. There, we enjoyed Aperol Sunsets (blood-red Italian liqueur mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice) and licked the sea-salt from our fingers from the complimentary crisps. The warm sun felt hot on our skin as a breeze floated in from the Adriatic.

We walked along the promenade past the famous Hotel Des Bains. The delicate scent of jasmine blossom filled the evening air.

But my favourite thing has to be our midnight stroll across San Marco. The sound of Vivaldi drifted from the string quartets at the cafès.

The piazza had flooded and great silver puddles had formed on the square. The reflections of the Basilica di San Marco and the brightly-lit colonnades looked like something from a dream.

They took my breath away.