Went to meet a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning: she and her husband were in Venice for a few days, about to embark on a cruise along the Adriatic. She emailed me they were staying at the Gritti Palace. The Gritti Palace! Can I come to your hotel, I asked.

If you've seen the Woody Allen movie, "Everyone Says I Love You," there are some scenes filmed there, and I knew that it was also Robert DeNiro's hotel of choice.

I walked through the wide and spacious Campos of Manin, Sant'Angelo and Santo Stefano, all relatively empty on that Saturday morning, before arriving at the hotel.

The five star Gritti Palace, overlooking the Grand Canal, just in front of the Church of the Salute, was built in 1525 for Doge Andrea Gritti. The Doges of Venice were like the figurehead leaders of their day, both religious and political. It's comforting to be wrapped in wealth, at least for a few hours. It was a sunny day, birds twirped, and all my personal cares and worries that I'd absorbed from that day's world news were put away for a few hours as we drank coffee in the lap of luxury.

Then we noticed police boats turning gondolas and motorboats away the Bacino of San Marco. Soon a fantastic procession of gondolas bearing the ancient flag of the Republic, with the Lion of St. Mark emblazoned in red and gold, began to pass by. We heard stirring music, what was it? Something regal and religious. I thought of the processions that had taken place during the years when Venice was an independent republic, binding political life with the religious, and inspiring loyalty in the populace.

Vivere Venezia! Intoned someone into a microphone. I felt elevated, transported. There's something still remaining of the old Venetian spirit.

Later a friend tells me that the so-called true Venetians--for even if you're from a nearby city as she is, and have lived her for twenty years, you're not Venetian unless you were born here--speak wistfully of La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic that fell when Napoleon conquered it in the late 18th century. But they can't stop the city from being overrun with tourtists and some are selling out to the Chinese merchants who are buying up shops and cafes. It's those who've moved here, work here,  and love it as it is now who are really Venetian.

In any case, it's a beautiful day and I'm glad to have arrived while the city is still floating precariously on its moorings.