WE WERE looking for a fun, frivolous holiday - something quirky,budget-friendly, and with interesting food. Venice hardly seemed an obvious destination.

The Italian city is known for many things - most of them old-fashioned, like culture. Be prepared for shin splints moving from museum to basilica to gallery.

Be ready for romance, too. Venice is a set piece for a grand love affair, with sumptuous dining terraces and labyrinthine paths included.

Let's not forget that legendary lover Casanova was born and bred here, among the gentle lapping waves of the ubiquitous water routes.

The city drips with luxury, too. Most of the city's grand hotels and yachts spell Old World extravagance. It was not the playground of the 1950s jet set, including film-maker Orson Welles, for nothing.

Just take stock of your wallet after your 80-euro (S$162.25) gondola ride and 14-euro Bellini drink at the famous Harry's Bar, where white-jacketed waiters with Brylcreemed hair drift like sharks.

Besides, we know that the city is a sinking jewel. The main island has sunk 20cm since 1900. Water seeps into San Marco Square more than 100 times each winter, and its paving stones are cracked and pulling apart. Salt from the lagoon is eating away at historical buildings.

Gallivanting in a crumbling, decaying city? Not most people's idea of fun. But we decided we were up for it.

Water, water, everywhere

GETTING off the bus from the airport, we stopped at the waterfront at the Piazzale Roma for an unabashed gape.

True to guidebook legend, Venetian sights can be breathtakingly beautiful. Hit by the view of the Grand Canal, we had a moment of silence observing domed palazzi loom over their watery reflections, and the humped whale-backs of bridges.

But things felt very strange. We first blamed it on the fact that we landlocked creatures were unused to a place surrounded by water. And then we realised what had bothered us - there were no cars.

The sometimes unnamed walkways can be a navigational nightmare if you insist on following a map. You're better off with a compass and a general sense of your bearings.

According to the pedestrian signs, there are really only three places you want to get to: San Marco, Piazzale Roma and Rialto. They're more helpful than you think.

It wasn't long before we caved in to our gelato cravings, since there was an obscene number of stores displaying tubs of gorgeously swirled ice cream. There were flavours classic and adventurous. Malaga is a rich rum and raisin.

Pistachio is a scary radioactive-green, but I decided it was worth the nuclear risk. Fragola (strawberry) was so tart it was fizzy on the tongue.

Wisely or not, we were soon going the a-cone-a-day way. "But we walk so much," was our justification.

How much pasta can one eat? Bye bye Atkins Diet, we're in Venice.We attacked creamy squid ink risotto, which stained our lips and teeth black and made us look gummy and toothless.

We slurped Venetian seafood soup, an unbelievably tasty concoction with generous pieces of fish, prawns and squid that just kept coming from the bottom of the bowl.

Al Bacareto (Calle delle Botteghe, 3447, tel: 041-528-9336) wins hands down for this. Wash down all your courses with prosecco, a sparkling white wine that gives you a bubbly rush.

Round this off with a post-dinner ride on a Line 1 vaporetto (water bus) down the Grand Canal. Somehow, the imposing, theatrical quality of the Venetian facades becomes quietly melancholic by night.

Death in Venice

IN THE day, it is hard to avoid the tourist crush. Piazza San Marco, the historic and tourism heart of Venice, is an endurance test. It's hard to decide which is the more terrifying: the hordes of tour groups intent on their holiday snaps, or the hordes of swooping pigeons fat from tourist pickings.

Sights press from all directions. Two symbols of Venice - St Mark' Lion andthe statue of St Theodore, the city's patron saint - stand proudly on two columns.

Grey, stately buildings called the Procuratia, which housed the offices and apartments of 16th-century government officials, border the square impressively. Vying for attention is Doge's Palace, an opulent affair of arcades, pink marble and lacey crests.

I'd like to say we ducked nimbly into the Basilica for some respite from the visual overload, but we had to join the line like hundreds of others.

But the interior was a shimmering revelation. The temperature and visitor voices dipped. Some 3.35 hectares of the Byzantine mosaics glinted off walls like the surface of a golden sea. The Basilica also houses the Pala d'Oro, one of the most precious altar screens in the world. It is covered with more than3,000 precious stones and icons inlaid in gold.

Outside, it was back to the heat and creeping in single file with noisy Spanish teens on school trips. We walked to the Rialto Bridge and market, only to face crowds and tacky souvenirs in store windows.

Strawberries from the market buoyed us up, but when we saw a drawing of a horse in front of a butcher, we decided we'd had enough.

Island-hopping

IT WAS time to escape the madness, so we took a 40-minute boat ride to Murano, an island north of Venice known for glass-making. We tiptoed around clear ethereal vases, candy-coloured beads and well-made bowls on display.

For lunch, we devoured fish-filled ravioli covered with garlicky tomato sauce and strings of crab meat at Trattoria Busa alla Torre (Camp S Stefano 3,Murano, tel: 041-739-662).

Next stop: Burano, another island. Its specialities are lace and brightly coloured houses. With the occasional group of old Buranese women sewing outdoors, the island looked like a cheery Nippon paint ad.

Limbs stretched and well-shopped, we said goodbye to its small-town charm and stepped back into big-time grandeur in Venice.

Merchants of Venice

UNSURPRISINGLY, the nooks and crannies between the blockbuster attractions yielded the most satisfaction.

We stumbled into Il Graffio (Calle delle Botteghe, 3186), an unobtrusive leather shop selling bags, satchels and journals. Stepping inside, we found quality handcrafted leather products and a tiny workshop.

Alessandra D'Agnolo is the elegant owner and artisan behind it. Besides accessories and stationery made from Tuscany leather, her shop displays lithographs and jewellery by other artists. Deciding what to buy became a full-blown existential crisis. A friend of Alessandra's watched on in amusement.

We made a terrible mess of the display. I apologised, but Alessandra said we could stay the entire day if we liked.

"Besides," she added, "my friend finds it very relaxing to watch you both." Later in Cannaregio, a northern neighbourhood, we passed a crowd of women in front of a display window. Intrigued, we wormed our way to the front and lo, we beheld a tanned and chiselled tailor before his sewing machine, smoothly guiding the aprons through pounding needle and thread.

He embroidered names and phrases on aprons and tablecloth. Women fell at his feet begging for their aprons to be embroidered with their names and those of their friends, colleagues and husbands.

We bought an apron, and I took the chance to snap our seamster hunk in action. While I was zooming in, a voice behind me asked: "Are you taking a picture of the apron or of him?"

I turned around to see the knowing face of the co-owner. Within seconds, I left the shop, wanting to dig a hole to perish in.

Who would have thought that Venice was idiosyncratic, giggly and fun?

I still have that embroidered apron to prove it.

Adeline Chia is a reporter with The Straits Times.

5 things to do

1. Do make merry at Campo Santa Margarita. Say it's past 10pm and restaurants have taken their last orders. But the night is still young, so head down to this place to sample a cluster of great bars. Unfailingly guidebook-indexed are Margaret Duchamp (tel: +39-041-528-6255) and Caffe Rosso (tel:+39-041-528-7998).

End your revelry in Orange (tel: +39-041-523-4740), a futuristic, bright-orange lounge bar with an inhouse DJ.

2. Do take a Padua day trip. Take time to explore the mediaeval university city of Padua, and marvel at the beautiful Giotto frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel.It may not have the bombast of the Sistine Chapel, but the mood is tonnes more moving.

3. Do dine at L'incontro (Campo Santa Margarita 3062, tel: +39-041-522-2404).Sick of Venetian seafood? Go for the meaty Sardinian menu in this fine restaurant. There are no English menus, so pay attention when the waitress rattles off her translation.

4. Do visit the Gallerie dell'Accademia. This art museum - founded by Napoleon during the French occupation of the city - has masterpieces of Western art dating from the 14th to 19th centuries. There's also a great photo opportunity at the wooden Accademia Bridge outside.

5. Do order a Sgroppino. It's something between a drink and a dessert, made by whipping lemon gelato, sparkling wine and vodka together. Have the tartest,richest and creamiest sgroppino at Capitan Uncino, (1501 Campo San Giacomodell'Orio, tel: +39-041-721-901).

2 don'ts

1. Do not take a gondola ride unless you can afford the expensive route around the Grand Canal with a gondolier who looks like an extra from a stage set. Take the water bus like the locals do, at 5 euros a pop. You can then hop on and off the system for the next 90 minutes.

2. Do not expect to get from point A to point B quickly and without fuss by following a map. The web of narrow alleys and streets is not fully reflected in tourist maps, so put on a pair of walking shoes and get a-wandering. There are worse places to get lost in.