Byline: Noreen Barr

FLINGING open the shutters of my Venetian flat, I see the "rush hour" is in full swing.

Barges, loaded with provisions and building materials, chug along the canal; sharply-dressed commuters hop off their water buses and stride along the pavement, shouting greetings to each other in passing.

Others, in less of a hurry, linger on the nearby Tre Archi bridge - with its distinctive three arches reflected in the shimmering water - gossiping in the soft light of morning.

Venice, with its pastel-hued, centuries-old buildings, looks almost unchanged ...