Palladio’s grand buildings are a feature of this northern Italian city

A short walk from St Mark's Square, a 13th-century mercantile building is now an intimate guesthouse

Tuscan sun

Magnificent mountain biking above Cortina d'Ampezzo

The Italy captain, Sergio Parisse, has praised Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll as one of the greatest centres in the history of the sport, ahead of today’s Six Nations game at the Stadio Olimpico.

What better reason do you need to take your loved one to the romantic city of Venice than to revel in the spruced-up interiors of the Gritti Palace (00 39 041 2961 2222; star woodhotels.com), due to reopen in February after a major refurbishment?

Cardiff Blues today battled to win only their third match in 14 to move two places up the RaboDirect Pro12 table after beating Newport-Gwent Dragons 12-10 in the east Wales derby at the Arms Park.

Benetton Treviso 13 Leicester Tigers 14

Decisions may be extremely hard to come by in the Heineken Cup boardroom, but coaches do not have the luxury of procrastination when it comes to choosing their teams for the kind of must-win matches facing teams like Leicester, Northampton and Saracens this weekend.

The opera-house setting of Donna Leon's first novel, Death at La Fenice, was no accident. She has always been a serious student of music and this new work, a departure from her crime-fiction, features a splendid mystery surrounding the inheritance of an obscure baroque composer. His papers are locked in two trunks fought over by greedy rival descendants who decide to employ a scholar to investigate the contents.

Anna Caterina Antonacci here conjures an evocative and warming account of fin de siècle Mediterranean ardour through songs by the likes of Tosti, Hahn and Respighi, including the latter's "Sopra un'aria Antica".

Less than £200... The Blue Water is a luxury hotel in the resort of Wadduwa, Sri Lanka. Trailfinders has a package, departing from Heathrow between 19 and 24 October, which includes transfers and a week-long stay at the hotel with breakfast for £829 per person. trailfinders.com

Joyce DiDonato is not just a singer, she's a cheerleader carrying the torch for opera whenever she gets the chance.

Jacques Brunel has reached a stage in his job as Italy coach that all who have gone before him reached at around the same time. Two matches in, the Frenchman has changed his starting fly-half.