It is just after dawn on Italy’s Po river and Rudi, the captain of our hotel barge, La Bella Vita, is running a broom over the sun deck. Autumn’s mellow fruitfulness is working its magic, and were it not for a white heron, tree-hopping from one side of the wooded shoreline to the other, I could be in a still life. As I capture the golden horizon, Rudi appears at my shoulder.

“That’s not the picture,” he says, showing me the image on his iPhone. I’ve clearly missed the sunrise by about 20 minutes. “That’s the picture!” he says. “Prossima…” Next time. In a week of surprises on the Po and Canal Bianco, peaceful mornings on the river have been an unexpected bonus. During our five-day cruise, we see very little river traffic and no other passenger ships.