Katharina Faber, an editor in a publishing house, is full of delicious anticipation: she is going to Venice for three weeks. Actually, although nobody else is aware of this, she is planning to change her life entirely and move to Venice, the city of her dreams, for good. Finally the arrangements have been made: she has an appointment with an estate agent, and the flight is booked. Her mother Annegret is going to take care of the house, while daughter Lisa  and son Uli - Katharina brought them both up alone after her divorce - are now adult and have lives of their own. However, when the day of her departure dawns, everything that can possibly go wrong does so, and Katharina misses her flight. This is mainly due to her neighbour Hans Baumann, a clumsy architect who is busy rebuilding the house next door. A power cut, a load of gravel delivered to the wrong address, the water turned off - Katharina is driven to the edge of despair. And then Uli and Lisa turn up on the doorstep, in need of maternal care. Uli has lost his job, while Lisa is convinced that her husband Stefano is being unfaithful to her and is determined to get a divorce. At this stage Hans Baumann also develops a romantic interest in preventing the attractive woman next door from leaving town.