V E N E Z I A

First word that comes to mind when I think of my time in Venice, Italy is C O L O R. Venice is by far the brightest, most colorful city I have ever been to. From sheets that hang across the clothes lines outside windows, to window boxes full of geraniums of all colors, artwork, masks, buildings, and food are all vibrant with hues of reds, golds, greens, & blues. Pulling up to the dock via water taxi is surreal. This beautiful city floats about the sea like art on water. 

The awe continued as I walked around this undeniably unique place. Tiny little streets (calle) that zig zag in every direction. It's very easy to get lost here and you'll absolutely love it! There is an abundance of shops that sell Monaco glass, masks galore!, jewelry, art, & keepsakes. This is indeed a fun place to shop and people watch.

The food is Venice is fabulous. Everything is so fresh and yes, colorful! There is nothing like bright green vegetables, ripened red tomatoes, and plum colored vino to devour. However, don't bring food with you when you walk into San Marco Square, you will most certainly be attacked by pigeons! They flock in the center of this famous courtyard and they are most certainly not shy.

We stayed at the Molino Stucky Hilton across the canal from Venice. I loved this because from the top deck of our hotel, you could see all of the floating city, not to mention 360 degrees of water and phenomenal sunsets! It was only a 5 minute trek to get to Venice via the hotel water taxi which ran every 15 minutes at no charge to hotel guests. The staff was gracious and the hotel is quite new so everything was clean and modern. 

One of my favorite things to do was sit up here on the pool deck at sunset with a black mojito in hand. I know, I only drink wine but the waitor talked me into trying this Venetian specialty mixer and I was quite pleased with it! I even brought the recipe home with me. Just add vodka, lime juice, seltzer water, mint leaves, & licorice liquer. The result is delicious.

We spent the next two days in Venice in search of a red brick heart, "cuore in mattone". Legend has it that if you touch this heart, you will find love, and if you touch it with someone, together, it will bring you a lifelong destiny of being united as one. Very romantic, and right up my alley. Had I only known it really was an alley! The search was a long but fun one. We finally came upon Sotoportego Preti and lo and behold, the brick heart. 

We of course made our way across, over, under, and around the famous Rialto Bridge, spent time with the Gondoliers, and had our own little Masquerade Ball. All in all, Venice is tops on my list as a place every one should see at least once in their lifetime...

 CIAO!