26 days Later we leave Italy

We sadly had to leave Sicily on Monday morning....

I think it's safe to say that the two places that stole our hearts were Venice and Siracusa, and so to leave one for the other isn't THAT bad :)

We caught the 6:50 am flight to Venice and although our extra weight cost us a small limb, the rest of the day seemed to go completely in our direction, in every way.

We caught the bus into town, where we were dropped off at Piazelle Roma to catch the water bus to our hotel.

The line up for the water bus was HUGE.... a 45 minute wait ( which for a water bus in Venice is a long wait)
HOWEVER, we misread the bus number and OUR line was about 4 people long, and on we went, bypassing the 45 minute wait.

When the water bus stopped at our stop, we began our trek through the streets for our hotel that we booked last minute from Sicily.

The bus dropped us off at a beautiful canal front hotel where we were going to stop in for directions until we realized that this was OUR HOTEL.
And what a hotel it was!!

The 4 star Pesaro Palace had a canal front courtyard housing big comfortable sheer draped lounge chairs just welcoming you with a glass of wine.

So what we thought would take us a few hours took us under 45 minutes, and we were free to roam the city we first fell in love with all over again.

We came across a beautifully designed and displayed specialty coffee shop on our walk, and so we stopped for our frequent cafe', or espresso shot as we know them.

We found our pre dinner stop for wine and an appy under the Rialto Bridge. We came here earlier in our trip but left our camera at the hotel for some bizarre reason, and so our intention was to dine here again WITH our camera....

We sat and enjoyed our wine with our feet literally 2 feet from the water. We watched the sun lower behind the city and moved on to our next destination, unknown but we were up for anything:)

We also visited I Rusteghi on our last Venice visit, and loved the place.
Giovanni, the owner and Somalia gives you a one over and picks your wine for you, and its the BEST of Italy, promised!!

From here we were recommended the best dinner in Venice for our next night.
A place called Oliva Nera, owned by Giovannis cousin, and also a place where the LOCALS frequent, and for reasons we learned are WELL UNDERSTOOD.
( more on that later)


We did the tourist thing the next day visiting the St Marks Bascilica which we missed last time, and WOW are we ever glad we got in today.

Awe struck the entire time, we walked around the inside, and up to the terrace for a full view of the square and through into the Doge Palace next door which was equally mind blowing.

Gold plated EVERYTHING

Life size horse statues- DREW ME IN

Original art.... INSANE

We toured the Palace slightly faster than most, as all we really wanted to see were the old prisons the criminals were kept in, but along the way we were again, in total AWE of the absolutely incredible workmanship of the building, architecture and art of the interior. 

Every political descion and discussion took place in this building and it was very clearly designed for a King.

Weapons from 810 AD

Being in the building where over a thousand years ago, prisoners were dragged through these hallways into their final destination was intense...

You can still see where the men carved pictures and words into the walls during their last days.

From here we spent the rest of our day just wandering and shopping.......

9 purses later, we were done.

I'm dead serious, I bought 9 purses.

We headed to the highly recommended Oliva Nera for an early dinner, and let me tell you......... We were NOT disappointed.

The owners, a husband and wife team very clearly LOVE their job and it shows in their customer service, which if you have been to Europe you know this is hard to come by.

Our food was utterly perfect and our dessert was even better....... This was a hand printed dessert menu drawn by the Owner Dino. He did such a great job that we ordered two desserts with of course the paired dessert wine. ( GREAT CHOICE ON OUR PART)

The last night in Italy was yet another perfect night in life.

We will return ~

Xo