Our first stop was to a small town outside of Venice called Nove for a little pottery shopping. They are known for their beautiful ceramic and pottery pieces, but we also found a few interesting pieces as well...
After stocking up on pottery, we continued on to Venice. The best way to see Venice is by boat, so we were thrilled when our hotel sent a wooden boat to pick us up.
Maria and I on the boat.
Jill admiring the view.
The Grand Canal
This is a picture of our hotel. It was stunning inside and out.
Hotel Palazzo Stern
And the inside...
We had some time before our dinner reservation so we decided to visit the hot tub on the roof for a night-time view of the city. It was raining, but we barely noticed.
True to form, Rick Steves' food recommendations did not disappoint. We had a fantastic dinner the first night but were eager to crash after a very early morning and long day. The next day, we headed out for some sightseeing.
Where George and Amal were married.
We noticed that everyone we saw was wearing rain boots, yet it was not raining. When we reached St. Mark's Square, we realized why, the entire square was flooded. We happened to be visiting at a time of year with the highest water level, and the flooding even went inside the Basilica. There were risers set up to walk on, but we bought a pair of fancy disposal boots and just waded through the water.
Our pink rain boots!
For our last night we signed up for a Bar Crawl of Venice. Our tour guide, Alessandro, was so informative and took us to some of the most historical bars (and also well hidden) in Venice to taste some of the local wine and food. We met a great group of other American tourists and we went out with a bang!
Loved the pots hanging from the ceiling at this place.
We love Alessandro!
Rialto Bridge at night.
Some of the fun ladies we met.
What a quick, but remarkable visit. Ciao Venice!
