Venice

Venice.  Venice has so much meaning to me besides being one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.  It happens to be the subject of my first blog post here on CH, and much more importantly, it was where Kevin asked me to marry him.  So for that (mostly the latter of course), Venice will always be a very special place.

Fran Lebowitz put it perfectly when she said “If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you’ve imagined.  Venice is- Venice is better.”

It was one of the places we were most excited about visiting and it surely did not disappoint.  I have to give it to Kevin, I could not have dreamed of a better setting for our engagement.  The entire city is breathtakingly beautiful and truly unique.   There are no cars, no bikes, no one running around in suits- it felt like we were walking back in time.

Ponte degli Scalzi (pre-engagement!)

We spent our first two nights stay in the Venetian countryside, about a 20 minute train ride outside of the city and our third night actually in Venice so we could experience the city at night- which I am so glad we did!  Visiting in mid-September was a great choice (in my opinion) since the weather was still warm and tourist season is just starting to fizzle.

We basically spent our time there walking around blissfully with our Italian guidebook, checking out every little canal, piazza and island (there are several off of Venice, click here).  We also spent a major amount of time eating, as it was our first stop in Italy and I think we forgot we still had 2 weeks ahead of us.  Oh and drinking Aperol Spritz– which we came to realize was almost as big of a staple in Italy as pasta!  What I would do for one of those right now..

Caffè Lavena, Piazza San Marco (St.Mark’s Basilica in the background)

Limonello break by the Piazza San Marco canal looking toward San Giorgio Maggiore

This next one of the Hotel Canal Grande is one of my personal favorites.  It was where our gondola punter (the guys in those adorable black and white striped shirts) dropped us off to have our first toast after getting engaged.  We shared a bottle of prosecco here while overlooking the Grand Canal.  It was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments I’ll never forget.

Until next time.  Venice, I love you.