The city is so rich in heritage and so unique - how many cities do you walk out of your front door and into the water (or actually hopefully your boat). The city is steeped in history and intrigue - the perfect place to end our vacation.
This was the first time we went to Venice so naturally we had to take a gondola ride...I mean it is Venice, that is what tourists do, take gondola rides.
After our ride and short tour through the city we left the kids in the capable hands of the grandparents and went off on our own. As this was our last stop of the cruise, the ship was docked overnight and therefore we had a whole entire night without having any worry about getting back on board before the ship set sail.
For two people who never get a night out sans children, the fact that we had a date night....in Venice. Well, we were giddier than kids on Christmas Eve.
We left the kids with the parents at 3:30 and our reservations weren't until 7:30 (more on that later) which left us 4 hours to explore.
We visited the touristy spots like Piazzo San Marco...
And the Grand Canal...
But we spent most of our time just exploring the city and getting completely lost. We left the tourist section and wound through small alleyways that left me wondering if Jack The Ripper was about to pop out.
But at the end, we would inevitably find a small piazzo with kids playing soccer or a small artisan's shop where they made blown glass or hand painted Venetian masks. We stopped at a small bistro to have a spritz, a Venetian cocktail and wandered in and out of shops no bigger than my kitchen, some of them with ceilings so low Raif looked like a hunchback. Not a bad way to spend a date night (though I will say that Venice is NOT a city you should explore in kitten heels - ouch did my feet hurt).
Once we had explored a shopped it was time for dinner....ah dinner.
Anyone who has spent any time with Raif and I quickly learns one thing...we love good food. When I found out that we got to spend the night in Venice and after I convinced my parents that they wanted to babysit I knew that I had to find a SPECTACULAR place for our Venice date. Luckily, a high school friend of mine, Shilpa, moved to Italy awhile back (Lucca to be precise - ironically she was visiting her parents in KS when I was in Lucca - go figure). I e-mailed her hoping she might have been to Venice and could give me some recommendations. Not only had she been there but was friends with a Venetian who knew all the good places to eat. I learned that you should NEVER eat anywhere near the tourist sections as they have food geared toward us pesky Americans and even have two separate menus - one for tourists and one for Venetians, with the 'tourista menu' charging us gullible tourists double for the same food. She steered us definitely off the beaten path to a little bistro called Osteria da Fiore, a Michelin starred restaurant.
(This is what I mean when I say off the beaten path. See that little light on the left. That is the entrance to the restaurant. We walked by it at first not even noticing it. I think the entire restaurant maybe had 15 tables in it.)
The balcony of the restaurant overlooking the canal.
View from our table...not bad huh. We even watched a gondola float by once or twice.
She even went the extra mile for us and called and booked the reservation, since I don't speak Italian and requested their most romantic table**. When I say Shilpa came through....Wow, it was honestly one of the best meals we have ever eaten: we had an amuse bouche consisting of gazpacho with octopus. For an appetizer Raif had tuna carpaccio and I had shrimp with a brilliant tomato sorbet. For our entree we had shared a shrimp risotto with herbs from the chef's own personal garden. And finally we had a frozen zabaglioine that was so good, it was all I could do to hold myself back from actually licking the plate. An amazing meal, an amazing night and the perfect way to end our trip.
**Funny side note: There were only 2 tables on the balcony overlooking the canal. When we got there another couple (Australian and French) were sitting at the other table. Once we were seated, they asked us how long ago we had made our reservations. Apparently, when they were seated they had asked if they could switch to our table, the only one where both people got to look out over the canal. The maitre d' kindly informed them that ours was the best table in the house and needed to be booked at least 3 months in advance. Yeah, scoring the best table in the best restaurant in Venice - that's just how we Erim's role (thanks Shilpa!!). Though I will say my cool cache lost a bit of it's luster as I whipped out my camera and started playing tourist and taking pictures of everything in sight.
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