#3 - VENICE: STILL THE BEST

Three years ago when Michelle and I got married, VENICE was the first stop on our Italian Honeymoon and it has always held a special place in our hearts, coming back only solidifies how much we love this city.

We spent four nights in Venice and frankly we were a little worried that we may have set the "expectation bar" a bit too high for the Forbzez since we talked about the town so much, luckily they enjoyed it as well. We rented a 2 bedroom apartment in the Santa Croce district which turned out to be a fantastic homebase (Thanks Craigslist) and from there we hit all the sights: San Marco Square, the Basilica, Rialto Bridge, the Doge Palace, the resort isle of Lido and the glass-blowing isle of Murano.

We also hit two great restuarants, MURO (a kick ass pizza/pasta extravaganza) right by our place and IMPORTUCAFE (a funky little eatery) in the Dosoduro District (the university area). The food overall was fantastic and the coffee... wow, I think I had 5 a day.

On the day we arrived, it was raining extremely hard but from the next day onwards we had sun. There was little to no flooding anywhere in the city and despite some sewer work here and there, there was very little of the legendary "venetian stink" to be smelled.

Michelle and I still love this city, so much so that on our last night while we were standing on a bridge overlooking the Grand Canal, Michelle shed a tear and said she didn't want to go. I laughed at the time and said "we'll be back" but now I can't wait to go back, it was the most relaxing and enjoyable part of the trip for us.

VENICE... still the best.