My Favorite City in the World

On our drive from Prague to Venice, we took a last minute detour to try and find Chodovar Beer Spa that we had heard many locals talk about...

Photo courtesy of Chodovar Beer Spa

I mean, how AWESOME does this look!?  Beer is supposed to be good for your hair and skin so why not enjoy a beer while submersed in it?  Unfortunately it wasn't on our original itinerary as we didn't know this even existed and by the time we found it, they didn't have a reservation available.  No need to worry-I have googled places where this exists in the US including Chicago, IL and Vail, CO.  Visiting Chicago and Vail are already on the bucket list, might as well add Enjoy a beer in a Beer Spa too!

The 8 hour drive from Prague to Venice wasn't too shabby.  Beautiful views, no speed limits, and German/Italian music the entire way-haha! We almost didn't purchase the GPS for the car and in retrospect, I am so glad we had that GPS!!! A divorce is a lot more expensive than a hundred bucks it costs for the GPS...pay the extra money!!!  Flights from Prague to Venice were rather steep and we thought we were saving money by driving, but with almost 9 dollars a gallon we will be taking the train next time!!

Our stay in Venice was booked through airbnb.com.  I was a little nervous considering I had never used this website before and also because we didn't have cell phone service to just contact or email the owner if we were lost, couldn't get inside, etc.  We pulled up to this adorable little place with the owner waiting outside for us.

 Staying on the island of Venice is expensive.  We found this charming place for $100 a night and it included free parking & breakfast at the next door bakery.  It was located just off the bridge and the bus stop was a 2 minute walk.  It took us a total of 15 minutes to actually get onto the island via the bus. (I was also glad didn't stay on the island when I saw many frustrated people looking for their hotel and dragging luggage down the cobblestone).

Not too shabby, huh?  It was very clean and quiet,  Alessandro was the owner of our charming little villa and he was great! He left us maps, travel books, tips for Venice, and 2 bus tickets to get onto the island in the morning.  Alessandro contributed to a great first experience with Airbnb and we will definitely be using this website in the future!

We arrived late and we were pretty tired from the drive.  Our first night in Italy, we ordered take out pizza and just relaxed.  Venice was perfect already and we hadn't even made it to the island yet!

Our first morning was a little rough when the European outlet was no match for my hair straightener.  We had to wait for the owner to arrive and fix it as I couldn't go out in public looking like this! Traveling isn't always as glorious as photos make it seem; layovers are exhausting, renting a car takes half a day, getting lost is frustrating, paying to use the bathroom is beyond annoying, language and culture barriers are awkward.  The list goes on and there's always going to be hiccups but it is all part of the experience and you just have to go with the flow!! 

I have been waiting 28 years to visit this city, and it didn't disappoint.  There is no other city like this in the world!!! I was so happy to be in my favorite city with my favorite person.

A maze of intricate streets, bridges, and canals.  Lined with wine shops, accordion players, and breathtaking views of the blue lagoon water.  I was in heaven and loving every minute of this place!!!  Our brains were pretty tired from museums, tours and all the information we had gathered from the past week.  The plan was to relax and that is exactly what we did. 

We had to Ride a Gondola, especially since it was on my bucket list!!! Obviously I'm not the only one with this desire as the prices were stupid high, but you just have to do it.  I think we paid about 80 Euros/ 100 USD for a 40 minute ride, and we researched this before so it was the average price.  Prices are higher at night or if you have an accordion player, etc.  I thought it was totally worth it! In general, prices were high for everything, but no more than any other big city in the US.  We sipped expensive Bellini's all morning, but it was so nice to not have an agenda. 

 

We walked aimlessly down every path and into many shops.  This photo was taken in my favorite part of the island, Dorsoduro, this was away from the tourists and more residential.  I loved seeing how people lived with their clothes hung over the streets and their small boats lined up next to their door. What a different way of life! Can you imagine having to take a boat to get everywhere? The hospital? The grocery store? Your friend's house?

We were guilty of gluttony.  We would purchase something off the street or in a cafe and split it.  We would find something else about 2 hours later and split that.  Both nights we actually treated ourselves to a nice dinner but for lunch we just snacked all day.

We watched not one, but TWO PERFECT sunsets with a bottle of wine.  Sitting here with my husband in the most romantic city, reminiscing on our first year of marriage and the future, was my favorite moment of our vacation.  

This is my favorite city in the world for so many reasons (however, nightlife is not one of them).  I love being around water, just not sand and I hate being in a bathing suit.  I love sitting on a dock or a boat so this city was just perfect for me as I was around water the entire time but never took a step on a beach.  It was more than romantic (we actually found ourselves kissing in the middle of the street-weird.  We NEVER would normally do that!!)  Delicious food and delightful champagne.  70 degrees and sunny.  Lively yet quaint.  We spent 3 nights and 2 full days in Venice although we hated to go, we knew we had one last fun thing to look forward to before officially saying goodbye to Europe.