Venezia

Ah, Venice. It's everything you expect it to be. It is truly so very amazing, that you feel its not real. As if you're on a movie set, or on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. The whole experience is very Disneyland-like. But the city has been around since the 10th century, so its not a replica of anything, its the real deal.g Gondoliers down a side canal.
Me in front of the Grand Canal (after~26 hours of travel).
Cary in Piazza di San Marco (still out out of it, but excited about being in Italia).

HOTEL

One thing we got really lucky in choosing wisely, was our hotel. After our loooong trip from LA to Milan to Venice, it was so, SO nice that we could walk 50 yards from the train station to our hotel and not have to pay for an expensive water taxi, or get in line to get a vaparetto pass (water bus). Plus the streets are so so tangled and hard to follow and find on the map, you can only get lost. Dragging heavy luggage around after 24+ hours of travel would have sucked. Plus it was a really nice, simple, clean, cute, comfortable room and we were very happy with it. If you're in Venice, check out the Hotel Bellini.

FOOD

Amazing pastries everywhere. Not to mention il gelato!! A scoop a day is just what the doctor ordered. Bacio is my favorite flavor. We also got amazingly lucky that Cary's family from Houston happened to be in Venice on the same day as us and departed for a cruise with some friends the next day. Uncle Joel, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Carrie treated us to an amazing dinner at Ristorante Antico Martini. If you're in Venice, its definitely worth experiencing. I had the John Dory (which is called San Pietro in Italian) and Cary had a zuppe di pesce that he still talks about, as well as a scampi pasta that was so fresh. I was too embarrassed to take pictures of our food, sorry everyone, you'll just have to take my word that it looked and tasted damn good.

Grazie mille! We had a great time on our first night in Italia. Bon voyage on your cruise.