Italia: Bologna, Ravenna, and Venice

Let's just start by saying how much I love the fact that you can buy last-minute tickets for less than $150 dollars for weekend trips to other countries.  How lucky I am to be able to tag along on Nick's work trips every once in a while!

Nick was in Italy for a week, but I flew in for a long weekend to spend some time enjoying one of my favorite countries, Italy!

Bologna
I flew into this airport on Friday morning, and decided to take advantage of a few hours of sight-seeing since Nick was working all day.  It is an incredibly colorful city and my favorite part was wandering the little side streets and alleyways.  The city if filled with porticoes and arches everywhere, which made for some great pictures!

I also checked out the Quadrilateral market, which was cute but not quite as big as I was expecting, as well as the life size terracotta figurines by dell'Arca.

After a nice little stroll I caught the train to Ravenna, where Nick was working.

**Tips: Bologna is worth a couple hours of your time, if you happen to be passing through by bus or train, but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way for it.**

Ravenna
I had never heard of Ravenna before this trip, but I quickly became a fan.  It's very small, quaint, and quiet but also has a ton of history.  At one time, Ravenna was the center and capital of Italy!

Friday night Nick and I enjoyed a wonderfully delicious meal at Ca' de Ven, which sounds very French, but is actually the local Italian dialect.  The atmosphere was amazing, old ceilings and beams with wine bottles surrounding you.  They only served local wine, which was delicious, and we also tasted the local specialty of piadina, a flatbread.

Saturday morning Nick headed off to work, and I headed to do some sight-seeing.  Ravenna is known for its beautiful mosaics from the Byzantine era in many of its churches and buildings.  My favorite was the one I visited last, the Basilica di San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.  The pictures don't do justice to the beauty and intricacy of the ceilings and walls.

Neonian & Arian Baptisteries...notice a theme? 

Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

Basilica di San Vitale: Pictures do not do justice here

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia 

Beautiful Ravenna

After another delicious Italian lunch, Nick and I made the 2 hour drive to Venice.  See more Bologna and Ravenna pics here.

**Tips: If you're looking for small town Italian feel close to Venice, definitely go to Ravenna!  I'd alss highly recommend the hotel, Palazzo Bezzi Ravenna, which is gorgeous and affordable.  You definitely should at least have a glass of wine at Ca' de Ven, if not eat there!**

Venice
I'm not going to lie, I didn't have a lot of hope for Venice after our trip last year.  I vowed to keep an open mind, though, and boy, am I glad I did.  I'm now in love with Venice, and it may be one of my favorite big cities in Europe!

From the moment we stepped foot onto the island, we could tell it was going to be a different experience.  There were already less crowds, which gave us time to appreciate the beauty of the architecture and canals.

When we entered our hotel, Al Ponte Antico, we knew this was going to be a special trip.  Not only was the hotel incredibly gorgeous, and located right on the Grand Canal, the service was impeccable.  They treated us like family, remembered our names from the very beginning, and really gave us the royal treatment.  Normally, our view on hotels is as long as it's clean and in a good location, go for the most economical choice.  And while this was a bit more than we would normally spend on our own, it was still incredibly reasonable for everything you got, including the stunning views from our windows and balcony.  And yes, that's our room--I literally felt like a queen!

Jason and Alicia, who live just outside Venice, came and met us for the evening.  After enjoying some drinks in the fabulously luxurious hotel bar area, we headed out for dinner.  I tried to be brave and order spaghetti with cuttlefish (related to squid, in case you're wondering) and although it looks utterly disgusting, it actually tasted pretty normal!

Of course gelato and a night stroll topped of our night.  Not sure how I never went to a Grom in Italy before this trip, but it was probably some of the best gelato I've ever had!

After sleeping in on Sunday, we were treated to an amazing breakfast cooked to order by the owner of our hotel--fresh veggie omelette, nutella and banana crepes, just amazing!

We didn't have a lot on our agenda for the day, which made for a very relaxing day.  We first headed by water vaparetto to the island of Murano, where they make Murano glass.  Sadly, since it was Sunday, they weren't making any for us to watch, but we still enjoyed wandering the streets and purchasing some souvenirs.

Another delicious lunch overlooking a canal later, and we were headed to St. Mark's cathedral, since we weren't able to go inside last trip.  It was interesting inside, but definitely not my favorite church in Italy or in Europe.  We decided not to tour the royal palace and instead just took a look at the Bridge of Sighs where they transferred prisoners to the prison.

We got so incredibly lucky with the weather on our trip.  It never actually rained during the day, despite 100% rain forecasts, and we actually saw a little bit of sun on Sunday.  Perfect for some drinks and snacks on our hotel's balcony.

That evening we set out to find some masks for the Versailles masquarde ball in June.  What started as a stroll turned into a mad search as stores began closing and I/we couldn't make a decision.  I finally settled on a handmade one with feathers that I can't wait to wear!!  No pictures though until the ball! :)

Surprise, surprise, we ended our night with food: pizza and gelato.  But, hey, I'm not complaining!

Monday morning I, sadly, had to catch my flight back to Paris, but Nick stayed until Wednesday night.  Of course, he worked most of the time, but he did get to see what happens to Venice when there's high tide and a ton of rain.  Pretty crazy!

Our hotel: Left-not high tide, Right-high tide + rain

Check out all our Venice pictures here

**I absolutely adore Venice now, and highly recommend visiting if you can.  Tips: Try to stay in Venice at least one night.  A day trip just doesn't give you the same feel as spending the night; a large chunk of tourists leave for the night.  If you can afford a little extra, stay at Al Ponte Antico.  I promise, you won't be sorry!  Take time to just wander and enjoy the side streets...don't worry about using a map.  You will get lost, but there's always signs to guide you back.  Eat {Grom} gelato.  Restaurants, just use TripAdvisor...the ones we ate at were excellent, but I think it's fun just finding some on your own.  The Carneggio neighborhood has the best restaurants, in my opinion.**