V is for Venice.

For our honeymoon, we took a wine and gastronomy-themed road trip to Venice.

It was a fabulous vacation. We stayed in beautiful boutique hotels in the French Bourgogne region and the Italian Alps on the way over. On the way back, we spent a couple of days at the Lago Maggiore and in the French Alsace.

As a bonus, the journey gave us an opportunity - and the perfect excuse - to try out different sparkling wines: crémant de Bourgogne, several Italian spumanti, prosecco, and the crémant d'alsace. But I digress - 'W for Wine' is tomorrow's topic.

My post today is about Venice, possibly the most romantic city in the world. Also a very hot city, in early July, but we survived.

'Paint Everything, Tintoretto'.
© 2005, Josh Noel. - CC

It's hard to say which were my favourite sights in Venice, because there were so many, but I'll disclose one treat that might not be in the standard tourist package: the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

The scuola was, like other scuole in the area, a kind of guild hall for wealthy citizens, built in the 16th century. Now it's a museum.

It consists of 2 floors, each decorated with lavish paintings by artists like Tintoretto and Titian. The upper hall also has amazing wood sculptures by Francesco Pianta.

It's such an inspiring place. I'll just have to use it in a novel one day!


A few more views of Venice

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