50 Shades of Delicious: 2 Chewsy for the Catwalk

Rialto Bridge Rialto Market We had a blast checking out the Rialto market in Venice (it’s blocks away from the famous bridge).  We both love food so taking in all of the fresh vegetables, seafood and the sounds of locals bartering for their dinner was so fun.  We recognized a lot of the things we saw, but also spotted new and unfamiliar items.  We believe (although it’s unconfirmed) the dinner we ate that night was probably sourced from this market. Spider Crabs (we had these in pasta our first meal) Crabs Octopus & Sardines Swordfish that was decapitated Scallops and Shrimps Black ink squids Speaking of the night, take any romantic setting add candlelight, a full moon and voila it makes it extra sensual.  Venice is a sexy city by day with its water highways and men dressed up in dark striped shirts and fancy hats waiting to whisk you away on their gondola.  The darkness of night however, masks...

We spent our second day in Venice touring the islands.  We caught one of the ferries first to Murano famous for its glass.  As soon as we stepped off the boat the glass shops began.  They lined both sides of the waterway and continued throughout the island.  We decided after shopping in three or four of the shops that all of the pieces started looking a like.  Plus, how would we get one of these chandeliers home in are already overstuffed luggage? We did find a Christmas ornament we liked and went into the shop to buy it.  The very proud owner had signs posted around his shop warning tourists to protect the Murano name by  not buying fake glass .  Because of the ferver he had, we are confident our ornament is 100% authentic Murano glass.  We asked the shop keeper if it was worth taking a glass making tour.  He said there really weren't any tours, but that the big glass stores showed you around their shop and then up-char...

Our first stop on our Italian adventure was the city of Venice.  Yes, Las Vegas has tried to capture a slice of Venice in the desert, but in reality there is no other city that compares to Venice in the entire world. The airport's namesake is that of Marco Polo, a famous merchant and traveler that hailed from Venice.   The airport is where we first entered the world of Venezia.  The only option to get you from there to the city is some type of boat.  We opted for the public transportation water bus.  It works much like getting on a public bus, only it’s on water vs. land.  They are crowded and dirty like said public buses, but the glory is that you are on a boat being taken to what must be considered one of the most romantic cities on earth. We had sketchy directions from the tourist information booth about what stop to get off on and how to find our hotel.  We were both extremely jet lagged and were lulled into a semi-co...

Remember the phrase from the Wizard of Oz, “Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore?”  This is what it feels like leaving home, climbing aboard an airplane and arriving in a new country.  For us, the clues began on our layover in Frankfurt, Germany where the airport was so large workers rode around on bicycles and the environment had militaristic precision and a cold air about it. But, the journey continued beyond and we soon found ourselves in yet another culture that of Italia.  What’s generally the case while traveling so far, is your body is exhausted from the time change and travel, but your mind goes on overload with all the new information it is taking in and trying to process.  The following is what we collectively imprinted as our initial impressions of Italy. Chocolate for breakfast is embraced.  We were reintroduced to Nutella (a chocolate, hazelnut creamy spread of the Gods).  We were so tempted to buy a huge jar of it (...