Last days in Italy...

ended with a bang rather than the whimper I feared. Friday night's dinner did not meet my expectations. We went out with one of Ned's coworkers and I was over ruled on restaurants. We went to one that Ned had gone to before but even he was disappointed. Oh well....the food wasn't bad, just not spectacular.
Saturday morning dawned clear and bright. Our plans were to just do some driving the back roads, stopping where we felt like and just taking it easy for the day. We were told of a local food and wine festival so we headed out that way. It was being held on an old estate called Villa Manin.

There were about 25 booths set up offering up local cuisine and wine. For the most part, we were not impressed but we did find a great wine that we were bringing as a house gift to Ned's sort of local boss who was making dinner for us.

Because it had been pouring for 2 days straight the ground was a bit soggy so we decided to head out. We wanted to stop at some of the local wineries and taste their fare. We didn't find anything great but the views were awesome.

We drove through a little town called Palmanova..it is one lane to get in or out and is surrounded by old walls.

I love all these old buildings!

Ned's boss lives in a very old building that has been in his wife's family forever. It might be close to 800 years old but has undergone extensive renovation. Design is something the Italians excel at and I loved the decor. Nothing staid about this place!

Dinner was delicious and relaxed.

One of the views from near his home in Cividale del Friuli which is about 20 miles from the Slovenian border. You can see the Julian Alps in the background.
We had an earlier night than normal and were looking forward to spending Sunday in Venice before I had to fly home.
Disappointment abounded as we woke up to torrential rains Sunday morning. We had a leisurely breakfast and made our way to our hotel near the airport in Venice. We were prepared to spend the day at the hotel and only go out for meals. It was still pouring when we arrived so we parked ourselves in the lobby where the wifi was free. I noticed a break in the clouds and suggested that since we were going to go out for lunch anyway that we chance the bus into Venice. The sun came out and stayed out. I love walking around Venice...even though it was not tourist season yet, there were droves of people. There was some sort of regatta which brought out people from all over Europe in anything that floated. There were over 1600 entrants. I think we caught this same race about 5 years ago as well and it was still lots of fun to watch.

We took a vapporetto over to Murano as this was the only island of Venice I had never been to. Can't say it looked any different and I didn't find any glass I fell in love with.

We came back and strolled the little streets and enjoyed the fabulous day.

San Marco

We enjoyed the only early dinner we ate in 2 weeks as I had to be up at 4:30 to catch an early plane.

Sitting in the Frankfurt airport waiting for the next leg of my flight. Hope you enjoyed traveling with me.