familiar faces in venice

we will never say no to seeing some familiar faces over here
in europe, especially when it means meeting them in venice!

my cute cousin jessie and her husband jared were on a trip here
and she sent me their dates months ago so we could meet up. we
planned around it to make sure we could be there on their dates,
and it ended up being so great: fall was in the air in venice, the crowds
had thinned a bit, and we got the greatest taste of home by seeing family.

chase and i had a day in venice together before they arrived, and
it was so fun & romantic to have zero plans and just wander.
i had only been to venice once before with my parents and brothers
one hot summer years ago. it was SO crowded and overrun that day.
we packed into huge lines in piazza san marco, sweat a lot, and
came away from our visit feeling less than impressed with venice.
although of course it was gorgeous, for years i thought it was just too
touristy and crazy to go back to. while i still can’t believe the insane
amount of tourism and dwindling amounts of locals here, i definitely
viewed it completely differently this time around visiting in the fall.
^^ st. mark’s square, less full of people this time
(but always full of pigeons!)
^^ could this canal be more perfect? we stayed on one of the back
canals near the train station, and loved that they were quieter.
the wooden water taxis have to be the prettiest taxis in the world ^^
antico forno pizza was a stop for us multiple times. it was very
different from the napoletana pizza we had just had in naples,
but this buttery, thick pizza is sold to go + melts in your mouth.
^^ jared & jessie arrived the second day!! two of the best people.
it was the best feeling to be with people we know and love and
catch up. it made me feel not so far away…plus, the first utah
football game was happening while we were here – so it was
nice to have some fellow utes who would want to stay up in the
middle of the night to watch. we love these two and jared kept
us laughing so hard (as usual) and eating LOTS of gelato.
we found the VERY best gelato on earth. i am not exaggerating!
we have a list of 3 favorite gelato shops in italy, and this topped
them for SURE. #3 is raki in sorrento (mascarpone flavor with
pine nuts and caramel), #2 is frigidarium in rome (house
flavor dipped in dark chocolate), and #1 is now ……
SUSO gelatoteca in venice … get the manet flavor and thank us later! :)
it is pistachio + hazlenut sprinkled with sea salt. we had one taste and
went right back to get another. the opera flavor is amazing too!
can you tell we take our gelato seriously? haha
jessie & jared had the world’s nicest hotel room on the grand
canal so we hung out there and took pics from their balcony ^^
i love this boy and he hates that i made him take a picture
against this brick wall … but he did it anyway. true love ;)
^^ back for yet another manet gelato from suso!
we stopped into bacaro al ravano near our hotel a few times for
the olive oil-soaked foccacia sandwiches with parma ham. ^^
chase trying on one of the venetian masks ^^ haha scary!
lots of good eating happened with the wades!
i love this picture of jared enjoying his dessert on the balcony..
and, chase and jared having their 10th pizza of the day. ^^
these pictures are somehow blurry, but someone had the
idea to pretend we were climbing the poles .. ? haha
we went off in search of a pasta dinner before we had to say goodbye..
melon + parma ham for a very italian appetizer ^^
we went out for a delish night of pasta with the wades.
pappardelle is always a good choice in italy, as is gnocchi.
we were sad that dal moro’s pasta was closed while we were
there, but luckily we still found some good eats here.
we got caught in the rain after, which was a
memorable last night running through venice all
together! thanks jared for buying the girls umbrellas :)
we found stick house before the night ended – handmade gelato on a stick.
not as good as SUSO, but so fresh and it reminded me of popbar in NYC!
it’s hard not to love venice when you get to see some of your favorite
people there.. also, when the air is crisp, fall is beginning, & it rains.

we love you jessie + jared! and we love you venice!

xo