Since Verona didn't have too many items on our to-do list, we had decided that it would offer the best opportunity for visiting a winery. Patrick found one a short distance away that has been open since the early 1700s, and luckily they had a tour/tasting option on the day we were leaving Verona. Since we hadn't bought train tickets yet, we had the flexibility to sign up, and so arrived at the Villa Mosconi Bertani bright and early at 10am. (Don't judge - we're on vacation in Italy and it was almost noon by the time we actually drank the wine!)
The grounds outside were beautiful and we had another perfect weather day. As we waited for the office to open, we got to watch the workers hauling in tractor load after tractor load of grapes - this villa must produce a LOT of wine. The tour itself took us first through most of the grounds, including the finished parts of the house and both the Italian and English gardens. When we went back to the tasting room, we were able to taste several varieties of wine that are particular to the area around Verona: our favorites were the amarone and valpolicello reds.
After our tour and tasting completed, we hopped on a train to Venice. We luckily found our hotel very easily (perhaps the only thing we DID find easily in our time there - Venice is probably the most confusing city we've been in) and started off to adventure.
Every guidebook or review I've read about Venice has said that one of the most important experiences is to put away your map and get lost, to just experience the city. Based on our experience doing that the first day, I would like to offer some further advice: if you want to get lost, head away from the train station and shipping docks. They will not quite provide the romantic and beautiful atmosphere than people expect from Venice! After stumbling across a restaurant for dinner and eating overlooking sunset on a canal, we headed back for our hotel and found that Venice is a far more beautiful city at night. When you can't see the peeling paint and looking down a canal shows you neat lines of moored boats instead of the smell of gas, it really it quite charming!
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