Venice

It took us a little while to find our hotel. Our map wasn't very detailed. And it was raining. And there were no people out on the street. It's amazing how quiet it gets. When we finally found it, the reception guy was kind of wacky. He spoke English with a weird accent and so quickly that it was hard to understand him. After we settled down, we threw on light sweaters and ran to the restaurant next door. It was pretty crowded, but there were a couple of tables available. We stood there, and stood there, and stood there. Not one of the waiters bothered to acknowledge us. We thought maybe it had to do with our jeans. About the time that it got to be ludicrous - we were getting the feeling that they were just hoping we'd go away, and the people at the tables were starting to think it was strange, too - we started laughing and TRYING to draw attention to ourselves. Finally, this one waitress scrabbled up to us, looking very annoyed, and asked if we had a reservation. Which we didn't. Then it turned the whole experience into quite an aggravating one. You don't leave customers standing like that if all you have to do is tell them "reservations only." It was the restaurant right next to the American Hotel. So avoid it. Then we had to try to find another place to eat. The reception guy gave us no helpful hints, so we were left to wander the streets on a virtually dead night. We found two other places - both crowded. Eventually, we got into one - mediocre, but satisfying.