National Liberty Museum

An unassuming museum in Old City Philadelphia is the National Liberty Museum. While unassuming from the outside, inside it's beautiful. The museum explains liberty in many ways, one of methods is through glass work and glass sculptures.

As you head up the main staircase, the museum also has a memorial to those firemen and police that were killed during the 9/11 attacks in New York and DC. If you take the elevator, you'll miss this amazing memorial.

There is also a photo gallery of people who made a difference in peace and good will, many you will recognize, like Bill and Melinda Gates, and many you will not, but they all have amazing stories.

As you work your way through the museum, the second floor looks at violence in children, women, men, at home and more, through pictures, words, and glass. At the end of the exhibit, there are jellybean kids (see above and below), which shows children and everyone visiting, that even though we all look different on the outside, we're all the same, just like jelly beans.

Q BBQ and Tequila Bar

There are lots and lots of dining options in Old City Philadelphia, but we found a delicious option on Chestnut Street, just past the original post office. Q BBQ and Tequila Bar serves burgers, BBQ and lots and lots of tequila.

We tried the pulled pork BBQ sandwich and the chicken quesadilla. The pulled pork sandwich was perfectly messy with the right amount of sauce. However, if you wanted more, there was a carousel of house sauces available to add. The pork was tender and delicious, melt in your mouth, with the perfect amount of "burnt" ends.

It's also served with their house made BBQ potato chips, which aren't fake BBQ-y and addicting.

The quesadilla had the right amount of heat, with juicy, tender chicken.

The restaurant serves tequila in many forms, including margaritas. We ordered an original, but they also serve some unique flavors like strawberry basil. The margarita was amazing, with just the right amount of tequila flavor to lime flavor, and paired well with the BBQ.

Check in on Foursquare twice for a free margarita with a $12 purchase (great deal!).

Hotel Omnia

We only got to spend one night at the Hotel Omnia, but we definitely had a good experience.  The hotel is located right off the Autostrada, making it very easy to get to, and has a good size parking lot, which eliminates some of the parking frustration you find in other parts of Italy.

The hotel is also located right near an outlet mall, which gives people staying here a shopping area to visit.  It is also about 20 minutes from Treviso and 35 minutes from the Venice Airport.  

The hotel was mostly clean, although we did find a "stink bug" in our room that we had to get rid of.  The room is an average size with a small TV, but it is comfortable.  There is also a bar in the lobby area with cheap alcohol for sale.  We were able to get a good bottle of white wine for only 10 Euros.  

Overall, we'd definitely recommend this hotel for a short stay.

Hotel Armando

We spent 5 nights at the Hotel Armando, using it as our base to explore this part of Italy.  The hotel is very modern looking on the inside, both in the rooms, as well as the public areas.  Every portion of the hotel is clean, and they provide an excellent free breakfast each morning.  The rooms are quite large for a European hotel, especially for the prices.  We also found that the restaurant that is directly next door was an excellent choice.

The main issue we ran into here had to do with parking.  On their site, as well as on 3rd party sites, they advertise free parking available.  The parking though is street parking only and it is extremely limited.  You're basically on your own to find it and the hotel will only give you a permit to put on your dashboard to allow you to park there.  If you can't find a parking spot on the street near the hotel, you'll be forced to find a parking lot that you'll need to pay for at close to 20 Euros/Day.  To us, this was basically false advertising and needs to be adjusted on the advertisements for this hotel.

Also, after 10 PM, the only staff on duty is a security guard from a 3rd party company.  While he is friendly, he doesn't have the ability to handle any typical hotel requests during late night hours, which could be problematic if you have an issue during those hours.

However, the location of the hotel is excellent as it is within easy walking distance of all attractions in Verona. Verona as a city is also centrally located for day trips to Lake Garda, Vicenza, Padova and portions of the Dolomites.

This is a hotel we'd recommend, but if you are driving there, make sure you take the parking issues into account.

Hotel Al Piave

When visiting Venice, there are a plethora of hotels to choose from.  Some are cheap hostels that can be good for college students.  Some are super expensive for the rich.  If you're looking for one that is moderately priced (around $200/night), Hotel Al Piave is a top notch choice.

The hotel is centrally located, making it within easy walking distance of most places in Venice.  When you first arrive in Venice either by public transit boat, shuttle boat or taxi boat, you'll need to get off at the S. Zaccaria landing, which is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  The hotel provides easy walking directions from this dock on their site.

The hotel itself is very clean, with a friendly staff.  They even let us use the dining area when it was closed to eat lunch we brought back to the hotel.  In the mornings, a free full breakfast is provided.  They also provide a free shuttle service to Murano at any time that is convenient for you.

While the hotel is centrally located and easily walkable from most tourist sites, it's on a quiet road so that you aren't bothered with the hustle and bustle like some of the hotels in Venice.

Another positive was a great air-conditioning system, which during the summer months is definitely needed.

Antica Bottega del Vino

I had searched for recommendations for restaurants while we were in Italy. The one that kept repeating, on New York Times, in Frommers, in DK Eyewitness books, Trip Advisor...everywhere was Antica Bottega del Vino in Verona.

And, apparently, I wasn't the only one who found out about this lovely restaurant, tucked just off the main drag in Verona. The first night we stopped by this restaurant for dinner, every table was full! The next two nights (Sunday and Monday) the restaurant was closed. When we did finally get to eat dinner here, we got here shortly after they opened, and still had to sit by the bar as all the tables were reserved for dinner. (They were telling people it was a 45 minute wait for a table!)

Sitting in the bar area wasn't a problem - we actually enjoyed it. Locals hang out here drinking wine and just talking. Also, you can watch the chef make appetizers and tapas, which I found fascinating.

We ordered the specials - pumpkin ravioli and noodles with duck sauce. Both were excellent and cooked perfectly. If you ask for the wine list, you're going to be handed a menu the size of a book! Order a local wine (clearly). We tried a wine from Soave (also the name of the wine) which was delicious.

Casa di Guiletta

The city of Verona has made itself a tourist destination around Shakespeare enthusiasts, as well as lovers.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Flocks of tourists making the pilgrimage to Verona to honor Juliet, stand on her balcony, write love letters to her, and walk through her family home.

You can enter the home, where it is sparsely decorated in items of the period, as well as a few women's dresses of the period.

Not your forte? Too many tourists? Head over to Tomba dei Guiletta, where the town has the church where Romeo and Juliet are said to have held their secret wedding ceremony, as well as the tomb that Juliet laid in.