Venice is a supremely romantic city. It's only fitting that an evening here is spent on a date night, and during our visit we certainly needed one! As we rolled into town on the afternoon train, ending a long voyage from Ljubljana that included a mountain trolley and walking over the border to Italy, we were ready for a change of pace. We needed to shake up our travel routine and find the best things to do in Venice at night.

In Venice, both romance and logistics are all over the map and, unsurprisingly, we had a few extra ups and downs as we were visiting the city mostly at night. We did some things right (like splurging on Wi-Fi so we'd never get lost) and we did some things wrong (no comment!), and then there were some mixed moments (like choosing a vaporetto over a gondola) but our best decision of all was to spend our date night not exclusively with each other, but instead with the Doge.

Exactly who is the Doge? Why, only the most important person in all of Venice -or,  at least he was several hundred years ago. Dozens of Doges have left an indelible mark on the city since 728 A.D. and it seemed only fitting that their collective, compelling spirit accompany us for an intimate evening in the city. If you're wondering what to do in Venice at night, please follow in our footsteps!

I've said it a hundred times: The great thing about travel is how you're always learning. But today I'm not talking about learning history or geography or languages. Nope, I've been schooled in a whole new way and it changes EVERYTHING!

It all started with my friend Andrea, who blogs at WanderingiPhone. She's an all round lovely gal who appreciates a savvy bargain as much as the next person. Andrea was telling me about an amazing trip she took to South Africa, "hacking" her points to get free layovers and stopovers in Ethiopia, Israel, and Poland along the way (much like we did in 2013 - seriously, we flew around the world for $350.) 

And then Andrea told me that Ethiopian Airlines gave her a free night's accommodation at a Hilton in Addis Ababa, plus meal vouchers and ground transportation. Uh, WHAT?!?!