Editor's Note: Former Milwaukee Mile Chairman Craig Stoehr is an avid traveler who regularly visits exotic lands and shares his adventures with OnMilwaukee.com readers. Stoehr rejoined top global law firm Latham & Watkins in June 2008. Now working in Doha, Qatar and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, he continues to inform OnMilwaukee.com readers about worthwhile international travel destinations. During this installment, he visits Venice, Florence and Tuscany.

VENICE

Having last been to Italy in 2003, I decided it was time for a return trip to Venice, Florence and Tuscany to indulge my love for all things Italian. Venice is known as one of the world's most romantic cities, and late September is a great time for a visit, as the hordes of tourists have begun to diminish and the weather is quite pleasant.

Venice's Marco Polo Airport is small and easily navigable (you can take Delta from Milwaukee to Atlanta and connect to a non-stop flight to Venice). The best way to get into this historic archipelago of 118 islands and more than 150 canals set over a lagoon is by taking the seven-minute walk from the baggage claim area to the water taxi stand, where you can arrange for a private water taxi.

Though somewhat expensive, this is really the most splendid way to arrive in Venice -- you literally feel like you've stepped into a movie, and the fashionably dressed water taxi drivers jabbering on their cell phones the entire ride let you know that you are most certainly in Italy.

In Venice, we stayed at the Hotel Metropole (www.summithotels.com), which is right on the Grand Canal and conveniently located just a few minutes' walk from the famous Piazza San Marco. The essence of Venice can be captured in a day or two, and should be marked by visits to the Piazza San Marco (where the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica and Clocktower are worth seeing), the Rialto Bridge, the Accademia Bridge and the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs).

If you are spending several days in Venice, a visit to the glass factories on the island of Murano, the beaches at Lido or the Peggy Guggenheim Museum may also be of interest.

Other popular activities in Venice include a gondola ride (of course), visiting Harry's Bar (www.cipriani.com) for a Bellini (a drink made with Prosecco sparkling wine and peach puree that was invented by Harry's Bar founder Giuseppe Cipriani and named after 15th century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini), and sipping a coffee at the timeless Caffé Florian or Gran Caffé Quadri on the Piazza San Marco.

In addition, a great (and inexpensive) way to see Venice and experience its liveliness is to travel around on a vaporetto (a public water bus) -- it's interesting, if only to see the incredible amount of boat traffic and to be amazed at how accidents are averted.

TUSCANY

After Venice, we headed for Tuscany, with a brief stop in Bologna, the birthplace of spaghetti bolognese, tortellini and mortadella sausage -- not to be confused (nor compared) with Oscar Mayer baloney.

Although Bologna seemed to be a nice city, the stop was not necessarily worthwhile, and was marred by our only unpleasant experience of the trip -- a waiter at what seemed like a fantastic little enoteca (wine bar/small restaurant), with tables made out of wine casks with discarded wine bottle corks underneath the glass tops -- who completely ignored us and would not take our order. I guess he took us for the tourists we were.

Early that evening, we arrived in Tuscany at our hotel in Sinalunga, a small town near Siena. The hotel, Locanda dell'Amorosa, dates to the 14th century; the ancient stables have been converted into hotel rooms along with a restaurant and wine bar, and there is even a chapel on the grounds. And the entry is spectacular -- a long, uphill dirt road lined by towering cypress trees on both sides reminiscent of General Maximus' home in the film "Gladiator" (which was partly filmed in Tuscany). Moreover, the level of service matches the unsurpassed and picturesque setting.

On our first night, we dined in the hotel's restaurant and had a wonderful meal that included a main course of thinly sliced veal doused in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

On our first full day in Tuscany, we rose early to see a spectacular sunrise over the Tuscan hillside from our window. That was an absolutely invigorating start to the day. We then drove straight for Montepulciano, a wonderful medieval hilltop town where first we visited the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, which was constructed between 1594 and 1680.

We then walked down the steep and winding cobblestone streets to the bottom entrance to the old city, stopping along the way to watch an automobile rally comprised of more than one hundred old cars that were making their way to the top.

Before departing, we entered Citta Sotterranea, a wine and cheese shop, where we received a tour of the wine cellars located beneath the ground floor, where they still make the well-known Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine.

After a brief stop in Pienza, a quaint medieval town with a view of Monte Amiata, Tuscany's highest mountain, we continued on to Montalcino, another medieval hilltop town known for the Brunello di Montalcino wine produced in the surrounding countryside. After walking around the town, where a cycling race was taking place, we stopped for lunch at Vineria Le Pottazine, a small contemporary enoteca located off the main piazza.

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