The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian Hotel is a must see. You get to see a piece of Italy with the architecture, musical entertainment, and gondola rides. The shopping mall has a water canal running through it. The specialty shops have glass art, high end clothing, jewelry, gifts & souvenirs and bath products. There are plenty of eating choices from fine dining to cafes and coffee shops.

Now this is a store that has what I want. BEBE designers know what they are doing. COOL clothes!! They have great styles for a night out on the town, casual wear, and now we have Bebe Sport. The sport line outfits are sexy without being revealing. That is a good trick and not all designers have the insight to pull it off correctly. I love this store. The tops are so cute and the jackets are great.

The store has a good selection of dressy clothes and shoes. I usually don't find casual wear in styles that I like. The material quality is good but just not exactly the really good feel I like with some other top brands. Sometimes I wonder if the designers for BCBG focus on magazine cover type styles that look interesting in pictures are not really what you acyually buy to wear.

Bouchon restaurant at the Venetian Hotel is an Epicurean Award winner for Best French and Best Restaurant. This is where you get gold standard versions of classic dishes. It is reasonably priced fine dining. If you haven’t had brunch at Bouchon’s, you have missed out. The sourdough waffles with fresh bananas maple syrup, and Tahitian vanilla bean butter is incomparable. One of my favorite menu choices is the Croque Madame, which is toasted ham and cheese on brioche with fried egg and pommes frites. On the light side is tasty yogurt, tropical fruit salad, strawberries & cream, cinnamon oatmeal, and maple almond granola. A sweet tooth is readily satisfied with a variety of pastries available.

B & B Ristorante at the Venetian Hotel serves fabulous meals with exotic ingredients like squab, octopus, wild boar, nettles, quail, duck, rabbit, lamb as well as traditional favorites like flank steak and pork chops. Eclectic dishes created by chef Mario Batali have fine wines for pairing, thanks to his winemaking partner Joe Bastianich. A sommelier is ready to make recommendations for the perfect accent. A tasting menu gives allows you to sample the best dishes on the menu. I hated to miss out on that, but just ordered the spaghetti anyway, and had no regrets. It was wonderful. My partner ordered the grilled Branzino, a Batali signature dish of fish served whole. It is an Italian restaurant, but more upbeat with 70’s pop rock music and modern atmosphere.