Dreams Come True in Venice

Gondola ride along Venice's Grand Canal

I first visited Venice when I was almost 20 years old. Back then, I left with two regrets. I never rode in a gondola, and we took a daytrip from the mainland instead of actually staying in Venice. There was also a garbage collector strike going on which lent a rather rubbishy aroma drifting around the famous canals. Upon my return to this watery city — older and with more money to spend — I was determined to not walk away a second time thinking of what might have been.

Fujiya Hotel: East meets West in the midst of Hakone National Park

What do you picture when you think of a Japanese inn near a popular hot spring? Perhaps a ryokan with tatami mats on the floor and sliding door panels made of rice paper stretched taut across black wood frames? Sure, I would have loved to stay at one of those during our family trip back in April 2012. But with my rambunctious kids, I knew that we were one "Look at me. I'm a Samurai" game away from coughing up a ton of money to pay for ripped mats and torn door panels.

The Flower Palace at the Fujiya Hotel

Instead, we finished off our day visting Mount Fuji and Hakone National Park by spending the night at the Fujiya Hotel. Frommer's Travel Guide describes it as

"quite simply the grandest, most majestic old hotel in Hakone; indeed, it might be the loveliest historic hotel in Japan."