Abstract: Water exists everywhere; despite this fact the molecular picture of water interaction with solid-state surfaces is poorly understood. Here we review the significant advances during the last two decades in our understanding at the microscopic level of water adsorption and wetting on the surfaces of precious metals. The microscopic behavior of water-surface interaction is analyzed and the lessons we have learned are discussed, with emphasis on the modifications to the ideal "ice bilayer" model originally proposed in the 1980s.