Veneto -- the past week
As the travel begins to recede in memory, the return to northern Italy strikes me as, if nothing else, great "non-planning" -- unambitiously following our noses.
First, we lucked into a great cab ride from the Venice cruise terminal to Marco Polo airport -- the reserved rental car HAD to be picked up there. (High season, it seems -- they limit availability at the Piazzale Roma location, out on the Venice island.) Anyway, we chatted in our recently reacquired Italian (finding our 12 days back in English on shipboard hadn't undermined it) with the cabbie about various directions we could go. He was enthusiastic about "his" Veneto, especially pitching the medieval center of Treviso -- marvelous old villas, great food -- only 30 kilometers north. We got our car, another FIAT Panda (albeit the "normal" one -- the one we had back in late June was the new 4-wheel-drive turbo, really quick and supple), and headed north.
Only ten kilometers along, we saw the elegant old Villa Breida, now a classy hotel, and decided to check it out. Had a beer in its lovely garden restaurant, and would have stayed (rooms a moderate 80 Euro) -- but the road beckoned. Got to Treviso, drove around the romantic old walls, maybe 7-8 kilometers in circumference with several evocative fortified gates -- and decided we'd spend more time there as we returned at the end of the week. Grabbed the highway westbound and went another 25 kilometers to Castelofranco Veneto, a smaller walled medieval city where we had lunch in a gorgeous restaurant built right into the ancient fortification. After wandering around the old quarter, we headed north to Bassano del Grappa, another medieval town on the edge of the Dolomites.
We happened to spot a small hotel, the Victoria, right on the edge of the "centro storico" -- instantly solving what we knew would otherwise be a parking problem. (As I wrote earlier, many Italian towns and cities now prohibit non-residents' car access to their old downtowns; since one wants to see them afoot, anyway, it's just a question of finding a place to stash the car.)
Wound up staying there three nights since it was such a great setting. One could walk a block to the 16th-century wooden bridge spanning the Brenta river. It was designed by Palladio, no less -- seems to have been damaged in WWII but put back together quite nicely. (You lovely readers may recall earlier posts about exploring the lower Brenta, east of Padua, when we first arrived back in June; Bassano is maybe 50 kilometers north of there.)
No city walls in Bassano; the 19th-century residents did away with them -- while retaining the charming old quarter along the east side of the river. It reminded us of central Rome: great old buildings, little streets, elegant piazzas with small palaces and churches, delicious little bars and restaurants. That first night we ate in a simple little place called Saraceno. (The Saracen, referring to North African pirates who haunted medieval Italy -- those noisy roll-down metal shutters on little shops are called "saracinesche," or pirate-proofing, if you get me.)
Just to make the evening perfect, as we walked back to the bridge, we found a rock band playing in a tiny piazza, doing American "covers," no less -- so we settled in for half a dozen numbers. Yep, Bassano HAS to be our favorite place in the entire trip!
Next day, following the hotelkeeper's advice, we drove east and UP the daunting Mount Grappa. The views were quite thrilling as we climbed maybe a thousand meters in little over 10 miles. Turns out to be quite a historic road, built to supply Italian troops fighting the Austrians in WWI -- the battles that Hemingway saw as an ambulance driver (and turned into his first great novel, "The Sun Also Rises").
We returned down the mountain, then went east through several charming old towns, including Asolo -- another medieval castle conquered by the Venetians. The small town is a historic gem, not to be missed. We had a great walk around, as well as a beer in a great little bar.
Well, gotta get breakfast and head off for a couple of business appointments...I'll conclude this soon!
*********************************
A note for anyone following my tags: as you know, I rediscovered LJ's tags a few months ago, and I continue to explore a couple hundred of them I created five years ago -- when LJ decided to limit the number us non-subscribers could accumulate. Today's installment includes "dancing in her panties" -- not that there was any such amusement mentioned in this text, but I saw it in my list...so wtf!?
First, we lucked into a great cab ride from the Venice cruise terminal to Marco Polo airport -- the reserved rental car HAD to be picked up there. (High season, it seems -- they limit availability at the Piazzale Roma location, out on the Venice island.) Anyway, we chatted in our recently reacquired Italian (finding our 12 days back in English on shipboard hadn't undermined it) with the cabbie about various directions we could go. He was enthusiastic about "his" Veneto, especially pitching the medieval center of Treviso -- marvelous old villas, great food -- only 30 kilometers north. We got our car, another FIAT Panda (albeit the "normal" one -- the one we had back in late June was the new 4-wheel-drive turbo, really quick and supple), and headed north.
Only ten kilometers along, we saw the elegant old Villa Breida, now a classy hotel, and decided to check it out. Had a beer in its lovely garden restaurant, and would have stayed (rooms a moderate 80 Euro) -- but the road beckoned. Got to Treviso, drove around the romantic old walls, maybe 7-8 kilometers in circumference with several evocative fortified gates -- and decided we'd spend more time there as we returned at the end of the week. Grabbed the highway westbound and went another 25 kilometers to Castelofranco Veneto, a smaller walled medieval city where we had lunch in a gorgeous restaurant built right into the ancient fortification. After wandering around the old quarter, we headed north to Bassano del Grappa, another medieval town on the edge of the Dolomites.
We happened to spot a small hotel, the Victoria, right on the edge of the "centro storico" -- instantly solving what we knew would otherwise be a parking problem. (As I wrote earlier, many Italian towns and cities now prohibit non-residents' car access to their old downtowns; since one wants to see them afoot, anyway, it's just a question of finding a place to stash the car.)
Wound up staying there three nights since it was such a great setting. One could walk a block to the 16th-century wooden bridge spanning the Brenta river. It was designed by Palladio, no less -- seems to have been damaged in WWII but put back together quite nicely. (You lovely readers may recall earlier posts about exploring the lower Brenta, east of Padua, when we first arrived back in June; Bassano is maybe 50 kilometers north of there.)
No city walls in Bassano; the 19th-century residents did away with them -- while retaining the charming old quarter along the east side of the river. It reminded us of central Rome: great old buildings, little streets, elegant piazzas with small palaces and churches, delicious little bars and restaurants. That first night we ate in a simple little place called Saraceno. (The Saracen, referring to North African pirates who haunted medieval Italy -- those noisy roll-down metal shutters on little shops are called "saracinesche," or pirate-proofing, if you get me.)
Just to make the evening perfect, as we walked back to the bridge, we found a rock band playing in a tiny piazza, doing American "covers," no less -- so we settled in for half a dozen numbers. Yep, Bassano HAS to be our favorite place in the entire trip!
Next day, following the hotelkeeper's advice, we drove east and UP the daunting Mount Grappa. The views were quite thrilling as we climbed maybe a thousand meters in little over 10 miles. Turns out to be quite a historic road, built to supply Italian troops fighting the Austrians in WWI -- the battles that Hemingway saw as an ambulance driver (and turned into his first great novel, "The Sun Also Rises").
We returned down the mountain, then went east through several charming old towns, including Asolo -- another medieval castle conquered by the Venetians. The small town is a historic gem, not to be missed. We had a great walk around, as well as a beer in a great little bar.
Well, gotta get breakfast and head off for a couple of business appointments...I'll conclude this soon!
*********************************
A note for anyone following my tags: as you know, I rediscovered LJ's tags a few months ago, and I continue to explore a couple hundred of them I created five years ago -- when LJ decided to limit the number us non-subscribers could accumulate. Today's installment includes "dancing in her panties" -- not that there was any such amusement mentioned in this text, but I saw it in my list...so wtf!?