Le Ville del Brenta
2 Saturdays ago - the last full day of our Italian holiday - was spent visiting some the villas on the Brenta "canal" (it is in fact a branch of the river but since it has locks and the water levels are maintained constant, it is considered a canal).
It was an early start; 8:45 am in front of the Church of La Pieta'
We informed reception the night before that we would miss breakfast (it starts at 8 am) but we were told to call on the way out, and we were given warm croissants to take with us and a coffee. Quite a nice touch!
We took the vaporetto, and there were plenty of empty seats out at the back. Of course one had to take a few more pictures
This is the itinerary of the Burchiello, the tourist boat which goes from Venice to Padua
To start with the journey wasn't too bad. The boat wasn't crowded and we could all sit on the upper deck.
The first stop was villa Foscari-Malcontenta, the only villa designed by Andrea Palladio on the Brenta river:
(sadly no pictures were allowed inside any of the villas)
But when we went back to the boat, a group had joined us and later on another one. It got crowded, it got noisy and you often ended up cursing people's backs and arses instead of admiring the villas along the river.
The groups were of Italians and well they are amongst the most indisciplined people in the world. (There was also a Japanese lady who could speak Italian and who would sneak in front of everyone no matter where she was in the 'queue'. I had to use my crutches to block her at one point!).
(yes it's her!!)
Then it was time for lunch which was quite good (although Adrian didn't care for his polenta bianca starter!)
You see quite a lot of villas from the river. Apparently the Brenta 'canal' was considered an extension of the Canal Grande, because all the Venetian patricians had villas here to amuse themselves and also keep an eye on their lands and farms.
(The tall spire of Mira - only a few metres shorter than St. Mark's)
After lunch we stopped at the Villa Widmann
(oooh, naughty Adrian!)
Then more villas, more locks, more noisy Italians...
and we go to the Villa Pisani which is in fact a huge palazzo!
We visited 35 rooms in the villa but sadly had no time left for the garden.
Villa Pisani was the place where Hitler and Mussolini met for the first time; you can see the room and bed where Hitler (and before him, Napoleon) slept!
Back on the boat, and another hour or so
we were in Padua, where we took a train back to Venice.
So, would I go on this trip again? The answer is a resounding No!
(In fact, it was my second time on the Brenta. I went to visit some of the ville venete 27 years ago on my first real holiday)
It was too crowded, noisy and not enough time to visit the villas. But it wasn't all bad.
It was an early start; 8:45 am in front of the Church of La Pieta'
We informed reception the night before that we would miss breakfast (it starts at 8 am) but we were told to call on the way out, and we were given warm croissants to take with us and a coffee. Quite a nice touch!
We took the vaporetto, and there were plenty of empty seats out at the back. Of course one had to take a few more pictures
This is the itinerary of the Burchiello, the tourist boat which goes from Venice to Padua
To start with the journey wasn't too bad. The boat wasn't crowded and we could all sit on the upper deck.
The first stop was villa Foscari-Malcontenta, the only villa designed by Andrea Palladio on the Brenta river:
(sadly no pictures were allowed inside any of the villas)
But when we went back to the boat, a group had joined us and later on another one. It got crowded, it got noisy and you often ended up cursing people's backs and arses instead of admiring the villas along the river.
The groups were of Italians and well they are amongst the most indisciplined people in the world. (There was also a Japanese lady who could speak Italian and who would sneak in front of everyone no matter where she was in the 'queue'. I had to use my crutches to block her at one point!).
(yes it's her!!)
Then it was time for lunch which was quite good (although Adrian didn't care for his polenta bianca starter!)
You see quite a lot of villas from the river. Apparently the Brenta 'canal' was considered an extension of the Canal Grande, because all the Venetian patricians had villas here to amuse themselves and also keep an eye on their lands and farms.
(The tall spire of Mira - only a few metres shorter than St. Mark's)
After lunch we stopped at the Villa Widmann
(oooh, naughty Adrian!)
Then more villas, more locks, more noisy Italians...
and we go to the Villa Pisani which is in fact a huge palazzo!
We visited 35 rooms in the villa but sadly had no time left for the garden.
Villa Pisani was the place where Hitler and Mussolini met for the first time; you can see the room and bed where Hitler (and before him, Napoleon) slept!
Back on the boat, and another hour or so
we were in Padua, where we took a train back to Venice.
So, would I go on this trip again? The answer is a resounding No!
(In fact, it was my second time on the Brenta. I went to visit some of the ville venete 27 years ago on my first real holiday)
It was too crowded, noisy and not enough time to visit the villas. But it wasn't all bad.