Wot I did on my holiday
Not a lot, actually.
I flew out to Italy, to Venice's Marco Polo Airport on 30 July, where D met me - he'd driven out the previous day, and we stayed the night in a nearby hotel. There were a few restaurants around, so we tried the nearest and had a really good meal (much better than we expected) using good, fresh produce. The next morning we checked out but left our luggage at the hotel and spent a few hours wandering around Venice. After lunch we collected our luggage and the car and drove over to the villa we had rented, the allegedly Palladian Villa Saraceno, in the village of Finale (a wonderful name) in the middle of nowhere. We were joined a few hours later by shewhomust and durham_rambler and by other WINOLJ friends.
Sunday was a very lazy day, settling in, unpacking and generally sitting around drinking red wine.
On Monday D and went to Padua to see the Giotto frescos in the Capella Scrovegni (you have to book in advance), which were absolutely amazing. And we also went to see St Anthony's Basilica. D was a bit disappointed that he was not offered any outsize rosaries by nearby itinerant vendors (the Rough Guide warns of this). Eventually we collected D's friend R from Padua station and went looking for a suitable restaurant for dinner. We found one in the mountains about 20 minutes from the villa, and R and I had wild boar followed by chocolate salami for dessert.
Tuesday was another lazy day, and on Wednesday, we all decamped to Vicenza to see the superb Teatro Olimpico and other Palladian delights, including the Villa Capra, better known as la Rotonda, which inspired the design of both the White House and Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello.
Thursday was D's 60th birthday, and many friends who were holidaying nearby descended on the villa for the party. D had arranged for the Custodian and her husband to cook a special meal for us all, which was excellent, and a good time was had by all. D is now officially old.
Friday was another lazy day, clearing up after the party, packing to go home the next day, and final photographs were taken of the remaining group on the steps of the villa.
After the final checks that we weren't leaving anything behind, we set off in the direction of Frankfurt to visit shannachie and Bear for dinner at a traditional Hessisch restaurant. Our original ETA in Frankfurt was around 6 pm. However we soon discovered that the Saturday before the 15 August is probably the busiest day of the year on Italian motorways heading north, and the pressure of traffic combined with roadworks caused long tailbacks which set us back rather a lot. So I called shannachie to explain... We eventually arrived at her place at around 9 pm, which was too late for the restaurant. However she and roja, who was an unexpected but delightful surprise, prepared a wonderful meal for us, and we had a great time sitting and chatting and eating.
On Sunday we headed north to Calais and the Chunnel. We managed to get on an earlier train than we had originally booked, which meant we got home before midnight.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to D's birthday celebrations and helped make them special. And a special thank you to shannachie and Bear for their hospitality and looking after us and being so understanding over our being so late.
I flew out to Italy, to Venice's Marco Polo Airport on 30 July, where D met me - he'd driven out the previous day, and we stayed the night in a nearby hotel. There were a few restaurants around, so we tried the nearest and had a really good meal (much better than we expected) using good, fresh produce. The next morning we checked out but left our luggage at the hotel and spent a few hours wandering around Venice. After lunch we collected our luggage and the car and drove over to the villa we had rented, the allegedly Palladian Villa Saraceno, in the village of Finale (a wonderful name) in the middle of nowhere. We were joined a few hours later by shewhomust and durham_rambler and by other WINOLJ friends.
Sunday was a very lazy day, settling in, unpacking and generally sitting around drinking red wine.
On Monday D and went to Padua to see the Giotto frescos in the Capella Scrovegni (you have to book in advance), which were absolutely amazing. And we also went to see St Anthony's Basilica. D was a bit disappointed that he was not offered any outsize rosaries by nearby itinerant vendors (the Rough Guide warns of this). Eventually we collected D's friend R from Padua station and went looking for a suitable restaurant for dinner. We found one in the mountains about 20 minutes from the villa, and R and I had wild boar followed by chocolate salami for dessert.
Tuesday was another lazy day, and on Wednesday, we all decamped to Vicenza to see the superb Teatro Olimpico and other Palladian delights, including the Villa Capra, better known as la Rotonda, which inspired the design of both the White House and Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello.
Thursday was D's 60th birthday, and many friends who were holidaying nearby descended on the villa for the party. D had arranged for the Custodian and her husband to cook a special meal for us all, which was excellent, and a good time was had by all. D is now officially old.
Friday was another lazy day, clearing up after the party, packing to go home the next day, and final photographs were taken of the remaining group on the steps of the villa.
After the final checks that we weren't leaving anything behind, we set off in the direction of Frankfurt to visit shannachie and Bear for dinner at a traditional Hessisch restaurant. Our original ETA in Frankfurt was around 6 pm. However we soon discovered that the Saturday before the 15 August is probably the busiest day of the year on Italian motorways heading north, and the pressure of traffic combined with roadworks caused long tailbacks which set us back rather a lot. So I called shannachie to explain... We eventually arrived at her place at around 9 pm, which was too late for the restaurant. However she and roja, who was an unexpected but delightful surprise, prepared a wonderful meal for us, and we had a great time sitting and chatting and eating.
On Sunday we headed north to Calais and the Chunnel. We managed to get on an earlier train than we had originally booked, which meant we got home before midnight.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to D's birthday celebrations and helped make them special. And a special thank you to shannachie and Bear for their hospitality and looking after us and being so understanding over our being so late.