On our way out of Vicenza, on to Verona

The second day of our trip was beautiful.  Mostly sunny and a few puffy clouds in the sky.  Les had finished with his committments and vacation began (for him anyway, I was already on vacation!).  On our way out of Vicenza we decided to check out one of the famous Villas on the outskirts of town - Villa Almerico Capra, also known as La Rotonda. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello was inspired by Palladio's Rotonda.

Villa Almerico Capra

After taking in the Villa we hit the road headed to Verona.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
~Prologue, Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare

Looking north from a bridge crossing the Adige River

And south...

We arrived in Verona just in time for lunch.  Once we found a place to park our car we headed to Piazza Bra' and the Roman Arena. We picked out a cafe with a fantastic view of the Arena and ordered lunch.

My view while I ate lunch

After we finished eating we walked around the awesome structure that is Verona's Roman Arena and then proceeded to follow Rick Steve's Verona Town Walk to take in as many sights as possible.  We only had a couple of hours and wanted to make the most of them.

The Roman Arena

Porta Borsari - the main entrance to Roman Verona

Looking down a side street off of Corso Porta Borsari

Old, dusty bottles inside Enoteca Oreste

Enoteca Oreste was once the private chapel of the Archbishop of Verona.  Between the bottles and on the ceiling you can still see vestiges of the rooms' past.

Piazza Erbe, the Forum in Roman times

The final sight that we visited in Verona was the House of Juliet, as in Romeo & Juliet. Did Juliet really exist?  The house is on Via Cappello, the street of the cap makers. Above the courtyard entry is a coat of arms featuring a hat representing a family that made hats and would logically be named Capulet.  While there is not documentation to prove the legend that this is indeed Juliet's house, there is no documentation to disprove it.

Juliet's Balcony

"Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Verona was fantastic and I wish we could have spent more time there.  Alas, we had to turn back towards Venezia, return our rental car, and check into our hotel in Mestre.  We were tired and looking forward to two more days of vacation.  More pictures to come!

In & Around Vicenza

This past weekend Les had a function to attend in Vicenza.  I tagged along and took off exploring while he was occupied.  First, I must mention that Northern Italy is like another country compared to Sicily and Southern Italy.  It was clean, the roads were in good repair, and people generally behaved in an orderly fashion!!!  I had no anxiety about taking our rental car out onto unfamiliar roads and exploring with the help of my handy GPS.

My day started out with a lot of rain but I didn't let that stop me.  I drove into the centro of Vicenza, found a place to park and then geared up with my camera bag, umbrella & jacket.  As I walked around I had my camera tucked under my coat and the umbrella over my head.  Eventually I did get a break from the weather and was able to fold up my umbrella and focus on the architecture around me and taking pictures.

I spent most of my time walking the pedestrian only Corso Palladio with short jaunts down side streets. One such walk led me to the Piazza dei Signori.  This piazza, Vicenza's main square, has been the center of town ever since it was the site of the ancient Roman forum.

Piazza dei Signori

Tower of the Basilica Palladiana

The Basilica Palladiana, with its 270-foot-tall, 13th century tower, dominates the piazza.  This was not a church, but a meeting place for local big shots.

The back of the Duomo (I think)

Facade of S. Corona

After enjoying the centro of Vicenza I  headed out into the country in search of a little town called Bassano del Grappa.  In the hotel I had browsed brochures about regional sights and discovered that there was a wooden bridge in Bassano, designed by Palladio in 1569. While the existing bridge isn't the original (it has been destroyed & rebuilt several times), it was definitely worth the trip.

Bassano del Grappa was beautiful.  I didn't want to leave.  It was nestled up against the mountains, and with the stormy weather there was a lovely fog/mist clinging to the surrounding hills.

Bassano & its Ponte Vecchio

Once I was in Bassano and had taken a few pictures of its famed bridge I decided it was time for some lunch.  There was an English pub nearby so I decided to give it a try.  Once I was seated and took a closer look at the menu I realized that the food wasn't very English.  I had hopes for fish & chips. Oh well.  I ended up with a delicious salad, a small beer, and a fantastic view to enjoy while I ate.

Lunch

The view from my table

With a full tummy I set out to explore Bassano del Grappa.  The town isn't large, but I didn't have a map of its tiny streets so I took many "wrong" turns and enjoyed each one immensely.  It is amazing the treasures one can find when they go the "wrong" way.

Hilarious chairs in a shop window

Another view of the Ponte Vecchio, this time from the other side, looking down

Walking across the bridge

Looking upriver from the bridge

A lantern in front of a shop

Eventually I returned to my trusty rental car and decided to check out a walled town I had seen as I was driving toward Bassano. 

The walled city of Marostica

I parked outside of the city walls and walked through its cobblestone streets. Some of the buildings were in very good repair, some, not so good, all were quite old.

Marostica's main piazzza

The sun was starting to get a bit lower in the sky.  I stopped in the piazza above for a bottle of water and a gelato.  Soon I would have to head back to the hotel.

Eventually I had to head back to Vicenza, the hotel, and my waiting husband. I wasn't sure what to expect when I took off for a day on my own in an unknown (to me) part of Italy, but I had a marvelous time and discovered places that I certainly would like to return to someday.

Sagra del Pistacchio di Bronte

Sunday afternoon Les I drove up to Bronte, a town in the Etna foothills, for the Sagra del Pistacchio di Bronte, a festival all in honor of the lovely pistacchio. It was a two hour drive from our house through gorgeous countryside, especially once we starting climbing into the foothills.


As we made our way into Bronte the traffic was bumper to bumper - our first indication that this was a very popular festival.  After driving for a bit we finally found a parking place and we had no idea how far of a walk it would be to the festival but we set off in what we thought was the right general direction.  Our walk took us down a steep hill and we ended up exactly where we wanted to be after about a 5-7 minute walk.

Once into the festival we followed our noses - there were wonderful food smells everywhere!  Our first stop was for a gelato.  It was probably the BEST gelato I've ever had, and of course it was pistacchio flavor.  It was almost like butter, so rich and creamy!  It was even served in a handmade waffle cone.  Amazing.

After our rich, sweet overload we needed something on the savory side to balance it out.  We opted to share a slice of pistacchio pizza, simply pizza crust, cheese, and crushed pistacchios.  yum!  With satisfied bellies we wandered the festival checking out the many booths with food, jewelry, and other handmade goods.

After walking a bit we were ready for our next munchie - this time a pistacchio cannolo :)  more yummo!  I also found a vendor selling fresh pistacchio pasta.  I picked up some pistacchio ravioli and pistacchio tagliatelle to bring home (on a side note I made the ravioli last night and it was awesome!).

Throughout all of this eating we were having to make our way through thick crowds.  The later it got the thicker the crowds.  Eventually the festival ceased being fun as my clautrophobia kicked in.  Thick crowds and Italian's lack of respect for personal space is not a good situation for me.  I'd had enough at that point.  We found some dinner - pistacchio hamburgers! and luckily found a place to sit down and enjoy them.  Getting off of our feet felt oh so good!  We'd been walking for several hours.

After dinner we were ready to go.  A quick stop for Les to get a pistacchio creme crepe and for me to buy some pistacchios to take home for me and a couple of bags for family, and then we were on our way.  The steep uphill walk back to the car definitely burned off some of the calories we had consumed.  Overall we had a nice time (minus the crowds) and ate our way from one end of Bronte to the other.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Oh, and if you are wondering where the pictures are....well...I didn't take my camera out, not even once.  For the first hour we were there it was drizzling, and then after that the crowds were so thick that I didn't want to risk getting my lens damaged as we were squished like sardines in the crowd.  Oh well, maybe next time!

Les' Gig at Etnapolis

This past Saturday Les' band, Killer Tomato, played at a televised event at Etnapolis, a nearby shopping mall. I think it may have been the biggest crowd he's ever played for.  The band did an awesome job, I'm really proud of my hubby! The event was essentially a talent competition, very odd compared to what we are used to in America, but entertaining nonetheless.  Les' band was a guest performance, not part of the competition. I don't have time to write up a big description but I hope you enjoy the photos.

The stage, before the event began

Sound Check

My view of the stage once the show started - yes I was right behind a camera boom...

Odd...very odd - a very hairy bam-bam from Flintstones perhaps?? LOL

This gentleman was playing spoons and a harmonica, he was quite good!

A local band, Sugar Free, They were really good!

More Sugar Free

Commercial break setup for Killer Tomato - Waiting for their cue...

My Hubbie :)

The crowd while Les' band was playing

After they played, a quick chat with the MC, with the help of a translator

A Michael Jackson impersonator, he was young, maybe 17? and he was REALLY good!

Homemade Drum Set - it sounded really good!

A guy in the audience, obnoxious really, but the character & personality in his face really captivated me, typical Sicilian!