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The Casoni
The thatched and rush clad Casoni of the lagoon area Thursday is Market Day in Portogruaro main street and piazza. We had an interesting and entertaining time people watching. We noticed how much more people dressed up for the occasion with an opportunity to wear fashionable clothes. This is in direct contrast with the way in which Kiwis go out in public. The market sold vast amounts of clothing, bags and underwear with some food items such as cheese, fish and fruit and vegetables.
After the market Pierina and Diego picked us up to go to Cintello to pick up our bikes from the previous evening and bike back to Portogruaro. We took the scenic route and visited Cordovado, an old fortified town, to Venchiaredo Spring (roman times), the Stalis Mills (pictured in yesterday's blog), through Gruaro, to Portovecchio (for lemonade - mineral water, sugar and lemon), then on back to Portogruaro. It was very hot and it took ages to cool down. The temperature in the afternoon was 27 degrees.
After a lunch of spagetti and baked turkey (separate) we headed into the sticks. It wouldn't seem possible that such a flat open area could be quite sparsely populated after the many villages inland further. This is because most of
Portobuffole
The small walled town of Portobuffole. T the area between the beach and Portogruaro has been reclaimed back from lagoon and swamp into productive land. There has been millions of hectares brought into crop cultivation by the draining of this area. As Diego said, it was one of the few good things the Fascists did in creating industry and work for many people.
We drove down to an area giving access to the Valli Zignago, a largely deserted area of the lagoon. It was quiet and peaceful and there were unusual looking houses (casoni) clad in rushes, not unlike the thatch of cottages in England.
From here we travelled across to the Livenza River to an unusual gathering of buildings at Ca' Corniani. It was built to house the workers on the reclamation area and after the reclamation was finished, the workers then worked on the farmland. It is now mostly derelict but some people have restored one of the large buildings into apartments with brightly coloured flowers.
We then visited the area mentioned in Arch Scott's book "Dark of the Moon". It is about a guy in the 2nd World War who helped to organise the hiding of escaped prisoner's of war with the partisans. This included the locations we passed through today of La Salute, along the river Livenza river to San Stivo di Livenza and further inland to the area where Guilia and Giovanni live at Annone Veneto.
Half an hour further on we came to Portobuffole to see a fine example of a walled town with clock tower, cobbled streets, arched sheltered walkways, and houses. There were barely any people around but we did find a bar to have a tonic and lemon at. Touring is hot work.
Our last stop was at Villa Luppis which is a huge mansion set in park like surroundings. It had 3 dining areas, a pool, a lovely large garden, a chapel (was), and fountains. Very nice.
We arrived back at 9pm to dinner awaiting us. A time to try a range of cheeses - yoghurt cheese, a mountain cheese, parmesan, a soft buffalo cheese, and gorgonzola served with salads. Of course followed by a range of the local gelatos.
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