Under the Veneto Sun

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Our first full day in Vicenza began with a delicious breakfast - fruit, cereal, toast, biscuits, yoghurt and the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had. We headed down into the town and with the expert map-drawing skills of our host, made it quite easily to the parking lot. On her advice we walked to the Teatro Olimpico and bought ourselves a day pass to many of Vicenza’s attractions. The Teatro was rather beautiful and very well preserved. We then walked across to the Museo civico Palazzo Chierati. More religious paintings which have now become a blur of bored-looking Madonnas, dead looking matyrs and fat babies.

Onwards we went to the Tempio di Santa Corona which was undergoing some serious renovations. We continued to Museo Naturalistico Archeologico. The natural history part of this museum was a little dull, but it was interesting to see some of the mosaics and statues that have been found from Roman settlement. We wandered on to the Museo di Palazzo Leoni Montenari, which was one of the best galleries we’ve seen in terms of interior design and layout of the works. It also went beyond religious imagery, with a floor dedicated to works that were of the Veneto.

We headed to Righetti (which billed itself as a “self restaurant”). First you pick up your placemat and cutlery and claim a table. Then you pour your own drinks, including a choice of water, soft drink, beer and wine on tap. Then you order from the primi piatti line or the secondi piatti line (or both), which you then take to your pre-claimed table. At the end you tell the cashier what you had and pay. Very odd, rather yummy, and quite cheap.

We backtracked to the Basilica Palladiana and the Loggia del Capitaniato, both of which we viewed from the outside. We stopped by a gelato place that dad had spotted previously and though he saw a sign saying it had dairy-free gelato. Apparently his Italian is improving because it did, including chocolate! YUM!

We went into the Museo Diocesano, but were required to put all our belongings in the cloakroom. This was a little disconcerting, so my mother waited while my father and I looked around the museum. Interesting religious artifacts and a nice museum, but we didn't spend too long there. We stopped at a nice little cafe on the main drag to have some cool drinks and then hung around the area as the city closed for their long lunch. We wandered around admiring the buildings and then waited for the duomo to open. The duomo was beautiful, well worth the wait.

I had another serving of gelato and we then went shopping on Corso Palladio, splitting up for half an hour to do so. I found some pretty tops and a headband in H&M, so was very satisfied. We drove home for a rest and then headed out for dinner at a restaurant situated just outside of Vicenza proper (so no hassles parking). Called X Giugno, this restaurant had a delicious variety of food available. I had a prosciutto and mushroom pizza and a salad on which I accidently put chilli oil dressing. It took me a little while to realise why the lettuce was spicy. Another yummy Italian meal.

The following dat we didn't much at all. I finished writing my talk and practised it and also did some writing for my thesis (I have done less than I envisaged on this trip, but there is so much to do in Italy). We napped, went for a walk, planned our time in Verona and generally relaxed. We drove to a church and lookout which afforded a beautiful view over Vicenza. We then went to Trattoria da Romano around 10 minutes from the Villa. We got there three quarters of an hour early, so waited in the car, listening to Italian radio. When we did get in we found a very nice restaurant with a friendly waiter. I had the best gnocchi I've ever had and then had goats cheese with local truffles. Very rich, delicious and filling.

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Comments

[Derrick Selby]

travelogue interrupted
What happened after September 3? Are you lost somewhere in the middle of Italy?