Vicenza is the city of Andrea Palladio, an architect who had a whole style of design named after him, and influenced Thomas Jefferson among others. He began life as a stonemason, whose talents were recognized by an intellectual nobleman. He is considered to have perfected existing values of harmony and proportion in his designs. He created over 40 palaces, villas, and public and religious buildings. His designs have been badly copied throughout the world, but the originals are still breath-taking... We took the train to Vicenza, and spent the afternoon walking around and gazing at magnificent buildings. We visited the famous Teatro Olympico and took a bus out to see La Rotonda, a Palladio villa in the countryside, and walked past another villa "ai Nani" that we decided not visit (another 10 euros each...) La Rotonda
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