Asolo - town of one hundred horizons!

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Geo: 45.7933, 11.9128

We woke at Asolo to a crystal clear, blue day! As soon as we could, we were out the door to explore this town. We are about 5 minutes walk from the old town walls and gate, where there is a 16th century drinking fountain - the kids stop for a drink every time we walk past! Then, colonnaded streets with lovely (expensive) shops and restaurants, lead to a very nice piazza with lots of coffee shops and chairs in the sun.

We weren't planning to go to Mass, but when we found ourselves at the door of the church as Mass was beginning, decided we were meant to be there. We'll have to go back, though, to see the famous paintings in the church. Then we went to the city museum, which was a great palatable size for the kids – one room of artifacts from Asolo since stone age times, including some amazing Roman statues about 2 cm high, then a room of paintings from 14th century through to impressionist painters, then a room about famous people who have lived in Asolo (the only one we had heard of was Robert Browning, the poet, but I'm not sure I could quote anything he wrote! The others are Eleanora Duce and Freya Stark, if you want to Google them!) A big feature was that we saw a papal ring from the 16th century – normally, when a pope dies, the ring is destroyed, but this is the only one that has escaped destruction, and here it was! We bought lunch supplies, then headed home for a sleep in the heat of the day.

In the afternoon, we decided to go to the Rocca, the fortress that overlooks the city. We had a few stressful, abortive attempts to drive to it, established that the closest car park was our own driveway, then walked the couple of kilometers up to the fortress. The kids have really developed their walking stamina! The views from the top were outstanding, and there was even a mosaic on the ground, thought to be from a 4th century church on the site. By the time we'd walked back to town, we all deserved a gelati – and I discovered my new favourite flavor. Prosecco (sparkling white wine) gelati! Coming to a dinner party in Toowong soon (or as soon as I can Google a recipe for it!)

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Comments

[Marguerite Vetterli]

My dear Family,You are wonderful a special compliment to Kaylene, she should work as a journalist for Tourists in the whole world COMPLIMENTI fantastico.We have again rain. Have a nice time all together.Baci e cari saluti a tutti. Marguerit
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[Em]

Do you know that we are learning about poetry this term?For Mothers Day we had Rhubard ice-cream!!!! YUMMYlove Em

[Siobhan Healy]

Indeed we have been learning about poetry, however the likes of Robert Browning will have to wait until high school I expect. That was the only time I'd heard about him, and like Kaylene I cannot quote any of his poetry.