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Published: September 10th 2014
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After we had visited Cittadella our plan was to head just up the road, yes up those awful pockmarked and full of pot holes Italian roads for the town of Bassano del Grappa. Another sosta found care of Google and Google Earth. A free one that you could stay 24 hours if you wished. We didnt wish as it was a bit rough and we didnt fancy the thought of a night in it. However, for a quick visit it seemed Ok. The town was only a hop, skip and a jump away.
The city is much bigger and busier than Cittadella with much more road traffic. We took our lives in our hands trying to cross some of the roads that did not have crossings. The first news of the existence of the medieval city dates from 998, while the Castle is mentioned first in 1150. In 1175 Bassano was conquered by Vicenza and has a roman connection too. During the french revolutionary wars the city was the site of the Battle of Bassano . It eventually like most other city states became part of the unified kingdom of italy in 1866. Its claim to fame Old Boney stayed
her for many months.
it was an area where some of the most terrible battles of World War I took place on Mount Grappa. Thousands of soldiers lost their lives . We hope to get up to Monte Grappa to see the war memorial built into the hillside later this holiday if we get chance. In WW" the town was invaded by German troops who killed or deported many of its inhabitants.
Our first stop was coffee and a smoothie our five a day in a tiny roadside cafe. Nothing posh just a few tables and chairs and obviously much loved by the locals . Suitably refreshed we head up town to find what we had come for. Well one of the things. The alpine bridge built in wood and spans the river. It is a wooden pontoon bridge apparently designed initially by Andrea Palladio. It has been destroyed many times. The last time during World War II. The Alpine soldiers known at the Alpini have always revered this woodend bridge and Bassano itself. It has a different feel to the rest of the region, quite Alpine in character . I felt we could almost be in Switzerland
with its chalets and green fields. . After the destruction of the bridge, the Alpini took up a private collection and had the bridge completely rebuilt. Often soldiers flock to the bridge to remember and sing songs from their days as alpine soldiers.
We walked through the walls and down to the bridge. A lovely thing built in dark wood spanning the river. Covered like the bridge at Luzerne it is much used by locals and visitors alike. The views from the bridge one way are very uninteresting but the other over the town and to the distant Dolomites is stunning.
Our next stop the grappa shop to buy some of the firewater. What is grappa?
It is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based brandy of Italian origin that contains 35%!–(MISSING)60%!a(MISSING)lcohol by volume. Pretty strong then by anyones standards. The flavour of grappa, like that of wine depends on the type and quality of the grapes used, as well as the specifics of the distillation process. Grappa is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems ) left over from the winemaking process after the grapes have been pressed. It was originally made to prevent
waste by using these leftovers. Sounds horrible but then you read the label on the bottle we purchased which says "Distillare e imitare il sole che evapora la acque della terra e le rinvia in pioggia" Sounds good in italian but what does it mean? In English "Distilling is like imitating the sun that evaporates the waters of the earth and sends them back as rain". I hope it tastes as good as it sounds.
Well we couldnt leave Bassano without buying some could we?
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