Trip to the Veneto September 2009

Highlights of the Veneto Tour

In the early spring last year we set off for our tour of India, which was both ambitious and exciting but proved a great success. We followed this in September by going to The Veneto in northern Italy which was perhaps not so ambitious, but certainly exciting in opening our eyes, not only to the wonderful villas of Palladio, but to some of the other beautiful buildings and churches in the area.

We stayed in Vicenza, which is also known as the Citta di Palladio and our first warm and sunny morning was spent at the Villa Capra ‘La Rotunda’. A stunning villa built on a belvedere overlooking the town and a very good introduction to the genius of Palladio. We spent the afternoon walking round the attractive town, refreshing ourselves with delicious Italian ice-creams and visiting the extraordinary Teatro Olimpico, Europe’s oldest surviving indoor theatre which is semicircular. It was designed in 1579 and was to be Palladio’s last project.

The next day was spent in Padua with a visit to the famous 13th Century Basilica dei Sant’Antonio which was followed by a refreshing walk round the Orto Botanico; the oldest botanic garden in Europe. After lunch we joined the queue and waited for our time slot to visit the Scrovegni Chapel with its amazingly beautiful frescos by Giotto. We could all have spent longer in the chapel but felt that every minute so well worthwhile. Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet was our next stop where we spent a long time looking at the very beautiful and impressive church of San Zeno Maggiore. We also visited the great Roman Amphitheatre before walking round the centre of the town wondering which side of the path was inhabited by Montagues and which by Capulets.

On our last day we visited Palladio’s Villa Barbaro, a wonderfully positioned country villa with frescoes by Veronese. We then drove to the pretty hill town of Asolo for a delicious and happy farewell lunch before driving back to Venice to catch the flight home.