E15: Venice in a day! 30th April

We took the train from Treviso into Venice, amazing value at £4.75 return each.  Note if you travel on the train in Italy you MUST get your ticket ‘validated’ before boarding (small green machine on the platform for self validation) or you risk being fined…… we did not know this until the return journey but were OK!

 

Upon exiting the station this is the first view you will have….(it is a further kilometre to San Marco)

The Campanile Tower began life as a lighthouse in the 9th century, was extensively modified in the 16th century and in 1902 collapsed completely and was reconstructed by 1912 in it’s original form (remarkably only the caretakers cat was killed!)

Basillica di San Marco.  This building is quite stunning inside and out with exquisite mosaics covering almost every square inch!

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore across the water….

Gondola Gridlock (a regular occurrence for the passengers willing to hire a Gondola for €80 for 30 minutes!)

In-between all this architectural feast Grahame relaxed with a little bit of designer window shopping retail therapy……. “hmm? the yellow one or the blue one?"

Of course he would need matching gloves! but which pair??

There’s a lot of water in Venice….

and bridges to cross the canals….

and boats of all shapes and sizes everywhere….

How about this for a staircase…. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo

Once you leave the main centre of Venice the architecture is less ornate, but we found it very charming….

Note that almost EVERYTHING in Venice comes at a price….. do NOT go there with a weak or full bladder or it will COST you !!

Finally on our way back to the van from Treviso railway station we saw this little Beaver in the city moat…. 

So, there we are…… Venice in a day ( all for £11.66)…..whilst we took a picnic and Grahame gave in to the ice cream demon it would have been even cheaper if Kate could have kept nature’s call at bay! (for only 8 hours…LOL)

Next stop….Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites, hopefully less foggy than the other day….

Ciao ciao….

 

 

E14: An epic bridge and two walled cities 28/29 April

The Sosta last night in Feltre was nice and quiet set in amongst the trees….

Then the following morning we continued our journey towards venice.  On the way we stumbled across a few interesting places, here are a few highlights…..

BASSANO DEL GRAPPA

This town is situated on the Southern edge of the Dolomite mountains and is famous for this bridge, the Ponte degli Alpini.  It was originally built in 1568 and was destroyed in WW2 by the retreating German army and rebuilt by the Italian Alpine soldiers in 1948 in accordance with the original design by Palladio.  It is entirely constructed of wood in order to be as flexible as possible so that it can withstand torrential meltwaters….

On the entrance to the bridge is a fresco of an Alpine soldier in uniform….

 

CITTADELLA

Built in the 13th century by the Paduans in response to Treviso turning Castelfranco into a garrison.  The old city is entirely enclosed within the defensive wall which has been extensively and sympathetically restored in recent times.  A moat also rings the outer wall….

One of the four gateways to the old city is Porta Padova which is joined to the Torre di Malta, a tower utilised as a prison and torture chamber by the monstrous Ezzelino da Romano who terrorised this region in the mid 13th century and was known as ‘the Son of Satan’.  Such were his atrocities, he earned a place in Dante’s Inferno in the 7th circle of hell where he is condemned to boil eternally in a river of blood!

From inside the old city almost every road has a view of the wall or gates….

The Torre di Malta from inside the city….

even the Sosta has a view of the city wall (outside)….

 

CASTELFRANCO

This was the city that the Trevisans turned into a garrison in 1199 to protect it against the previously mentioned Paduans!  The wall is perhaps more original but as such not as complete as Cittadella, however the city’s additional claim to fame is that it was the birth place of Giorgione who is considered as an equal to Leonardo da Vinci with regards to Venetian Art

Inside the Duomo hangs Giorgione’s magnificent ‘Madonna and Child with Saints’ 

and here is the painting.  It alone is worth the visit to Castelfraco….

Finally we stopped (Wed 29) in the Sosta in Treviso and started to plan and prepare for a blitz on Venice!  Treviso is about 30 kilometres North of Venice so we will be letting the 'train take the strain’….

E13: Dolomites in the fog! 27th April

Upon leaving Lake Garda we headed North towards Bolzano then turned East to cut through the mountains via the famous Passo di Rolle pass.  The road North was along a vast mountain river valley abundant with fruit tree plantations and vineyards, as far as the eye could see.  Along the flanking mountain sides out of the mist would appear the odd precariously placed medieval castle like this one!

Once we turned Eastwards and started to climb high into the mountains the change in architectural style was pronounced and became decidedly Teutonic and before long we found ourselves in the ski resort of Tesero….

which happens to have a small but intriguing chapel to the left of the parish church….

The chapel is decorated with very interesting and quite unusual frescoes….

particularly the centre fresco, The Christo della Domenica, depicting activities prohibited on a Sunday.  Look closely and you will see that crossbow hunting, wood chopping, music and a couple in bed (!) are amongst the banned activities….

Next we climbed even further up into the mountains and crossed the summit of the Passo di Rolle at 1984 metres above sea level (around 6500 ft!).  We would love to show more photos but we were in the clouds and this is the best we could do!  The rain and the temperature (3c) were a bit of a shock after the last week of blue skies and 20c+ ….

Coming down the other side of the pass we drove through the glitzy ski resort of San Martino di Castrozza.  As you can see in the photos the ‘look’ is very much Austrian.  

 

After 125 miles today we night stopped in the Sosta in Feltre.  After visiting Venice soon we will return to the Dolomites, hopefully in better weather so that we can take more photos of the mountains!

Tara!

E12: Riva del Garda 27th April

Riva del Garda is one of the lakes most renowned resorts and is situated at the base of the mountains at the Northern tip of the lake.  We felt that (despite the rain!) it was a surprisingly characterful and genteel town….

The centre of the old town is the Piazza III Novembre…. with plenty of Venetian facades….

Looking back to the Piazza and the Torre Apponale, a 13th century 34 metre high tower….

Fancy diving off this? (if it was a little warmer I would have, LOL)

Right next to the old town sits the imposing 1920’s hydroelectric power station, the architectural design is in keeping with the rest of the waterfront….

and on the front of the building is this very Romanesque style figure, Kate particularly like his lightening bolts!

Gateway into the old quarter….

Another narrow cobbled street…….. we did notice that due to the mountains and tall buildings that sound was distorted and quite non directional in a most unusual way

You wouldn’t see cobblestones being laid by hand in the UK like this!   Note the back saving wooden stools and the happy worker in the middle of the photo….

 

E11: Lake Garda (West shore) 26th April

The West shore is said to have some of the prettiest villages and most dramatic scenery, it also has the easier (but probably less interesting) road to the North than the East shore does.

 

SALO

This town is sited on a narrow strip of bay at the foot of Monte San Bartolomeo and have an impressive and elegant promenade an an ordinary small town feel (less touristy!)

Piazza della Vittoria with a stylish Sunday market ( no cheap tat here!)

This commemorative bust is dedicated to Gasparo da Salo, inventor of the violin, born here in 1540 (bet you never knew that!)

How about this for a lakeside retreat, complete with personal harbour….

 

GARDONE RIVIERA

Once the most fashionable of Lake Garda’s resorts there is still a lot of evidence of it’s rizty past….

The opulent Grand Hotel, opened in 1884, boasts many famous guests including Sir Winston Churchill and was used as a surgical hospital during hostilities between 1943 and 1945.  

The Grand Hotel Fasano, originally a hunting lodge for the Austrian Imperial family became a hotel around 1900…. and was also used as a military hospital in WW2

The Neo Classical Villa Alba, built in the early 19th century was used by German forces during the second world war as a communication centre….

 

GARGNANO

A quaint little village sealed off by the lake to the East and the mountains to the West….

The village is centred around a small harbour packed full of small boats and sailing yachts….

looking back the other way….

Yet again Grahame had to ‘test’ the local ice cream.  In this case, Pistachio……. clearly he is beginning to overdose judging by the way it is affecting his balance!

 

After Gargnano, the road hugs the shore and is regularly punctuated by tunnels (at times low and narrow!)

We finished our day in Riva del Garda and parked up in the local Sosta ready for the next leg tomorrow….