An Often Missed Gem of a City
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2010
1
26
32
Trip End
Aug 18, 2010
Where I stayed
Bob & Jenny's B&B
Vicenza, Veneto, Italy
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Our B&B host had informed us that relatively few tourists visit this city unless they are students of architecture. Around every corner is another Palladian masterpiece. Palladio is a famous Italian architect in the 1500s. The White House in Washington, D.C. and Jefferson's Monticello are built in the style established by Palladio. Vicenza has 23 inscribed monuments and buildings in the city center and 16 provincial villas in the countryside attributed to him. Of course, he was commissioned to build elsewhere too, but Vicenza has the most in one city. Siesta is from 1pm to 4 or 4:30 pm and all the shops are closed. They reopen and stay open to 7:30 or 8:00 pm. The cafes (trattorias) serve lunch until 2 or 2:30 and then they close also. They usually offer a "plate of the day", which is a special offering for about 10 Euros and is 2 courses. Meals are priced by the course normally. Restaurants are usually closed all day and open around 7:30 pm for dinner. Dinner takes about 3 hours. No one is in a hurry. For lunch we found an Illy coffee bar with a great inexpensive lunch too! Sitting on the terrace in most places, you are charged 3,00 to 3,50 for a cup of coffee, but at the Illy bar it was 1,30…even sitting on the terrace. Maybe it helped that we bought a salad for lunch too? PS: Iris now has 4 gelato shovels.
We have been trying Margherita pizza in different locales too. So far they have been unremarkable. Here in northern Italy the crust has been medium with lots of mozzarella and a little bit of tomato sauce. Prices usually around 8 Euro.
Comments
I love the "I forget" - - -