Off to Italy

My time in Italy draws to a close. Some of my favorite times have been some of the simplest. Today, the S family, M, and I went back to the pizzeria in Asolo where we had the pizza-making lessons. They really are the best.

The best pizza!

Springtime is perfect for a place like Bolzano. The girls and I had enjoyed it immensely. With the apple blossoms in bloom, M and I headed up for a day trip. Bolzano has a delightful outdoor restaurant environment at the base of the plateau. After touring the town and the market a bit more, we headed up the cable car to Soprabolzano. It was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon. We wandered through the green fields and forests. We got a bit lost, but ultimately came upon the Church of San Giacomo (photo taken from the cable car), a perfect spot to sit in the afternoon warmth.

A great spot and definitely one to which I will return in Italy.

San Giacomo 1

San Giacomo 2

M attended university in Venice. Despite an overcast day, she had offered to show me around - perhaps a few places I had never been. At the very least, it would be a delightful stroll. We started out in the ghetto, browsing some courtyards and shops. In every store window, she could explain the nature of the local delicacies and some of the local souvenirs. It was great having a personal tour guide. We did simple things like taking the tragetti - the commuting gondolas - rather than the vaporetti. We walked over to the Accademia - one of the areas of Venice I had never reached. The weather was moody, but it was a nice day.

Moody weather in Venice

M at Accademia

When we returned to Castelfranco on the train, we went to the greatest Chinese restaurant. The food was very good but it was the ambiance that was the selling point. The dining room had a plexiglass floor and we were seated over a koi pond. In addition, the food was served with decorative asides. The picture below shows a horse carved from carrots - amazing. When the waitress came, I had trouble with my order being understood. M said, "Oh, THEIR Italian isn't very good, so they have trouble with your accent." Too kind.

Chinese Restaurant

Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
(That slepen al the nyght with open eye)
So priketh hem Nature in hir corages
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
- Geoffrey Chaucer

At 5:00am, I sadly took the girls to the airport. It had been a jam-packed and wonderful week. I hated to see them go. Rather than return to the apartment despondent, however, what better solution than to go on a pilgrimage? I headed straight away to meet M and her hiking group. We were off to the Santuario Madonna della Corona. One of those astounding works of devotion, this is a Church and hermitage built into the side of a cliff. While not an overly long hike, we were largely climbing a grand staircase carved out of the rock. As we were approaching the sanctuary, Palm Sunday service was in session. While speaker-assisted, we could hear the choir echoing down the valley.

View up the valley

Hiking Group

M on the stairs

The Sanctuary

Up the steps

Valley Overlook

After much anticipation, K and I finally arrived in Italy!
We left the jet-lag at the airport and hit the ground running. We didn't have much choice with a human alarm clock waking us up for breakfast at 7am each morning.

First stop: Florence
We arrived in Florence the evening of our arrival in Italy. We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast villa just outside the city. They had the tastiest breakfasts! Every morning, a woman would offer us fresh croissants drizzled with fruit or chocolate, in addition to the lemon cakes, spreadable cheeses, and K's favorite - the automatic egg boiler.

The view from our room

Breakfast

DSCN0735

Overlooking Florence

Pitti Palace gardens

Florence: check. Time to keep heading North to the town of Sirmione on Lake Garda.
We made a point to arrive in Sirmione early enough in the day so that we could watch the sunset on Lake Garda, which was right outside our hotel door. Sirmione is a very popular get-away destination for locals on the weekends, so even on a Sunday afternoon, there were lots of people. In classic Italian fashion, there's a castle. We decided to climb to the top to get an overlooking view of the city, situated right on the water.

The hotel view

The castle

The city below

Sunset on Lake Garda

The overwhelming number of gelato choices

Monday morning meant it was time to head back to Paderno, to finally see the town where dad teaches.
We spent the middle of the week in Paderno. Paderno is the cutest little town! And dad's really getting to know a lot of the local shop owners. We went and met G at the coffee shop, but we never made it to the honey brioche bakery, because K and I fell in love with a different pastry shop up the road (see below).
Monday night: Pizza making! The school offers "Date with a professor" nights where a professor will take the students out on an expedition (usually involving food). Dad was hosting pizza making. We went to the nearby town of Asolo where we learned to make our own pizzas (and then ate them, of course!). It was a blast!

Opening up the dough

The finished product

Dessert pastries for breakfast

Beehives along the trail

Overlooking the school from the trail

WWI trenches

So high up!

Making tiramissu

Classic Venice

Saint Mark's Square

The Venice hospital. So fancy

Hospital boats arriving at the ER

The arrival of Friday means that our trip is almost coming to a close. We head north to Bolzanno for one last adventure. Because of the fact that Italy gained it's northern territories during the first world war when it defeated Austria-Hungary, northern Italy gradually turns German the further north you go. On the drive up to Bolzanno, you start seeing fewer and fewer of the classic Italian style homes and more and more of the Germanic mountain homes. By the time one reaches Bolzanno, everything looks German and everyone speaks German. It's very easy to forget that you're actually still in the country of Italy. Bolzanno is famous for it's vineyards and it's wide-open spaces. There are lots of walking trails where you can go hiking/strolling through the country side. The views of the Dolomite mountains are stunning.

Wide open pastures

Photoshop? No, it's just really that beautiful

Sadly, Bolzanno was the last stop on our trip. Saturday morning, we headed back to Venice to spend the night near the airport so K and I could be on time for our 6:55am flight. We made a pit stop in Verona, home of Juliet's balcony (yes, they're attempting to be serious here. apparently most tourists don't realize Romeo and Juliet is a fictional story), but for the most part puttered around and enjoyed our last day in Italy. I'm so glad that K and I were able to make it over to visit. Italy is a beautiful country. I can see why dad enjoys it so much.

That'll all from me.
Ciao!