Day 17 Tuesday 3rd June 2008

We decided to drive a circular route going down to Montegrotto Terme, Arqua Petrarca, Este, Montagnana and Monselice. This we did with the usual problems of road signs, road number signs, etc.  Montegrotto Terme was a much bigger town than we anticipated, as it seemed to stretch around the valley in all directions. We saw several large hotels offering Terme facilities. We did find a nice pasticceria and had coffee and bought a couple of pasticci for lunch.

 Arqua Petrarca was a very hilly little town in the Eugenian Hills. We walked up the hill to find the Petrarch’s house in which he lived his last 5 years and died. We did not go in as we had no change, only a 50€ note. We were also needing to go back to Montegrotto Terme to collect a hat that had been left behind. It was quite an attractive town despite the hill.

After retrieving the hat we went to Monselice where we ate our picnic lunch. This was a walled town with a little of the old centre left. It had a very large castle which was shut (it was lunch time) and was built at the foot of a great knob of a hill. The Eugenian Hills are not too high but very steep sided. 

After this we went to Este, another walled town. There the historic centre had disappeared and been replaced with lovely gardens, an outdoor theatre and woodland walks. The newer town had been built outside the old walls. 

Finally we went to Montagnana. This was worth it as the town walls were complete and all the buildings inside were still the thriving centre of town. It had a lovely main piazza and many of the buildings were arcaded so that you could walk along in the shade. It also had its four original gates.

After this we came back to the Palazzo Rosso via the supermarket, dipped our feet in the pool to cool them and then cooked dinner.

Start Mileage  13260		Finish 13352			Miles Travelled = 92
								Total Miles = 1867

Day 18 Wednesday 4th June 2008

The weather today was mixed with rain before breakfast, a dry morning, heavy rain at lunchtime and a mostly dry afternoon. This morning we visited two local villas near Vicenza. The Villa Almerico-Capra or ‘La Rotonda’ is one of Palladio’s best known villas and displays his concepts of design and symmetry. The interior is equally as impressive as the exterior. Further up the hill is a slightly later villa – Villa Valmarana ‘ai Nani’.  It was completed in about 1670, whereas La Rotonda was completed about 1585. It is a nice compact house and would be quite comfortable as a house today – provided modern amenities were provided.  The wall paintings by Tiepolo are fantastic.

This evening we went for a walk around the local farm tracks, observing wildlife such as herons and hares.

Start Mileage 13352		Finish 13366		Miles Travelled = 14
							Total miles = 1881