We rented a car in Venice and drove to the Veneto to a town called Sarcedo which is just outside Thiene. We arrived at our apartments in the Villa Bodo (pictured above and below) on a country road. The apartments were made from a converted farm house. Villa Bodo now contains an enoteca (wine bar/restaurant), a pool, and a series of apartments all designed by the architech who owns the place and has his studio on site. We were lucky - our apartment was on the first floor just outside of the pool. Ethan loves to swim.
Just outside the villa there is a 1,000 year old church. The oldest church in Sarcedo. It is also owned by the architect who owns the villa.
We met our upstairs neighbors Claudia and Wolf who are also architects. Their area of speciality is historical restoration. They were here with a group of craftsmen (stonemasons, blacksmiths, painters, etc...) from all over Europe who were studying at the institute that Wolf heads the La Fondazione Villa Fabris located in Thiene which provides specialized training to the trades in historical renovation. The foundation was having an open house weekend, so Claudia drove all of us to the institute and she and Wolf gave us a private tour of the institute. We were able to view all of the student work and see demonstrations by the blacksmith. Ethan made a friend and got to play in a bamboo maze and got to eat lots of watermelon. Here are some pictures of the institute.
These are the rooms displaying the student work -
We also took a trip to Bassano Del Grappa. A beautiful town on a river that William and I had visited 10 years ago on our honeymoon. Here are some pictures of the bridge that crosses the river in Bassano.
Here are some pictures of Marostica which has the remains of an impressive castle which is in two parts with part on top of the mountain and part on the bottom of the mountain connected by a wall that runs down the side of the mountain. The weekly market was going on while we were there. In this shot of the town center, you can see the castle wall coming down the mountain.
This is the lower part of the castle with the market in the foreground.
We also visited Asiago. This is where Asiago cheese comes from. This is a really beautiful town in the mountains.
All of these towns seem to have an impressive clock tower.
Ethan poses with Pinocchio.
William returns from the fruit and vegetable stand with ingredients for our dinner which also included asiago cheese.
1 comment:
Steph,
Looking for an update... post again soon, please :)
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