Bella Italia, Part III: A Separate Peace

Finally, because I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats, the last photos from Pan's Italian adventure ...

Sometimes the stars align and you find the perfect little hotel, or b&B, or cafe, or whatever it may be. We're lucky enough (with thanks to Fred and Paula) to have one of those places in Paris. And now, it would seem we have one in northern Italy, too. "La Rose e Il Leone" (The Rose and the Lion) is a small, family-run bed and breakfast about twenty minutes east of Verona. A compound of two villas (plus pool, garden, orchard, vineyard) belongs to the Poli sisters: Giovanna, Valeria, and Maura. Originally from Milan, their father bought a old, rural villa, remodeled it, and landscaped the property for his wife, who wanted a garden. The second house was built in the mid-twentieth century, though the two sit easily beside one another amid tangles of ivy, Roman (really) statues, and flower beds just unkempt enough to be charming.

As if all of this wasn't enough, we were the only guests for five days. The older villa was completely at our disposal, and Pan had free run of the garden. He was kept in line by Valeria's dog, Balou, a sweet mongrel getting towards the end of his days, but managed to charm the sisters and ran in and out of their kitchen at will.

With such lush surroundings and hot weather slowing our pace, Mike and I were fairly content to lounge in the sun and read, enjoy glasses of proeseco, and try to coerce Pan to swim in the pool. While he continues to be happy to try swimming where he can walk in to the water, anything with a drop off that might prevent him from getting out leaves him scared (this seems understandable; he's a smart dog, after all!). Still, we tried to acclimate him by holding him in our arms and letting him swim short distances ... like a toddler.





















You may notice that Pan still seems less than thrilled. We let it go, but Pan was still a little shy of getting too close to the edge.Yet despite this fear, Pan was fascinated by water in other circumstances. A small, raised fish pond in a paved section of the garden (once a larger reflecting pool, I think) proved especially tempting. While I never saw any fish, Pan seemed particularly fond of lilypads, which he would bite off and pull out of the pool, chewing on the long stems or the flowers.












He fell in more than once, but somehow scrambled out, and seemed happy to continue "fishing."

The generosity of the Poli sisters extended beyond giving us--and Pan--free reign of the property, but they also invited us to join them for dinner on two evenings. Simple pastas served at the outdoor table on the veranda leading from the house to the pool pretty much made for a perfect holiday. As much as we love to try new restaurants in Italy, this was a special treat. Pan thought so, too, as he got to roam the garden freely rather than being forced to sit quietly under the table.

Back in our apartment more than a month later, I can't seem to capture in either words or pictures the perfect simplicity and peacefulness of this place. Even though life in the Veneto moves a bit more slowly than in Rome, Florence, or even Venice, the walls of the Poli's garden enclose a little sliver of another time. It's not that it's older or more quaint, but rather simply "other." Nothing seems to breach the walls, and the sun, the water, and all the fruit on the vines and trees feels like it belongs only to you.

Even Pan seemed to feel this was someplace special, and seemed very content to stay.Summer is definitely over here now, and warm sun in Italy feels farther and farther away. With so many places on our list to visit, we sometimes hate to keep going back to the same ones, but I'm sure there will be another visit to the Veneto once things start to warm up again.

Bella Italia, Part II: In Fair Verona ...

Pan, it turns out, likes gelato almost as much as Mike does. Depriving the pup of any chocolate flavors probably means Mike still has the more developed palate, but Pan would really like his fair shot.
Nearly any gelato shop calls for a stop, even if you've only just thrown away the last bit of cone from the previous scoops. Last summer's Italian trip introduced us to the best pistachio gelato ever made, in the home of pistachios, no less: Bronte, Sicily. Still, it was worth seeing if anything else measured up, as well as tasting plenty of baccio, caffe, and pesca (that's peach, not fish!) along the way.

I'm skipping ahead a bit, though, and should review our main stops in Friuli before wandering south.

The main reason for our stay in the Friuli region was Trieste. Rarely does much in Italy disappoint, but we felt that this city did. Maybe we get enough Austro-Hungarian empire at home in Vienna. Maybe it was just a bit hot with too many places closed for the August holidays. In either case, Trieste does balance interestingly between Italy and Austria in terms of its physical style. The heat, the water, the people tell you immediately that you're in Italy. But Maria Theresa looms large over the city with her planned streets, grand buildings, and frilly yet sobering neo-classicism.

One of the highlights of the city was the palace belonging to one rather unlucky Hapsburg, Maximilian. Younger brother of the Austrian emperor, Max was sent out to the port city with his new wife, and built a relatively modest (by Imperial Austrian standards) house called Castello di Miramare, overlooking the harbor. Unfortunately, he never saw the palace completed. His next less-than-desirable assignment was as Emperor of Mexico. He wasn't quite shot on arrival, but didn't survive the ongoing guerilla war there.Friuli provided a port to another empire, as well. Aquileia was one of the main ports of the Roman empire, and the fourth largest city in Italy at the time. Now it's a small town, partially displaced by the discovery of more ruins, and primarily providing a large parking lot for visitors. A pathway lined by cypresses borders the old harbor (filled in with silt many years ago), making a nice shaded walk on a very hot summer day.
The greatest surprise at the end of this path was the basilica. Now, Mike and I have been known to skip the later Christian bits of Roman sites. They're usually not as interesting. This was a huge exception. Begun in 313, the church as it now stands dates mainly from the 11th century. But what is truly amazing is the huge mosaic floor covering the interior, and dating from around the time of original construction. That's the fourth century. That makes this the "largest antique mosaic pavement known" (thank you, Blue Guide). Unfortunately, they're pretty hard to photograph without a flash. And as Pan got a bit bored waiting in the courtyard and didn't photograph well either, we'll move along.

(On the road again ... Pan's preferred position in the car.)

Tuesday morning we drove back west and slightly south to the Veneto. This part of northern Italy offers some beautiful scenery, but also several charming cities missed out in the usual Venice-Rome-Florence itinerary. A detour to Treviso slowed us down a bit, but we arrived in the mid-afternoon at our next stop, a small bed & breakfast run by three sisters about 20 minutes outside of Verona.

Directions and SatNav had not been our friends that afternoon, as a relatively new road bypassing Venice was not on any map, and the directions to the hotel left us facing a gravel road with walls and locked gates on either side. Fortunately, one of those gates opened, and Valeria, Maura, and Giovanna welcomed us to their home. The secret garden behind their walls deserves its own write-up, so I'll save that for my final entry.

Our B&B provided a jumping off point to explore Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and the surrounding Palladian villas. On our previous visit at Easter we had spent most of a day in Verona, and this time we made it our first stop for a short walk and dinner on the evening of our arrival. It feels, in some ways, like a miniature version of Rome. The city is nestled among hills, with a river coursing through its center. In smaller scale, everything is more intimate, more relaxed, and more welcoming than Rome (photo courtesy of our Easter visit when the light was a bit better).
While this probably remains our favorite city in the region, Vicenza has claim on the best and most unified architecture of the trip. Practically every other building was designed by Palladio, and his statue near the town center solidifies his importance to the area.
Unfortunately (for us, not so much for the residents), many of the Palladian villas in the surrounding countryside are still privately owned. For anyone else touring the area, careful planning is worthwhile in order to visit them. We were less organized in this respect, so we satisfied ourselves with a drive-by of the Villa Rotunda.
Padua was the last city we visited, and while heavy bombing in WWII destroyed the more beautiful old buildings, an important one did survive. The Scrovegni Chapel, its walls covered by Giotto's frescoes, is quite simply a masterpiece. Environmental controls meant to preserve the fragile works mean visits are limited to 15 minutes (plus a 15 minute introductory video).
Mike and I spaced our timed tickets so we both could visit the chapel, and Pan relaxed in the shade of the sculpture garden. As much as the sidewalk pigeons and gelato stands of the cities interested him, though, Pan was really most happy in the garden of our B&B. Next time, a full account of that.