Day One: Palladio’s Bolshoi Theatre
Vicenza is a beautiful stranger. Tourist routes somehow bypass this city. And quite undeservedly. On the main street – Corso Andrea Palladio – one façade is more beautiful than the next. The sight is, on the one hand, unprecedented, on the other, very familiar.
Imagine Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, the American White House and a provincial town’s district House of Culture standing side by side on one street. The reason is that Vicenza’s chief architect Andrea Palladio created his own architectural style – Palladianism – fine examples of which can be seen all over the world. It is hard to find a street in central Vicenza without a palace by this great genius of the Renaissance.
To get a better idea of the former owners of these palaces, one should visit the Teatro Olimpico – the first covered theatre in Europe and Palladio’s last work. Its stage and the colonnade surrounding it are adorned with a whole legion of statues, for which the generous sponsors who donated money for the theatre’s construction served as models.
Day Two: Medieval Barvikha
And yet, to see Palladio’s finest works, it is worth getting into a car and driving around the countryside around Vicenza. Thanks to the climate and wonderful landscapes, the area around the city attracted wealthy Venetians like a magnet, who built their country villas here. The great Titian, Veronese, Bassano, Tiepolo worked on the wall and ceiling paintings of these villas – accustomed to living in comfort, the clients did not skimp on expenses.
Owning a country mansion today is not only prestigious but also costly. Private individuals, who still own most of the local villas, have to invest large sums in their upkeep. That is why many of their doors are open to tourists, and luxurious banquet halls are rented out to anyone who wishes – here even your wedding or presentation programme can be brought to life. Famous shoe designer Sergio Rossi went even further – he opened a shoe museum at his Villa Fascorini-Rossi.
At Villa Porto-Colleoni-Thiene one can meet Count Thiene, whose family has owned the villa since the 16th century. An aristocrat in the seventeenth generation, he will gladly show you his estates. The owner of another nearby villa, Godi-Malinverni, is also quite willing to chat with tourists. True, he only visits the villa on brief stays – Signor Malinverni is a successful Milanese businessman.
Day Three: The Kremlin in Marostica
This day should be devoted entirely to small Italian towns. Each has its own face, character, and history. Bassano del Grappa, redolent of honey, bitter orange, and in the evenings also coffee, is the birthplace of grappa, the Italian grape brandy. Most likely, the male half of your company will insist on visiting one of the local taverns. You should definitely do so, but do not linger long. Just four kilometres from Bassano awaits a new discovery – tiny Marostica. This town still shuts itself off from the rest of the world with ancient stone fortifications. Brick battlements, towers and gates will inevitably remind you of the Moscow Kremlin. This is hardly surprising – after all, the Kremlin’s builders also came from Italy.
Wait until the market on the square in front of the town castle begins to pack up. Half an hour later there will be no trace of it. Then you will see Marostica’s main attraction – a huge chessboard laid out with multicoloured tiles.
Day Four: Padua – a ‘Nursery of Sciences’
The citizens of Padua declared Antenor, a hero of the Trojan War, the founding father of their city. His white marble sarcophagus still adorns one of Padua’s squares. Although Padua’s age has not been precisely established, for the last 800 years it has been under the sway of the students of its local university. The university’s finest lecturers were Dante and Petrarch, its best students Copernicus and Goldoni. Within the walls of the main seat of Paduan science – the medieval Palazzo del Bo – there still survive the lecture hall that heard Galileo’s voice and even the wooden lectern from which he lectured on physics for many years.
Be sure to drop by the Caffè Pedrocchi, known throughout Italy as a meeting place for intellectuals. Order yourself a cup of aromatic espresso and marvel at the world map hanging upside down for some reason. Then head for the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, a poor monk known in life for his eloquence and after death for the miracles of healing. The tomb, hung with dozens of golden hearts, satin ribbons, notes and photographs of people who have recovered, is proof that Italy’s chief physician has not lost his skill.
Day Five: ‘The Brenta Flowed Quietly’
It is time to think about a pleasant river cruise. From early spring to late autumn, a small tourist boat, the ‘Burchiello’, runs daily between Padua and Venice. The leisurely 32-kilometre journey along the narrow River Brenta, blocked by locks and drawbridges, is well worth the 60 euros you will pay for it. The programme includes visits to three luxurious villas of the Venetian nobility and a hearty lunch on the shore.
The first stop is Villa Pisani. Built for the 114th Doge of Venice, it has 114 rooms. It is simply impossible to walk around all of them, but you must on no account miss the hall with the ceiling painted by the great Tiepolo. In its time, it was admired by Lord Byron, Mozart and Casanova. Napoleon gave the villa to his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais. And in 1943, the two dictators Hitler and Mussolini met here.
The two other villas at which the boat will stop – Valmarana and Foscari Malcontenta – are just as beautiful and just as famous for their history and their tales.
Day Six and Seven: ‘Verona, Where Events Meet Us’
A worthy finish to the route is Verona, the birthplace of Romeo and Juliet, the capital of all lovers and, perhaps, the most romantic city in the world.
A volume of Shakespeare is an indispensable guide to Verona. A kiss under the famous Balcony of Juliet is the most reliable way to preserve feelings for a long time. Couples in love specifically come here from all over the world to take part in a costumed wedding ceremony, when in the great hall of Juliet's House, newlyweds dressed in medieval costumes exchange rings and receive a parchment marriage certificate from the 'Order of Montagues and Capulets'.
When saying goodbye to Verona, stop by the Galmiere restaurant on the ancient Piazza San Zeno. And if the waiter nods knowingly, order branzino and a bottle of 'Tignanello'. You can be sure they go perfectly together. Don't forget to also try pasta with black truffles. And finally, of course, cappuccino. Ciao, ciao!