Cal

Here are some other villages we enjoyed seeing with our Italian friends. Most of which, are within a three or four hours from Venice: VICENZA (the provincial capital of Vicenza) is a 2,900 year-old historic town. Train connections are within an hour from Venice. Here you can tour the Olympic Theatre, the oldest enclosed theatre in the world, built in the 1500's by a famous regional architect, Andrea Palladio. We were delighted by the quality of the Vicenza Museum, with fine art and sculptures by Canova. This village will give you a pretty good representation of a progressive, yet traditional Italian village in this region. Somewhere on the outskirts of Vicenza is a highly recommended restaurant (Ristorante II Bacala), famous throughout the region for the preparation of bacala (bits of dried, salted Norwegian cod, marinated in a delicious cream sauce). We can also highly recommend the mocha creme caramel. Perhaps you might even want to order an extra one! ASOLO is a picturesque mountain community where we purchased a hand-crafted terra cotta sun face for our mountain cabin from a local artist. It was definitely captivating and there appeared to be several attractive small inns for travelers. We also photographed a wedding party in the most picturesque setting with a backdrop of a mountain valley. BASSANO is the site of the famous Ponte Vecchio (historic bridge). Rolling hills and rivers make a beautiful scene. We purchased some grappa from the distiller. Next, we were introduced to the 690 year-old church where our Italian friends were married. (Which made us realize that Americans are such "bambinos" in the scheme of things.) Bassano is also an excellent locale to purchase Asiago cheeses. SIRMIONE, ideally situated on Garda Lake, is one of the most popular sail boat destinations in the world. We enjoyed a shopping spree for leather goods, shoes and gelatto before moving on. This neat and tidy village is one we really desire to make a return trip to one day. VERONA, with its splendid Italianiate archtecture is a classic, bustling Italian city. We saw the site of Juliet's famous balcony scene (from Romeo & Juliet). The ancient stadium in the heart of town reminded us of a mini-colliseum. Regular concerts and other events take place there on a regular basis. THE DOLOMITE MOUNTAIN RANGE in route to CORTINA was the final surprise destination given to us by our wonderful hosts. About 30 minutues before arriving in Cortina (pardon me, I did not write down the name of the town) was a true dining treasure. The name of the restaurant was Al Portico. Here, we sampled several delicicous regional dishes: canederli, toretelli ripieni and semi freddo alla grappa (grappa ice cream)! Cortina reminded Patty and I of German towns we have visited in Bavaria. After leaving Cortina in route home over a mountain pass, we climbed to an elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level where we photographed the most awesome panoramcik snow-laden view of this majestic mountain range. As we said our emotional goodbyes at the airport the next day, we realized that this would be a lasting friendship. The bonding was now complete. We look forward to their visit to our country. Personally, I loved reading Patty's entry in her travel journal. It speaks volumes: "I have learned that if you have a good heart, have good manners, genuinely love people and know how to smile, language is not a problem." And that is the lesson we all can learn from this story. Cal & Patty Duke St. Simons Island, Georgia USA

hanl

Thank you for a heartwarming report.

Betsy

Click on "Cal" in red at the top of his report to read Part 1.

Cal, If you separate your report into paragraphs, it will be so much easier to read.

What a wonderful trip!

sandi_travelnut

Also, Cal there's a consensus that if you just attach the next parts of your report to the bottom of your last one it'll be easier since all of the installments will be attached to one thread.

elaine

here's a link to part 1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34532480

Cal

Elaine: Maybe this poslting will "tie-in" my two posting closer together...Thanks for your input...CAL

cigalechanta

Thanks Cal, my kind of person!

Cal

Sandi--Thanks for your input also...I actually had separated the different subjects with paragraphs, but I guess when Fodors edited my copy, they closed the gaps to save room.--I'm just glad I won't have to re-key all of that info! I thought it was lost in cyberspace! So, thanks to one and all for your help! CAL

SuzieC

I think I'll embroider this on a pillow! "I have learned that if you have a good heart, have good manners, genuinely love people and know how to smile, language is not a problem."

You write beautifully, but you dawg.. I am now SOOO HUNGRY and its only 9:30 in the morning!

Thank you for the post.

Cal

Thanks Suzie...Makes me kind of hungry too! Cal