hchhewitt: autumn

18.11.13

autumn in vicenza

Vicenza is beautiful. Really, really beautiful.

It's often overlooked by tourists in favour of it's more notorious neighbours, Venice and Verona, but being virtually tourist-free is all part of its charm. A few weeks ago two of my globe trotting friends popped in to say hello on their way to Burma and asked us if we'd like to go with them to visit their friend Eli, in Vicenza. Not especially aware that Padova or Vicenza were remotely close to Burma but beyond excited to see Jake, Giorgia and Vicenza, we of course said yes.

(N.B. overwhelmed by the rivers, buildings and trees i got a bit snaphappy and forgot to take any photos of Jake, Giorgia, Eli or Sophie)

Photos of rivers, buildings and trees..

The Basilica Palladiana

Piazza dei Signori

Then Eli took us to her favourite haunts. Think jazz bar, meets sandwich bar, meets wine bar and you pretty much have the place.

Meet Italy's answer to sushi. Okay so there's no raw fish, seaweed, or really anything reminiscent of sushi but the pick & mix principle is there. You head inside, marvel at the overwhelming choice of tramezzini, point at whichever you want and eagerly wait for the waiter to bring them out. Indecisive as ever, we opted for just about everything. Then went back for seconds.

With us all refuelled and raring to go, Eli led the way to the best view of Vicenza. Having heard that one before i prepared myself for the worst. Sure enough, the way was up.

And up, and up, and up, and up some more until you get to this...

So maybe it's a little more industrial and a little less breathtaking than the Verona view, but the mountain backdrop is pretty spectacular.

As ever the walk down was much more enjoyable than the walk up. And whilst Verona may have cured my autumn envy, I still got overly excited by all the golden leaves and ended up acting like a child in a sweet shop.

But finally managed to get my feet-surrounded-by-leaves shot

Che bello!

Before heading back home for a feast, courtesy of Jake and Giorgia.
And oh. what. a. feast.
The most amazing burrata (think of it as mozzarella on steroids), pistachio and radicchio cheese, gorgonzola, prosciutto, zucchini salad, sundried tomatoes, radicchio and wild mushroom bruschetta, prosecco with frutti di bosco coulis. I could go on.

We then slipped into a cheese and cured meat coma and didn't resurface until the next day

To our house guests who have hopefully found their way to Burma (albeit scenically) our door is always open! (metaphorically)

Pin It Now!

10.11.13

nothing says 'i love you' like 1kg muesli

Last week Mama and Papa Hew came out to visit, bringing with them the sunshine, thai green curry paste and most importantly 1kg muesli. Nothing says 'i love you' like muesli! I decided to play tour guide and jam-packed their 'relaxing city break' with culture, history, shopping and cuisine. A particular emphasis on the last two as Pops was treating!

The Botanical Garden of Padova (est. 1545) was the very first botanical garden in the world. It was created to help students of the university in their studies in botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology and pharmacy. Now i don't have green fingers (i couldn't even keep my basil plant alive) but this garden is definitely worth a visit, especially if you drag yourself out of bed to enjoy it in the early morning sunshine. Turning a blind eye to their late night flight, i unceremoniously woke Mama and Papa Hew to show them this...

Aquatic plants

Goethe's Palm, the oldest plant in the garden (planted in 1585). He's mighty tall.

Not taking the early morning start as an excuse, i managed to pack in four churches, four piazza's, three markets, two restaurants and numerous cafe and spritz stops into the rest of the day.

No rest for the wicked, the next day we had a family outing to Venice.

Apparently they have the identical sculpture in Chatsworth House's gardens. Bringing a little bit of Derbyshire to Italy.

This shot is becoming a firm favourite.

This photo doesn't quite do justice to this leaning tower of Venezia. Looking around much of Italy's old infrastructure you get the feeling that their rulers were askew back then.

Another favourite shot

Caffè Florian tops the '5 things not to do in Venice' list. It's one of the oldest coffee shops in the world and has been more or less left untouched since 1720 when it first opened. This is reflected in its €14/hot chocolate prices. Usually i walk past and sneer at the gullible tourists inside, but this time (on Mama and Papa Hew's insistence) i was going to be one of them.