Downtown Vicenza and picking up some wine

After Rome we were pretty exhausted, but we only had a few more days with the parents in town so we hit downtown Vicenza. Every Thursday is their big city market, which looks like this:

We walked around this area for a while perusing all the items. I love these markets for several reasons, one of which is that everything is ultra cheap. And they have everything, from baby clothes to pots and pans…I usually stick to the clothes and shoes. Dad liked the flowers:

Then after the markets we walked through downtown for a while:

Vicenza is a really pretty town and this was the first time I had been there when everyone is out and about. One thing I’ve noticed here is that people get dressed up regardless of what they’re doing, which I love. You’ll see ladies in high heels and tight, sparkly pants in the middle of the day. Old men will dress in suits and wear their long jackets over their shoulders. Not too many casual jeans and shirts, which is why we stood out, once again.

Couple things about Vicenza: it's the home of one of the greatest architects of the High Renaissance, Andrea di Peitro, or Palladio. His works are all over the city and he's influenced works in America as well (Jefferson's Monticello and various plantation homes in the South.). He even has his own style - Palladianism. You see his name everywhere around here. The mall is named after him, which I think is kinda weird...

We also stopped by the Teatro Olimpico, or Olympic Theater. This was Palladio’s masterpiece and final work, and is also one of the world’s greatest theaters still in use:

Then we visited the fabulous Antico Bar del Corso to see Cynthia. Here she is with Sarah:

Cynthia came to Italy from Illinois to check it out…and has now been here for over 25 years. She owns a coffee shop/bar in downtown Vicenza, which has fantastic cappuccinos and little appetizers and desserts. I haven’t tried the main lunch/dinner items yet but I’m sure I will at some point. We like to come here a lot :).

After our little coffee break we decided to head up to Monte Berico. This is a hill overlooking all of Vicenza, and also has a church, the Santuario di Monte Berico, at the top. Here we are in front of it:

And a few views from the top:

Just down the hill is where I take my Italian lessons. Senora Daniela lives right off of the road leading up to the church in this beautiful villa. We’re pretty sure she’s got some money because the house and the gardens are gorgeous. I’ve just started going to her house, twice a week to practice my Italian with a small group.

Anyway, we had lunch on Monte Berico and then headed back toward home with a quick stop at Muraro Brothers. This is a similar wine place to where Sarah took me last fall, but apparently this is his brother’s section of vineyards,which is much bigger. I guess the brothers don’t talk, and we don’t know why…not sure why they still call it Muraro Brothers, but whatev. We picked out some wine for dinner that night. This is Dad and I in front of the place:

And here are a few pics of us taste testing:

See the one above with Sarah filling the jumbo bottle? Here’s how much it cost:

Like I said, the wine here is cheap (that's 80 cents - they use commas where we use periods and periods where we use commas). It’s like they took away the never-ending supply of Coke products we have in the states and replaced it with wine at dinner. No complaints here! Next post will show you why the wine is so abundant. We are surrounded by vineyards, and the sights are beautiful.

Here are few pics of the fam, still at Muraro Brothers. It’s an amazing area: