11012008 BLOG

November 1, 2008

The Italian countryside, a short distant outside of Trieste, changes from mountainous to flat coastal plain where the road beds are typically 4’ to 10’ above the land. It is like that all around the general area of Venice, Padova, and Verona. It’s great agricultural land and home to many vineyards and estate farms.

Our stay in Padova at the Villa Salvatico was at one of those estate farms that date back to the late 1700s. Our congenial host Antonio, who inherited Salvatico, was a true Italian country gentleman. Our rented 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment was larger than we expected and would serve as a very comfortable home base for us and two others who would be joining us before our cruise to Greece. We quickly learned our way around the area and found patisseries, a laundry, and a huge French grocery store, Auchan. Auchan was quite a surprise because of the size and selection – fresh meats, fresh fish and seafood, bakery items, produce… even a rotisserie chicken! Even though we didn’t get to have dinner there, a Roadhouse Grill was right next door. Most shops shut down at 1 or 1:30 and then reopen at 3:00 or 3:30. Restaurants close at 3:00 and reopen at 7:00. If you miss lunch, you have to make do with a snack at a café or wait for the restaurants to open. Planning your day is important if you want to eat! And on Sunday and Holidays everything is closed except the bars!

After taking care of domestics the first couple of days, Dorothea and I took the train for a short trip from the nearby Dolo train station to Venice. When we arrived in Venice and stepped out onto the piazza on the Grand Canal, we were spellbound by the city being as quaint and picturesque as all of the photos show! On our first day we spent a lot of time walking around looking for our travel books’ highlights, shops and restaurants as well as taking short cuts that wound up being long cuts. The guide book Dorothea’s sister had given us was one of the best for its restaurant recommendations. When we returned the next day, we bought a 3-day Venice pass, gave up the long walks in exchange for rides on the convenient water taxis (vaporettos). We had planned to attend one of the many operas being presented but found none of the venues were real theaters. All of them were open halls with rows of folding chairs and unassigned, first come/first served seating. For the price, fighting a crowd for a decent seat wasn’t worth it. Instead, we ventured all over Venice enjoying this unique city and its history. Sad to say, Venice is crumbling. Many, many of the buildings are badly leaning, probably due to unstable ground, and cannot remain out of plumb indefinitely. Our 3rd day was spent on the unique island of Murano. We went to one of the furnaces for a glass-blowing demonstration, and afterward were ushered to private viewing rooms when the host found out we were Americans. He personally escorted us around for almost an hour showing off all of the gorgeous pieces and doing his best to sell, sell, sell. We told him we loved all of them and would return tomorrow with our suitcases full of cash and pick up the pieces we like the best, NOT! Later that evening around 8:00, we headed to the Casino but missed our stop. Continuing on to one of the main transfer stations to catch the vaporetto back to the Casino, we learned the transportation workers were going on strike at 9:00 that night! We rushed to catch a train back but they had already stopped. Panicking, we headed for the last bus to leave from Venice to Dolo. When we got to Dolo at 10:00, we stopped and asked a couple of exiting bar patrons for directions to the train station (to get our car) and were told it was 2 miles from the bus stop. Even though it was densely foggy, cold and a long walk back, we got to see parts of Dolo we would normally have missed with a quick drive-by, like the “Cantina la Botte.”

Since all the local transportation had shut down, the next day we decided to go into Padova to visit the Basilica of St. Anthony, my Baptismal Saint. The Jesuit cloister and Church were amazing and the museum had an excellent presentation of St. Anthony’s life.

Dorothea’s business partner, Tanya and her friend Kathleen who were going to join us on our cruise arrived at Venice’s Marco Polo airport. After picking them up, we stopped at the “Cantina la Botte” that we found the night before in Dolo where various varieties of local wine were available for 7 Euros per gallon. Since there were now four of us, we bought one red and one white!

Before taking off on our cruise, our two visitors wanted to do a wine tour (the reason for buying two gallons of wine should be obvious). We decided to drive to Trent, where there is a wine route, spend the night and come back by way of Verona. Both areas produce excellent wines, and we were fortunate to find two outstanding vineyards.

Off we went to the hills of Trent stopping in Bassano del Grappa, on the river Brenta, for lunch and an introduction for our visitors to Italy’s “hole-in-the-floor-potty.” In Germany and Austria, the public restrooms had normal facilities and almost everywhere were spotless. When we got to Italy, the “hole-in-the-floor” was prevalent. This is not literally a hole cut into the floor, it is a fixture plumbed in placed but without a raised bowl, just a porcelain or stainless “platform.” Go figure! Do they use these things because they like them? There’s no cost savings! If you’re going to spend money on plumbing a finished fixture in place why not make it one where you don’t have to be an acrobat to use it? I prayed to St. Anthony and to a lot others the whole time I was in Italy that I would not have a need to fully utilize one of those contraptions while we were out and about. Lunch itself was a challenge as the server didn’t understand a bit of English or customer service. This was the first time that we felt a little annoyed, especially since a friend of the owner caught us on the street and recommended the place!

The prospects of an unplanned early departure from Europe weighed heavily on our minds and much to the chagrin of our guests was the subject of many a spirited conversation between Dorothea and me. We decided to call and talk with the American Embassy in Milan thinking we could make a trip to Milan, apply for a visa and pick it up when we returned from the cruise. No can do. The gentleman at the Embassy said you can’t apply for a visa while you’re in the foreign country. He did suggest leaving the Schwengen countries for awhile and insinuated the rules were not interpreted with a great deal of uniformity or clarity. A side trip to a non-Schwengen Country (at the time only Switzerland was an option) before our Dec. 9th deadline, then returning after a “reasonable” time could be looked upon as being in compliance. And so it was. We would abandon our trip into southern Italy. In exchange, we would make a trip to Switzerland and then return to Italy in time to get to Rome for Christmas. For the moment, our predicament was put in abeyance and Ed would further be exonerated when the trip to Switzerland turned out to be an extraordinary visit we would not have otherwise experienced.

Another day trip into Venice with our visitors, and then we’re off on our cruise to Greece aboard Royal Caribbean’s “Splendour of the Seas.” Ed is really looking forward to all the American food and intends to eat his way across the Adriatic Sea. (DZ)!

Ed and Dorothea