Vicenza

A day of more beautiful things.  Today was spent in Vicenza, a gorgeous city... I've learned about Doric vs Ionic vs Corinthian columns... and of course the Composite style, which means I can't figure it out...   Today we had a taste of America again... Bamburgers for lunch, a suggestion by a local who loves Five Guys burgers in the States.  Finished with espresso and gelato to keep it somewhat European...

La Rotunda.... The inside, as usual, is not allowed to be photographed and is sublime...

Villa Valmarana.... 

Rick Steves mentioned that you can easily take a walk to other hillside fortitudes... heck, we can barely make it in the car with Helen (our affectionately named Nav system)....

The loggia, where one would depart the carriage before entering the Villa...

And a little place for extra guests...

Vicenza... if you dig you will usually find layers upon layers of foundations through the Middle Ages with a Roman ruin eventually underneath it all... Segments of Roman roads are interesting in particular because the Romans built roads, which contributed to their vast empire... Bits and bobs have been brought to the surface and reconstructed  for all to see...

We are blessed by a lack of tourists... 

Except for the local school field trips... reminds you how awkward being 13 years old really was when you see gaggles of them... you can hear them coming!

Marble on the front for appearances, brick everywhere else...

The Basillica... Palladio built the second floor loggia which surrounds the Basillica 360 degrees and disguises the flying buttresses which support this city gathering place designed to hold 500 men meeting about important things...

I couldn't figure these columns out, so I'm calling them Composite... or maybe Tuscan...

The heart of Vicenza...

The Teatro Olympico, still just wood and stucco, and continues to host performances after 400 years... The insets are actually copies of the streets just outside the front doors.... Palladio's last commission before he died...

A column missing it's middle bits!

I may be cracking up, but I'm still holding on....  Sounds like me....

Tomorrow: Verona... More than just the home of Romeo and Juliet... where we can go see the wall where people leave love notes tucked into a wall... Similar but different to the Wailing a Wall in Jerusalem!  Roman amphitheater where Kylie Minogue recently performed... Bronze Middle Aged pretty things... Hosted by our dear Frederic relaxing next to me as we decide which herbs to add to the pasta tonight...

Oops, he forgot to smile...

Ciao.