The North Trip started Monday March 12 at the Caserma where we met the bus at 8am to begin our trip North to Verona, Vicenza, and Venice. By 8:30 pretty much everyone had plugged in their headphones and fallen asleep. Belive it or not, we've gotten used to driving through the Italian countryside. On the way to Verona we stopped at the Church of the Autostrada which was right next to the highway (hence the name). It was made of board-formed concrete with a stone facade with a crazy, undulating copper roof. It was completely different than any of the churches we've seen thus far (as far as modern architecture and bizarre churches goes, this one was going to be beat out during my trip to Barcelona...)
When we got ot Verona we checked into the hotel (I shared a room with Katie and Ashley) and were then free to wander around the town. We went with a group to find this creperie but it was closed so Katie, Ashley and I went to find somewhere else to eat and ended up stumbling across this awesome grocery store with an escalator (guess these won't seem that unusual when I get home and go to the new Des Pers Dierbergs!) The weather was perfect so we decided to get a picnic and eat it at the park at the arena in the middle of the town. We enjoyed some people watching while we ate our sandwiches, chips, and fruit.
After lunch we started a tour of the main churches in Verona. At the first one we found you could get a cheap ticket to see all four of the biggest ones so we did (both to save money, and give us a little mission to accomplish). We saw two of the churches and visited the ruins of the ancient Roman Theater across the river. The ruins were in very good shape, and the best part was getting to climb up the amphitheater to the museum for an amazing view over the whole city.
By that time it was getting dark and we had to make it back to the hotel for a group dinner. After dinner we hit the hay to rest up for the next big day of group site seeing and travel to Vicenza.
Church of the Autostrada
A church...
A unique stoup (yes I had to look that up) in one of the churches we visited. Not one of the prettiest ones I've seen but I thought it was interesting.
Me and Ashley in Verona.
A beautiful wooden pulpit.
View over the city from the hill above the roman theater ruins in Verona. You can see part of the amphitheater at the very bottom of the photo.
The next morning we met the group for a trip to the Castelvecchio (Old Castle). It is a castle and fortress from the middle ages which now houses a beautiful museum of artwork and a room of weapons from that time. We had a little extra time after we got done with the museum so Katie, Ashley, Aaron J, and I went to the third church on our ticket, San Zeno. This church was a 'double decker' church with a samll chapel and crypt under the main alter.
We went back to the castle and still had a little bit of time to walk out on the bridge over the river which was beautiful. The next stop on the group tour was the arena where we had lunch the first day. It reminded me of the one in Nimes, France. We walked around the arena for a bit and then headed to finish our church mission and see one of the sites that Verona is most famous for...do you know what it is? It's Juliette's balcony from Romeo and Juliette and where Amanda Seyfried's movie Letters to Juliette was. They no longer do the letters from Juliette in the wall, but you can email Juliette about love advice...lame. However her statue is still there, the one where you can get good luck in love by touching her boob (yes, Katie, Ashley and I all did haha). For lunch we went to a pizza by the slice place we had scoped out the day before. It did not disappoint. We each had 300g of pizza which was the perfect amount for how hungry we were and how good the pizza was! On our way back to the hotel we stopped for gelato before the trip to Vicenza.
We got to Vicenza at about 3pm and checked into the hotel. Unfortunately the hotel was about three miles from the city center, but the bus driver offered to drive us all there and pick us up later that evening which was very very nice of him. Vicenza is famous for all the Pallazos by Palladio there. We did a relazed walking tour throughout the city to see some of the most famous ones which was a nice way to spend the early evening before dinner. After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched a movie before going to sleep. In the morning we had the best hotel breakfast ever! There were pastries, Cappuccini, meat and cheese and rolls, fruit! That was the end of our trip in Vicenza though. We hopped on the bus at 9:45 and headed to the edge of the city to Villa Rotunda. I was a bit disappointed because the villa was just surrounded by a grass lawn with a few paths and trees and not in the middle of nowhere like all the picutres make it seem. However, the interior was amazing. The frescoes on the ceiling were taken a step further with beautiful reliefs around them. The dome in the middle was the most beautiful, but every room in the perfectly symetrical building was adorned with beautiful ornamentation. I have always liked Villa Rotunda because of the fact that it is completely semetrical, there is something to be said about creating a functional building when every room is practically the same.
We stopped again at the Brion cemetary designed by Carlo Scarpa which was cool I guess. He designed the tombs and memorial for Mr and Mrs Brion (I don't remember who they were exactly) which were next to an older, more traditional cemetary. The forms he created were very geometric and interesting, but I was much more moved and impressed by the traditional cemetary with the above ground marble tombs, decorated with boquets of fake flowers and intricate details.
After the cemetary we were finally on our way to Venice! It was another couple hours away and when we got there we met Marco and checked into our hotel. After we got settled, Marco took us on a quick tour of the city so we could stretch our legs and start getting acquainted with the city. Katie, Ashley, and I got a quick pizza dinner and some gelato and went back to the hotel to take a load off and relax.
Bridge of Castelvecchio
Double Decker Church
Beautiful alter piece.
Arena in Verona
A pretty pulpit in one of the churches on our mission.
There were beautiful arrangements of white roses and purple flowers in many of the churches.
Locks at Juliette's balcony.
Oh yea, I forgot about this. During our walk around Vicenza we went to this big park. There was a nice gazebo and small water feature and many trails which people were exercising on. On our walk through the park we found these chickens in a tree. This was probably a highlight of our time in Vicenza becuase Blake started talking to the chickens. He can do a mean chicken call which the real chickens would answer to. We stood under that tree for like 15 mintues while Blake clucked at the chikens...hilarious!
Villa Rotunda. It was a beautiful day so after our quick tour through the building we just hung out in the lawn, built a human pyramid, and sat in the sun.
The traditional cemetary.
The most recognizable feature of Scarpa's design.
The 'portal' between Scarpa's design and the existing cemetary.
PHEW!! One down! Three more to go : D
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