We selected our next stop from the Camperstop Europe book – Bassano del Grappa. This was one of Alex's recommendations but we wanted to visit another one first – Marostica.
As we drove from Bassano to Marostica, I spotted a fortified hill in the distance and this turned out to be Marostica. We then lost sight of it until we got very close and then we saw it in all of its glory. The town at the bottom of the hill is totally walled and the walls run right up both of the sides of the south-facing slope of the hill to a castle on the top. The sight is absolutely stunning as almost all of the walls have been restored and cleaned resulting in them stand out beautifully in the sunshine.
We followed signs to the car park for motorhomes and found another camper stop not in the Camperstop Europe book. We didn't need to stay overnight but it was a very good parking place, very close to the West Gate of the town and free of charge (English local authorities please note).
One of Marostica's claims to fame is that it has a massive chess board laid out in its main square and every even numbered year in September a pageant is played out in the form of a chess game with real people. We saw some photographs of this and it looks spectacular but it seemed like a long time to wait, so we decided to forgo the experience. Yet another reason to return – in a September of an even-numbered year.
The town was very pleasant and we then climbed on the long, steep, zig-zag path to the castle on the hill. Once again, it was very hazy, so we were denied the lovely view but we could see a little way and the rolling hills (glacial deposits?) below the higher hills and mountains were covered in vineyards. The castle at the top was very small and, once again, only the outer walls remained. However, within these walls, in a spectacular position was a restaurant and we could imagine how popular it would be in the summer, catching the breeze on those very hot days. Resisting the temptation, we returned to the town and Henrietta.
After lunch, we travelled the short distance to Bassano del Grappa. We had the GPS co-ordinates plugged into the sat nav and as we approached the point, we saw signs to the correct car park but despite all of our efforts, we couldn't find it. We did a second circuit and still couldn't find it but I had spotted another potential car park on the circuit and we return to it. Sure enough, there were lots of motorhomes parked there and we parked up and I attempted to buy a ticket. I fell at the first hurdle! I selected English as the language and the machine instructed me to enter my "license plate" in a very strong American accent. I entered our vehicle registration number and the machine happily replied "you have entered an invalid license plate". It was objecting because out registration number was not in Italian format. A minor design problem – the instructions were in many languages but it only worked if you had an Italian vehicle! The car park was very scruffy and we didn't fancy spending the night there. One of the main reasons for going to Bassano was to taste Grappa and the mezzo-e-mezzo (aperitivo rosso and rhubarb liqueur) at Nardini's and that was closed on a Monday, therefore not being able to stay overnight was a problem! So we decided to return to the lovely town of Marostica for the night after taking a quick look at the famous 'Ponte degli Alpini' bridge (after Paladio's design) over the river Brenta.
Photos: Marostica South Gate; Marostica square with chessboard; Poster showing Marostica Chess Pageant; Marostica square by night.
As we drove from Bassano to Marostica, I spotted a fortified hill in the distance and this turned out to be Marostica. We then lost sight of it until we got very close and then we saw it in all of its glory. The town at the bottom of the hill is totally walled and the walls run right up both of the sides of the south-facing slope of the hill to a castle on the top. The sight is absolutely stunning as almost all of the walls have been restored and cleaned resulting in them stand out beautifully in the sunshine.
We followed signs to the car park for motorhomes and found another camper stop not in the Camperstop Europe book. We didn't need to stay overnight but it was a very good parking place, very close to the West Gate of the town and free of charge (English local authorities please note).
One of Marostica's claims to fame is that it has a massive chess board laid out in its main square and every even numbered year in September a pageant is played out in the form of a chess game with real people. We saw some photographs of this and it looks spectacular but it seemed like a long time to wait, so we decided to forgo the experience. Yet another reason to return – in a September of an even-numbered year.
The town was very pleasant and we then climbed on the long, steep, zig-zag path to the castle on the hill. Once again, it was very hazy, so we were denied the lovely view but we could see a little way and the rolling hills (glacial deposits?) below the higher hills and mountains were covered in vineyards. The castle at the top was very small and, once again, only the outer walls remained. However, within these walls, in a spectacular position was a restaurant and we could imagine how popular it would be in the summer, catching the breeze on those very hot days. Resisting the temptation, we returned to the town and Henrietta.
After lunch, we travelled the short distance to Bassano del Grappa. We had the GPS co-ordinates plugged into the sat nav and as we approached the point, we saw signs to the correct car park but despite all of our efforts, we couldn't find it. We did a second circuit and still couldn't find it but I had spotted another potential car park on the circuit and we return to it. Sure enough, there were lots of motorhomes parked there and we parked up and I attempted to buy a ticket. I fell at the first hurdle! I selected English as the language and the machine instructed me to enter my "license plate" in a very strong American accent. I entered our vehicle registration number and the machine happily replied "you have entered an invalid license plate". It was objecting because out registration number was not in Italian format. A minor design problem – the instructions were in many languages but it only worked if you had an Italian vehicle! The car park was very scruffy and we didn't fancy spending the night there. One of the main reasons for going to Bassano was to taste Grappa and the mezzo-e-mezzo (aperitivo rosso and rhubarb liqueur) at Nardini's and that was closed on a Monday, therefore not being able to stay overnight was a problem! So we decided to return to the lovely town of Marostica for the night after taking a quick look at the famous 'Ponte degli Alpini' bridge (after Paladio's design) over the river Brenta.
Photos: Marostica South Gate; Marostica square with chessboard; Poster showing Marostica Chess Pageant; Marostica square by night.
2 comments:
Just so you know....
Nardini is not closed on Monday... it's open every day 8.30am til 8.30pm!
The guide book mislead us! We could have tasted all of the grappas after all!
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