Alex Rubbo, a friend and colleague from Aggregate Industries provided me with some suggestions for places to visit in this area. Alex is Italian and comes from this area and there is nothing better than to have recommendations from a local.
Although we don't have the time to visit all of the locations that Alex suggested, we were determined to visit some of them. We started by travelling to Asolo, with the intention of visiting the Villa Barbaro at Maser in the afternoon and then stopping in a camper stop in Bassano del Grappa that night. It didn't quite work out that way.
When we arrived in Asolo they had closed the town centre and we hoped that this meant that there was some sort of event happening. When we parked in the car park, we were accosted by a man carrying an official identity card who desperately tried to explain something to us in Italian. This was one of the many cases where sign language let us down but we understood that we had to park in a special motorhome area and pay 7 Euro for the privilege. We were duly let through the barrier into the area and found a very good camper site with BBQ, fresh water, waste water dumping facilities and, most surprisingly, electricity. We were not expecting this as the Camperstop book showed the site as allowing overnight parking but not having any facilities.
When we got into the village, we discovered the reason for the road closure – they were putting up the municipal Christmas decorations! Asolo is a charming hillside village full of villas and with wonderful views over the lowlands to the sea. Unfortunately, it was a hazy day but we could see enough to appreciate how good the views would have been had it been clear. We had a very pleasant time wandering around the village and then climbed the many steps up to the fortress. The outer walls are all that are left of the castle but the reason that people visit it is the views from the walls. Walking around the walls there are fantastic views of the hills and snow-capped mountains behind as well as even better views towards the sea.
We were enjoying Asolo so much that we decided not to rush on to Maser but to spend more time in there. This meant that we would have to miss Maser as it is only open at weekends at this time of the year, but it meant that we could have a relaxing evening in Asolo. We visited the local museum and saw photographs of and by Freya Stark (1893 - 1993), a well-known English traveller and travel writer. She lived in Asolo in a lovely villa and always returned here after her many travels to far flung places. She wrote a large number of books published and still available both in English and translated into Italian. She is buried in the village cemetery close to Eleonora Duse, known as 'Divine', a famous Italian actress who also lived here. Robert Browning stayed here and wrote poetry and the main street of the village is named after him. It became a haunt for poets, writers and artists. This all started at the end of the 15thcentury when Venetian-born Queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, was exiled here from Venice in order to stop her meddling in the affairs of Cyprus. She establish a very lively court in Asolo and this lead to many famous people building villas on the hillside – something that has continued until the present day.
We visited a local bar where we tried two different types of Grappa – both local, one a traditional straight Grappa and a strawberry Grappa. There were both very good and very warming – we were positively glowing when we walked back to Henrietta.
Photos: Asolo town and fortress; View from Asolo fortress – if only it was clear!; Asolo castle.
Although we don't have the time to visit all of the locations that Alex suggested, we were determined to visit some of them. We started by travelling to Asolo, with the intention of visiting the Villa Barbaro at Maser in the afternoon and then stopping in a camper stop in Bassano del Grappa that night. It didn't quite work out that way.
When we arrived in Asolo they had closed the town centre and we hoped that this meant that there was some sort of event happening. When we parked in the car park, we were accosted by a man carrying an official identity card who desperately tried to explain something to us in Italian. This was one of the many cases where sign language let us down but we understood that we had to park in a special motorhome area and pay 7 Euro for the privilege. We were duly let through the barrier into the area and found a very good camper site with BBQ, fresh water, waste water dumping facilities and, most surprisingly, electricity. We were not expecting this as the Camperstop book showed the site as allowing overnight parking but not having any facilities.
When we got into the village, we discovered the reason for the road closure – they were putting up the municipal Christmas decorations! Asolo is a charming hillside village full of villas and with wonderful views over the lowlands to the sea. Unfortunately, it was a hazy day but we could see enough to appreciate how good the views would have been had it been clear. We had a very pleasant time wandering around the village and then climbed the many steps up to the fortress. The outer walls are all that are left of the castle but the reason that people visit it is the views from the walls. Walking around the walls there are fantastic views of the hills and snow-capped mountains behind as well as even better views towards the sea.
We were enjoying Asolo so much that we decided not to rush on to Maser but to spend more time in there. This meant that we would have to miss Maser as it is only open at weekends at this time of the year, but it meant that we could have a relaxing evening in Asolo. We visited the local museum and saw photographs of and by Freya Stark (1893 - 1993), a well-known English traveller and travel writer. She lived in Asolo in a lovely villa and always returned here after her many travels to far flung places. She wrote a large number of books published and still available both in English and translated into Italian. She is buried in the village cemetery close to Eleonora Duse, known as 'Divine', a famous Italian actress who also lived here. Robert Browning stayed here and wrote poetry and the main street of the village is named after him. It became a haunt for poets, writers and artists. This all started at the end of the 15thcentury when Venetian-born Queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, was exiled here from Venice in order to stop her meddling in the affairs of Cyprus. She establish a very lively court in Asolo and this lead to many famous people building villas on the hillside – something that has continued until the present day.
We visited a local bar where we tried two different types of Grappa – both local, one a traditional straight Grappa and a strawberry Grappa. There were both very good and very warming – we were positively glowing when we walked back to Henrietta.
Photos: Asolo town and fortress; View from Asolo fortress – if only it was clear!; Asolo castle.
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