From our headquarters in Treviso, we ventured out to Vincenza, where we visited one of the most extraordinary buildings I’ve ever seen, Teatro Olympico, designed and mostly built by architect Andrea Palladio, who died part way through its construction.
He had convinced locals to let him design the theater in the tradition of a Greek amphitheater, seats in the round, Greek statues in the courtyard and inside, the high ceiling painted in gorgeous sky-tones, and brilliant stage entrances that seem to go on forever. It would be extraordinary to secure tickets when jazz and classical musicians perform on that stage. There are all kinds of cafés to eat in in the center of Vincenza… we had Belgian beer and hamburgers, saving ourselves for Venice.
Venice
From our home base in the walled city of Treviso, the train station is a ten-minute walk, and for a $3.50 ticket, we were in Venice in a half hour. We headed straight for the less crowded neighborhood of Cannaregio, to enjoy one of our favorite restaurants, Ostaria Da Rioba, sitting on the canal. Seated at an outdoor table, inches from the water and passing boats, we began with chilled Prosecco and cruised the menu. The Ostaria Da Rioba is a slow food restaurant, meaning it subscribes to offering the best local ingredients, prepared fresh and with great care. I chose an unforgettable linguini with tiny clams in the shell, bathed in a perfect briny sauce sparked with bottarga, a dry, aged fish roe.
We tried buffalo mozzarella surrounded by deep red tomatoes and basil. Then we dove into an excellent homemade black olive pasta with eggplant and sliced scallops. Finally, we tasted a pasta shaped like hats and stuffed with Gorgonzola and radicchio, served on a square of black slate. Stunning. For dessert we loved our cheese platter drizzled with honey and studded with walnuts, and especially a crema Catalan, it’s caramel-colored sugar-crisped top in the style of Creme Brûlée. (It was so good we asked for a second one of those.)
In Venice, please don’t miss the Barbaro Palace on the Grand Canal, where the Venice Bienale installed a variety of art pieces. Our favorite was an installation of swords and knives in front of a light, installed so that the shadows spell out the words Have No Fear. We kept circling it to understand how the artist was able to use only shadow to display the message. Soon we are headed to Como and Lake Garda.
Tips
- We were hosted by local residents Vern Willey and You Nguyen. If I’ve convinced you that Treviso is the place to stay as a home base, and I hope I have, try the area’s many B&Bs. The central square can be noisy so it’s best to book on a side street.
- In Venice, locals don’t walk all the way around from one neighborhood to another, they cross the width of the canal for the equivalent of 50 cents. (Look for crossing stations.)
- Our host, Vern Willey, makes the 30-minute trip from Treviso to Venice frequently. When he meets one of his closest friends there each year, they pay $3 for the crowded speedboat, the vaporetto, that runs the entire length of The Grand Canal. As soon as the crowds exit, the pair race to the front seat and stay on for three hours, cruising back and forth the length of the canal, taking in the views from the water and catching up on their lives. No one seems to mind. Quite a ride for $3.50.
- In Treviso, there is a giant outdoor pizzeria in the central square, called Da Pino. It’s terrific, and you’ll see lines forming on Sunday nights, when everyone goes out for pizza.
