Bassano del Grappa trip

What a wonderful weekend! The temp has been in the low 80's with a light breeze. A perfect weekend for walking around and sight seeing. We invited my friend Janie to join us and set off for a day trip to Bassano del Grappa - the home of Grappa, an Italian Brandy like liquor. It is a beautiful town not too far away, in the foothills of the mountains. It only took us an hour to get there.

Bassano del Grappa is one of those Italian cities whose roots lie within the walls of the old city. The public parking lot is down the hill below the old city near the new construction and city park. I dropped Bill and Janie off at a coffee bar on the corner near one of the enterances so we wouldn't all have to walk back up. We had already had a lengthly conversation with the local traffic police regarding how to use the pay meters - eventually, she suggested we consider using the free parking lot down the hill. After I parked and returned to the coffee bar we enjoyed a nice Italian specialty and then began our walk through the old city.

Within five minutes we had split up, girls shopping while Bill wandered from Piazza to Piazza, sampling Grappa along the way. Janie and I found some great sales as we wanderred towards the top of the city where we enjoyed the scenic overlook. Heading back down some of the side streets we found a wonderful little ceramics shop. The owners family had been hand making these beautiful white ceramics for two generations. We both managed to find a bowl that we just had to have :-) I also have a wish list for future trips.

I touched base with Bill to see where he had wandered to. We wanted to head down to the bridge designed by Paladio and I suspected we would find him in that vicinity. Sure enough, he was at the far end of the bridge hanging out and watching the ducks. He gave us advance notice of a couple of pottery shops at the end of the bridge. What a fantastic place to shop for occasional dishes - of course you all know that I need more dishes :-)

Bill met us at the pottery shop and then we crossed over to the old Grapperia for a coctail. I had the strongest Aperol spritzer ever - thought I was going to have to be carried out! But the view from the table where we enjoyed our drink was fabulous. I really wish I had brought a camera to share some photos but unfortunately my video camera has a dead battery and I didn't think far enough ahead to charge it and my camera is on the fritz - lens stuck again.

Afnyway, ater spending some time admiring the bridge, the water and the kids swimming in it, we resumed our shopping, breaking only for a Gelato. The Gelato shop was a bit tucked away but we all agree that it is the best Gelato we have had yet. So rich and creamy -yummmm wish I could share!
More shopping and then a light dinner. We returned home with two large bottles of Grappa, one traditional and one well aged. Also, a small bottle of Blueberry Grappa, a green apple liquor and a creamy egg liquor (yeah, I know, I wrinkled up my nose too but after the sample I was sold). I also picked up a jar of Balsamic Honey - I can't wait to use it, it sounds fabulous.

Today we are back to the real world; cleaning and doing laundry. Fortunately, we now have TV, Telephone and Internet service in our house. It only took 6 weeks to get it and now that it has finally arrived we have found we are out of the habit of checking email every few minutes or sitting in front of the tv in the evenings. Probably a good thing.

Viv kitty is due before too long so we need to get her birthing box set up and have her get used to the space she will share with the kittens. I am excited about the babies - it is so much fun to have kittens around. I'll be sure to post some videos when the kitties arrive.
Ciao for now.
LeAnn



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