Back at the end of October, Daniele's brother Emanuele moved to Veneto to be with his girlfriend Silvia. She is originally from there and the two of them had been alternating weekend visits for quite some time. They found their own apartment in June and we've been meaning to visit them. We came up with the idea a while ago to combine a summer vacation to the Dolomites (post coming soon) with a stop on the way to see them in Veneto for a weekend.
Veneto is another region of Italy, like Tuscany or Lazio, which is most famous for Venice and Prosecco. I'd been to Venice several times but never to any other part of Veneto. I knew Silvia lived a bit out of the way because I knew her parents had an independent house; in the cities and suburbs nearly everyone lives in apartments. Both their new apartment and Silvia's parent's house are in the province (“provincia”) of Treviso.
Daniele and I left Rome very early Saturday morning; most would still consider it Friday night. I slept on the way and we arrived at Emanuele and Silvia's in time for breakfast. They did a great job planning our visit. We started with a quick stop in the small town of Conegliano Veneto. The town is very historical looking, with frescos and arches on the outsides of the buildings. There is a castle here, too. We visited the courtyard, but inside was closed. A wedding was just about to start there.
After Conegliano Veneto, we went to Grotte del Cajeron in Breda di Fregona. This was my first grotto. We took a hiking path in a loop that went into caves, over rope bridges, and over a river.
Our next stop was Lago di Santa Croce in the city of Farra d'Alpago. This is the only place we went to that was outside the province of Treviso. Silvia had made us a caprese rice salad with lactose-free mozzarella (shockingly good) that we ate picnic style by the lake. We were wearing bathing suits, but it was too chilly to sunbath, so we faked it wrapped up in sweaters.
At this point we headed back “home”, stopping on the way to have an “aperitivo” with Silvia's aunt, uncle, and cousins. We had some cake, chips, and home-made prosecco. Then we regrouped at Emanuele and Silvia's before dinner. Dinner was “Pasqualina” a special pizza invented by the restaurant owner that he even patented. It is basically a very thin and crispy pizza crust, with toppings, then another thin crispy crust layer on top. Making it almost a sandwich. I had the eggplant parmigiano, and it was delicious!
After dinner we went to Abbazia di Follina, an old and pretty church, then to Castello di Castelbrando. This castle is open to the public and occupied by an hotel, bar, restaurant, spa, gelateria, and a few stores. It had been abandoned before a group of business owners in the area restored it. It is one of my favorite castles I've been to thanks to the open access, the views, and how well maintained and accurate to the original structure it all is.
On our second day we had lunch at the “Osteria senza Oste” or the restaurant with no host. This famous places is hidden on a hill mostly occupied by grapes. It is a small shack with meats, cheeses, some pizza, breads, and drinks inside; all made locally. You take what you want and pay what you want, though there are suggested prices on the goods. There are tables outside and some knives and cutting boards to use and wash yourself afterwords. Many supplement with some of their own food. It was full there, with us getting last free table. The person who runs it just brings by the food in the morning. They must be making money because they've been doing it for about 10 years.
After lunch we went into the city center of Treviso. The city features a river going through it and lots of covered walkways and cute shops.
For our last night we had dinner with Silvia's parents. They set up a large spread with lots of vegetables all from their own garden. It was delicious and Silvia's mom sent us off with a big bag of tomatoes, peaches, cookies, and horse meat to bring to the mountains.
All the photos from this weekend:
https://plus.google.com/photos/+KaitlynHanrahanIsidori/albums/6031461047786159921
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