Arriving in Treviso, Italy September 6, 2012

Arriving In Treviso

(We are writing this from Salzburg as touring and eating and drinking too much at dinner has cut into our motivation to write this stuff up.)

Our flight SFO to Frankfort then on to Venice was Exit Row, On Time, Perfect, and exiting customs Paul spotted the taxi driver bearing the sign, “Fagin”.  Oh, how comforting is the familiar when we are mildly anxious about getting to a strange destination!  He drove us to our apartment in Treviso, 30 minutes north,

Dining Area

where the friendly Silvio answered the buzzer and showed us our little two bedroom with back patio in the center of town.  A stroll around the neighborhood to get our bearings and pick up our breakfast food, and it was time to celebrate with Beer and Spritz (a bright orange Campari and Prosecco drink everyone seemed to be having.  It matched the hair color of several Italian women who display many shades of red.)

We arrived  early, so had four days to check out Treviso before meeting Mario there at the first stop on his itinerary.  We had chosen not to meet in Venice, as Mario suggested, because it is so overcrowded I fear falling into the canal.  Treviso has canals also,

created by two rivers splitting and running through the town, but not the crowds.  It has beautiful, crisply painted buildings

and churches

 with many beautiful frescos

 and happy prosperous looking families. (Like much of northern Italy, the economy in this area is doing well.  The hiking shoes Danice wears were made here, also bicycles, the Bennetton clothing line, plus lots of Prosecco producers provide the world with their fine sparkling wine.)   We wondered if there had been a city-wide campaign to repaint and restore all the buildings, but were told that people are just very proud of their property.  The city was bombed in 1944 when occupied by the Nazis, but many buildings were not seriously damaged and most that were are rebuilt as before.

We delightfully covered nearly every street and church in the city, trying to avoid the heat of the day in the high 80’s.  When looking for a quick pizza prior to a classical concert in the church of Maria Maggiore,

the pizzeria was too hot, but across the street was a beautiful outdoor restaurant, Il Antico Rustico, that served us our best Treviso meal.. We enjoyed housemade duck prosciutto, stuffed zucchini flower in cheese sauce with truffle oil, porcini pasta, roast fish with potato and tomatoes. The local wines were very good and the price was likely less than half we would have paid in Venice.  We got cred with the owner when we saw and greeted Silvio,  the only person in Treviso we knew, eating inside with a large party. We were enjoying Italy more with each day, each walk, each meal.

 Our fellow hikers, Laura and Jim, Tom and Millie arrived 1-2 days later and invited us to taxi out to their country Agriturismo for a large dinner.  The happiness of greeting old friends and the pouring of Prosecco ensued.  The dinner was too many courses and too much food,.  This manner of offering seemed to persist throughout Italy and into Slovenia; although the people generally look healthy and fit. Are they all hiking the Alps?   The following night our friends came into Treviso and were also delighted by the food offered by our new favorite restaurant, Antico Rustico.

On Sunday the streets were crowded with locals.  There were all sorts of events and performances such as  bicycle courses, judo, gymnastics, badminton.  Impressive civic involvement and pride.   We walked a lot then settled under a shady umbrella to watch  a sword fighting demo and drink the local favorite, Spritz.

Walking after dinner, we happened across a large covered Loggia filled with experienced Tango dancers.

 

They seemed to alternate between exhibitions by the best dancers, possibly teachers and star pupils, and  dancing by all with precise intricate footwork and  great attitude.

Monday morning Mario was an hour late, but what a smile and hug!  We were delighted to see him and to begin our trip into the Friuli Alps.