Venice and around it – some time ago!

Venice and around it – some time ago!

I have discovered a few new places during the last year which I didn’t write about and one of the most wonderful trips must have been the visit to Venice and its surrounding area. Everybody knows that Venice, along with Paris, is one of the most favourite honeymoon targets . Romance is flowing through its ancient canals, hiding in little alley ways known by Casanova and whispering into ears of craftsmen while they are creating intricate colourful glass shapes.

Just when you arrive to the train station and take a first step out into the streets, the Venetian atmosphere hits you with the view over the Gran Canal. Public transportation in Venice is tightly connected to water. It is not trams, underground or buses that take you around the city, but boats! In the heat of the city I found this means of transportation a very agreeable solution. The breeze doesn’t take away just heat but also any troubles that could have been on your mind before.

Walking through the streets and seeing all the famous ventian touchpoints wasn't always on top of my list. I was so lucky to experience the city through the eyes of someone who knows it well and who guided me through the streets with love and attention to what interests me – food! Unfortunately, due to heat and our not so deep pockets we limited ourselves to fresh fruit and bottled water rather than all the beautiful pastries and delicous bites we saw. However, I am one of those people that don’t even mind spending hours looking at food and its thousand forms and possibilities.

To be honest, I am more of a fan of the beatiful little towns and monuments which are not surrounded with camera snapping tourists. Places that have been shot thousands and thousands of times over and over again lose the sense of surprise and originality when you finally visit them. Eventhough I loved Venice, I cannot say it suprised me a lot. This, however, I definitely cannot say about Asolo.

During my very short 4 day trip the town of Asolo and the hills behind it (Monfumo and Castelli, up to Possagno) completely charmed me. Blue sky was the perfect match for old stone buildings and mountain hilly views. On the square, to taste a bit of local Italy in a little restaurant bar, we had a plate of cheese and cold cuts. I was very hungry, but I could still identify the distinct delicate flavours that differ so much from any hams in Czech Republic or in Spain. Those flavours just melt in your mouth telling you about the balance between rustic sharpness and delicacy of simplicity.

Following this lovely experience and a short walk around, it was time to set off on the scooter (very italian style) and follow the road through villages and fields. As the journey countinued, and apart from buying fresh milk delivered into our plastic bottle right from the source and consuming quite substantial portion of ice cream, I realized that there is so much more to discover about this beautiful country than just funny accent and exported pizza trend. In Italy, everything has historical background, and I hope that one day I might be able to look into its history of gastronomy in a lot more detail than in the four days and my hobby style reading, beacuase as Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright said in Pavarotti, My Own Story: "One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."