Buon giorno! On June 13th I ventured to Asolo, Italy where I took an International Business class through my MBA program. It was amazing! Thought I would share some of my pics (and some of what I learned) while I was there!
We stayed in Asolo, Italy which is in the Northeast Veneto region of Italy (just North of Venice). This area was a good area for study, as there is 1 business for every 10 people living in the area! (known as the "veneto model"). The first picture is taken from the top of "la Rocca", which is a ruined fortress, that has many MANY steps leading to the top (I'm actually surprised I survived the journey). Its purpose was to protect the walled city of Asolo. The Venitians built the fortress in the 1500s and it was used as a military fortress. The Fortress was disarmed in 1652. Afterward, from time to time it was used as a refuge for those with the plague.
Beautiful Asolo: In this pic you can see our school, hotel, and the Castle we spent many nights in drinking wine =)
A beautiful view of the Alps:
My hotel! NOTE: if given the choice between a 3 star and 4 star hotel in a foreign country - always take the 4 star! Our hotel was amazing compared the 3 star hotel. Very clean, normal bathroom, and great front desk service (and everyone spoke English!). Our room key was HUGE and HEAVY; in Italy they want to get to know you more personally, so you are to drop the key off each time you leave and pick it up when you get back.
Yet another 'scenery' picture. couldn't help it, this palce was beautiful!
This was actually taken from where I was sitting in a fabulous restaraunt in Asolo. Typical meal: pasta with white wine and bread, followed by salad with: carrot, tomato, lettuce, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, then meat (pork, beef, chicken, rabbit, and veal were popular) with red wine, potatoes and veggies, and finished with dessert and dessert wine. My favorite: tiramisu and GELATO!
Day 2: Trip to Padua. In this beautiful little city we toured Mashio Gaspardo (tractor manufacturer) and then took a tour of the city. Padua is home to the 2nd largest university IN THE WORLD. This place re-defines "old".
Picture: 'Prato della Valle' is a huge oval form square surrounded by the channel you see. There are many sculptures on the channel sides. These sculptures are representations of culture and art personalities. The third Sunday of every month there’s an open air market here.
We then visited "Basilica di Sant’Antonio", where the grave of "Sant’Antonio" is located (built 1232). It has eight Byzantine domes --similar to the domes of the San Marco Basilica in Venice. It is one of the more richly decorated basilicas in the world. In the high altar you will find eight sculptures by Donatello.
We could not take pictures inside the Basilica. We toured inside where we saw St. Anthony's tomb surrounded by people praying, and notes from people thanking him for answering their prayers and saving their loved ones. Also, the Chapel of Reliquaries had the tongue, vocal cords, and jaw bone of St. Anthony on display! After he had been dead for a while, they had opened his coffin and all of these things were perfectly preserved even though the rest of his body was dust. Interesting story, but it was creepy to see a really shriveled, old tongue!
Italia! Italia! Soccor fans are nuts in Europe! On the night Italy played France, they set up a huge projector in the middle of the town square and everyone watched the game together. Italy won this match.
The northeast region is know for its proseco (white wine/champagne) and Grappa. We visited Villa Sandi, a vinyard/villa that makes and stores wine. While we were there, a couple models were doing a photo shoot for Geox Shoes (which we also visited). The villa was beautiful, with hand-blown glass chandeliers and large gardens.
So much wine! The cellar holds 1.5 MILLION bottles of wine, not including all these barrels we passed along the way.
Besides getting lost in a place where no one speaks English, Venice was great! We rode the water bus around the islands and visited several shops on our way to St. Mark's square.
Bellisimo!
Venice markets are NOT SELF SERVICE! You would think you committed a crime just touching something on display. If you looked at anything for more than 30 seconds, one of the shop owners would stand right next to you until you left. If you reached for anything, they would grab it before you could. "you touch, you buy". Ugh...so un-American!
Nabeel, Heather, Taryn, Sarah, and Andrea (classmates)
St. Mark's Basillica. The exterior and interior were covered with amazing mosaics (in this picture, thousands of little squares put together to make this beautiful picture). The inerior was covered in real gold and jewels. Statues of the 12 apostles guarded the altar.
This white balcony with red flowers was actually (at one time) the balcony of "Marco Polo". yes, he was a real person, not just a fun game.
Venice fun fact: There were several painted masks and elaborate costumes for sale in Venice. The day before lent begins, it is tradition to have a marde gras-esque party called Carnivale, which means "to eat meat". Everyone dresses up in masks and costumes and parades around the city. It orignated with a social gathering the day before lent began to eat the rest of the meat in the town.
Makes you ponder why anyone would call something associated with games, rides, and fried food "carnival"?
Italian figure 8's! In the parking lot of an elementary school (across the street from an amazing pizzaria we ate at - where I had pizza topped with asparagus and my sister had pizza topped with french fries) Italians were racing little cars around an obstical course. Comical!
Bassano Bridge. We were told that a picture of this bridge is used as the cover of a tour guide for all of Europe.
Angelo!! We had AMAZING pizza at this pizzeria that was owned by Angelo's family. He was good to us, and kept our wine glasses very full.
Advertisement for American Pizza....I don't think so.
The last night was spent at a very formal dinner in a beautiful villa. It had been a great trip, but I was ready to go home!
For those of you wondering: yes, my wonderful husband stayed home to watch the kids while I was gone for 10 days. I love you Joe! He did a great job, and the house was even relatively clean when I got home. What a good husband =)
I was so happy to see the kids when I got home, and Jay was happy to see I brought him gifts. His favorite? A US military toy jet I picked up in Venice. He specifically asked for an "airplane and a spaceship"; I'm glad I was able to fill his request.
