Terre Bianche and the Euganean Hills
When we were in Italy we stayed in a farmhouse in the countryside, about half an hour outside Padua, west of Venice. Michael found the advert for it on the internet and had great conversation via email with Angela, the owner. We wanted to 'get away', but not so far away that we couldn't go out for day trips, and the location was perfect: Padua is beautiful (more photos later...) and we went in several times. We could also have visited places a bit further afield, such as Verona, Vicenza, Lake Garda etc but I'm afraid we couldn't get round to it! Instead we pottered around the Euganean Hills, looking at fantastic, picturesque, tourist-free Roman villages with lovely churches, little trattorias, amazing villas, thinking, "When we come back we'll do more..."
But mostly what we did was sit back and relax on the patio, underneath the pergola, with bottles of wine, local olives and cheeses and charcuterie and a good book!
Next to house is a 200-year old tree which is great for climbing!
Looking through the pergola to the olive grove and the hills beyond. The table and chairs on the patio comfortably seat 12. I took portrait photos of the olive trees for a future print project...
The inside of the house is lovely too. It opens up in different ways depending on how many people are staying. Each section has a kitchen and bathroom, and it's well-equipped and beautifully done. I could have taken more photos of the lovely antique furniture, or the beautiful embroidered linen window coverings...
We loved staying here: it's really relaxed, a very nice environment, and although it doesn't have a swimming pool and some of the apartments (such as the one we rented) don't have a TV it is nonetheless very good for kids: they have acres to run around in, and plenty of room to make a mess without disturbing their parents. We went equipped with books, puzzles, colouring things, plenty of paper and Ella's Nintendo (for those moments when a girl really needs some technology!), and she was fine - no complaints after a week and more of no TV!
We would like to use Terre Bianche as a base, perhaps in Autumn 2008 or possibly Easter 2009, for us to meet up with friends from the UK and Europe. Although Michael will be around in the UK again before then, I probably won't be over again until October 2008 at the earliest. As Terre Bianche is less than an hour's drive from Venice airport, and Venice serves both London and Bristol, it is an easy place to get to. The farmhouse apartments would accommodate 12+ people all together, so we were thinking of reserving it - if people are interested - maybe next spring, and seeing who would like to book up a long weekend or a week's holiday and come across there to see us. We'd be there for two weeks, probably, but friends could drop in and have independence. Let us know if you'd be interested!
Padua is beautiful: an old university town with Gallileo's lecture theatre and an amazing anatomy lecture theatre - although as we were taking things easy and not rushing around all the tourist sites we didn't actually visit either!
The Baptistry of St John. The beautiful frescos all over the walls are by Giusto de' Menabuoi, and were painted in the 1370's
There are two big squares (named the Square of Flowers and the Square of Herbs) where the daily markets are held, and down each side are these arcades of small food shops
A view of the village of Arquà Petrarca, where Petrarch lived and died
The Castello Cini in Monselice, another very picturesque town in the Euganean hills.
A Germanic bierkeller in Monselice! Not what I expected to find...
But mostly what we did was sit back and relax on the patio, underneath the pergola, with bottles of wine, local olives and cheeses and charcuterie and a good book!
Next to house is a 200-year old tree which is great for climbing!
Looking through the pergola to the olive grove and the hills beyond. The table and chairs on the patio comfortably seat 12. I took portrait photos of the olive trees for a future print project...
The inside of the house is lovely too. It opens up in different ways depending on how many people are staying. Each section has a kitchen and bathroom, and it's well-equipped and beautifully done. I could have taken more photos of the lovely antique furniture, or the beautiful embroidered linen window coverings...We loved staying here: it's really relaxed, a very nice environment, and although it doesn't have a swimming pool and some of the apartments (such as the one we rented) don't have a TV it is nonetheless very good for kids: they have acres to run around in, and plenty of room to make a mess without disturbing their parents. We went equipped with books, puzzles, colouring things, plenty of paper and Ella's Nintendo (for those moments when a girl really needs some technology!), and she was fine - no complaints after a week and more of no TV!
We would like to use Terre Bianche as a base, perhaps in Autumn 2008 or possibly Easter 2009, for us to meet up with friends from the UK and Europe. Although Michael will be around in the UK again before then, I probably won't be over again until October 2008 at the earliest. As Terre Bianche is less than an hour's drive from Venice airport, and Venice serves both London and Bristol, it is an easy place to get to. The farmhouse apartments would accommodate 12+ people all together, so we were thinking of reserving it - if people are interested - maybe next spring, and seeing who would like to book up a long weekend or a week's holiday and come across there to see us. We'd be there for two weeks, probably, but friends could drop in and have independence. Let us know if you'd be interested!
Padua is beautiful: an old university town with Gallileo's lecture theatre and an amazing anatomy lecture theatre - although as we were taking things easy and not rushing around all the tourist sites we didn't actually visit either!
The Baptistry of St John. The beautiful frescos all over the walls are by Giusto de' Menabuoi, and were painted in the 1370's
There are two big squares (named the Square of Flowers and the Square of Herbs) where the daily markets are held, and down each side are these arcades of small food shops
A view of the village of Arquà Petrarca, where Petrarch lived and died
The Castello Cini in Monselice, another very picturesque town in the Euganean hills.
A Germanic bierkeller in Monselice! Not what I expected to find...
posted by Sara Bowen at 2:07 am
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