Asolando

‘Asolando’. The word was coined by the English poet Robert Browning (see my post of  4th February), who named his last volume of poetry after the town of Asolo. I like to think I am “asolando” literally “doing Asolo” when I visit my favourite town and yesterday evening my darling Victor and I went for a stroll around the Piazza Garibaldi before indulging in some scrummy food and drink. In the car-park we took a picture of the Roman aqueduct, “La Bot”,

dug deep into the rock of the hillside, which still supplies the water feeding the fountain in the middle of the square. Gazing to the northeast, we could see the outline of the Fort (see my post of 16th February).

We decided not to walk up the steep path behind, reserving our energy for another visit earlier in the day.

Instead, we strolled down to the Palazzo della Ragione, with remains of ancient frescoes on the external walls of its loggia, where justice was administered when Asolo belonged to the Venetian Republic.

This building would have been familiar to the characters in my work in progress. We could see the marks from where some of the memorial tablets were removed after the French occupation under Napoleon. To the left of the loggia we looked towards the cathedral, whose present façade (1889) rests against the ancient Romanesque one.

Inside is a baptismal font, a gift from Caterina Cornaro, the “Lady” in my novel, to the people of Asolo. From the terrace in front of the church there’s  a clear view across the plain towards Padova and the distant Euganean Hills.

Thirsty and hungry, we headed for the Birreria Epoca and plonked ourselves down on the outside terrace.

We ordered a “birra bionda” and a “birra bianca” 

with “olive ascolane” 

then shared an insalatona and “spaghetti all’aglio, olio e peperoncino”

A visit to the Caffè Centrale

and a gelato Why not? Perchè no?