The bridge of the Alpini
The Ponte Vecchio, or Ponte degli Alpini, (*) has been known since medieval times. In 1567, it was destroyed by a flood. The reconstruction was entrusted to Andrea Palladio, who submitted two different projects to the City Council. The first was not met with favor; the second was approved. It is one of the few covered bridges in Italy (another is in Pavia; two are located in Venice: Rialto and Ponte dei Sospiri). A national monument since 2019.
(*) The Alpini are the mountain troops of the Italian Army.
the current smooths the stones of the shore
Bassano: just one step away from mountains
information about the shrine, in English, here
At the foot of the Alps, south of Rio
Bassano (today Bassano del Grappa; until 1928 Bassano Veneto; in ancient times, simply Bassano - derived from the Latin proper name Bassius) has more than 43,000 inhabitants, but is a pole of attraction for an area that totals more than 70,000. It is located in the province of Vicenza, but also very close to the border with those of Padua and Treviso. In addition to Mühlacker (Germany) and Voiron (France), Bassano is twinned also with Nova Bassano, a town of almost 10,000 inhabitants founded in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), over 1000 kilometers below Rio de Janeiro. To immediately realize why Nova Bassano is so called, just scroll through the list of mayors who have succeeded one another since 1965: Dalla Costa, Biotto, Boscato, Zanetti, Cestonaro, Dall’Agnol, Dall’Igna, Pauletto. The town borders with Nova Prata (mayor: Minozzo). It is not far from Garibaldi (mayor: Antonio Cettolin), from Nova Padua (Mayor: Bernardi) and from Vanini (toponym derived from the name of Severino Vanini, the first merchant to settle in the area. Mayor: Castelli). (The surnames of the mayors may be not updated to the present day)
Arlecchino's tagliatelle
Where does the term grappa come from is not very clear. There are several hypotheses, and at least two meanings; it can be a metallic keeping element in some wall structures, or a feminine noun that identifies a distillate. For the first meaning, please refer to other publications. As for the second, if you are happy with just a taste, we have written something here.
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The bridge of the Alpini
The Ponte Vecchio, or Ponte degli Alpini, (*) has been known since medieval times. In 1567, it was destroyed by a flood. The reconstruction was entrusted to Andrea Palladio, who submitted two different projects to the City Council. The first was not met with favor; the second was approved. It is one of the few covered bridges in Italy (another is in Pavia; two are located in Venice: Rialto and Ponte dei Sospiri). A national monument since 2019.
(*) The Alpini are the mountain troops of the Italian Army.
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the current smooths the stones of the shore
The Brenta river flows from the lakes of Caldonazzo and Levico. After 170 kilometers, part in Trentino, part (the longest) in Veneto, it meets the Adriatic sea just south of Chioggia. In the Venetian dialect (but in Italian as well) the name of this river is feminine: la Brenta (in Italian the names of rivers are feminine when ending in -a. The gender is indicated by the article la). The term Brentana for the Venetians means flood, overflow. It is also found in a well-known popular sayng. In the local dialect: "tre calìghi fa una piòva, tre piove 'na brentàna" (three fogs make one rain, three rains one flood "). There would also be a last line, which however is neither polite nor politically correct... -
![the Prealps seen from Bassano]()
Bassano: just one step away from mountains
Bassano rises up on a hill in the center of an arc of a circle drawn by the Venetian foothills. To the north-west lies the plateau of the Sette Comuni (Seven Municipalities), also known as the Asiago plateau; to the north opens the Valstagna valley: driving along the state road #47, going up the course of the Brenta river (which wraps around the plateau) you can reach the lakes from which the river springs. To the north-east lies the Mount Grappa, one of the landmark of the Great War. On the top, at almost 1,800 meters above sea level, there is the Memorial; in the ossuary, which unites the Italian and Austrian ones, rest the remains of 23,000 soldiers. Less than 2,600 of them have been identified. Among the tombs, there is one dedicated to an infantryman with an unexpected name: Péter Pan. His story can be read, in Italian, here
information about the shrine, in English, here -
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At the foot of the Alps, south of Rio
Bassano (today Bassano del Grappa; until 1928 Bassano Veneto; in ancient times, simply Bassano - derived from the Latin proper name Bassius) has more than 43,000 inhabitants, but is a pole of attraction for an area that totals more than 70,000. It is located in the province of Vicenza, but also very close to the border with those of Padua and Treviso. In addition to Mühlacker (Germany) and Voiron (France), Bassano is twinned also with Nova Bassano, a town of almost 10,000 inhabitants founded in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), over 1000 kilometers below Rio de Janeiro. To immediately realize why Nova Bassano is so called, just scroll through the list of mayors who have succeeded one another since 1965: Dalla Costa, Biotto, Boscato, Zanetti, Cestonaro, Dall’Agnol, Dall’Igna, Pauletto. The town borders with Nova Prata (mayor: Minozzo). It is not far from Garibaldi (mayor: Antonio Cettolin), from Nova Padua (Mayor: Bernardi) and from Vanini (toponym derived from the name of Severino Vanini, the first merchant to settle in the area. Mayor: Castelli). (The surnames of the mayors may be not updated to the present day)
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![]()
Arlecchino's tagliatelle
Where does the term grappa come from is not very clear. There are several hypotheses, and at least two meanings; it can be a metallic keeping element in some wall structures, or a feminine noun that identifies a distillate. For the first meaning, please refer to other publications. As for the second, if you are happy with just a taste, we have written something here.
it's winter: Bassano is reflected in the water of the river Brenta
TRAVELING
THROUGH THE LINES
WHY THIS BLOG
(We are not native English speakers. Not at all. Please, forgive our mistakes)
In the fall of 2019 we (me and my wife) bought a camper. I began to flirt with the idea of writing a blog and telling our wanderings.
The following winter, very bad news from Wuhan and, soon after, we have been obliged to barricading in our house to help keeping the Covid-19, the new plague, away from the world and from our seventy square meters plus garage. In summer a breath of fresh air, but very few trips. In autumn, the second Covid surge. It seems even more ferocious than the first. It isn't the best moment to plan journeys.
However, we have never abandoned the idea that traveling was in our future. Even if, at our age, the future is like certain scheduled flights: short-haul. Yet, we are an optimistic couple: next summer may consist of diesel, gloves, vaccine and masks, but it will be summer. It will certainly be.
Meanwhile, however, our trips are short. The ban on exceeding regional borders (also when municipal limits are allowed to be exceeded) is a significant limit, if you love travelling. And yet, all the Italian regions, none excluded, have places worth knowing deeply. With caution. Always. Let’s consider ourselves lucky.The travel section of this blog hosts few stories at the moment. We plan to juice up the pages as soon as possible.
Balanzin: a rare surname.
Where are the Balanzin in the world,
and who they are,
(if they want to tell us something of themselves).
