Asolo

From Maser, it was a short distance to our next stay, in the lovely hillside town of Asolo, where we stayed at the Hotel Villa Cipriani. Fifteen years ago, Joan, together with her friend Anna Lou, had stayed for ten days in Asolo, in a small villa at the edge of town owned by family friend Katrina Romney; the town seems remarkably unchanged since then.

The view from the garden of the Villa Cipriani was breathtaking. Charlie and Joan were particularly taken with the lovely Renaissance villa on the next hillside, flanked by giant cypress trees. Joan made Charlie promise to buy it for her. They later learned that this structure was just a "play house", connected by a tunnel through the hill to a main villa not seen in this view.

On Monday, May 31, the day's official agenda consisted of a "countryside loop" in the mountains above the town. Both Joan and Charlie, as well as several others of the group, opted to omit this hike, and instead spent the time walking around Asolo proper. There was time to visit some of the lovely shops, to visit one church, to have an adventure in a pharmacy (what is that ailment called again?), and to enjoy a leisurely lunch at I Tre Archi.

Our hats are off to the intrepid hikers who made it to the summit. Here are pictured Don and Jean, but we understand it was Kathy who got to "ring the bell."

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Dinner that evening was at the Villa Cipriani, preceded by Bellinis in the garden. We were joined by Harold, an original character who lives --without electricity or other modern conveniences -- along the route the hikers followed back to town. We got a lot of good pictures in the garden:

Sally, Jim, and Harold	Kathy and Glenda
Charlie explains some ancient Indian math to Harold	David, Brenda, and Jean
Debbie and Nina	Don and Lucas
Sally, Jim, Harold, and Charlie	Brenda, Jean, Don, and Lucas