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On Tuesday, June 1, we began the day with a hike down from Asolo to the nearby village
of Pagnano,
where we were treated to a tour of a silk weaving workshop. We then got on the
minibus for our longest "overland" transfer, south to the flat plain of the
Brenta Canal.
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Our first stop there was the beautiful 18th century Villa Pisani. We were joined
there by our guide for the day, the learned and ebullient Frederick. |
| Joan especially liked the painted trompe l'oeuil statues of Roman emperors
in the ground floor courtyard. |
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 Frederick, Rick, Charlie,
Glenda, and Don are all intent on something! |
Upstairs, though, the elaborate piano nobile was even more impressive. |
| Frederick provided a detailed elaboration of the iconography of Tiepolo's
ceiling. |
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This was the view from the rear of the Villa, across the garden to another
one of those little "play" houses. |
| The beautiful gardens included this enchanting (and fragrant) rose arbor;
it would have been the perfect spot for a wedding. |
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In order to win our B&R t-shirts for 1999, we were put to work to get
through the maze, which was surprisingly tricky. |
| Joan followed Frederick's lead, and also took guidance from guides posted
at the tower in the center of the maze. Charlie, however, made it through on his own
devices. The rule of always taking the left turn didn't seem to work here. |
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Exhausted and hot from our battle with the maze, we made our way across the main road
to the canal, where we boarded a waiting barge on which a sumptuous lunch had been laid
out by the usual B&R elves. We settled back for a scenic cruise down the canal.
Kathy sat back to enjoy the view. |
Lucas seems to be relaxed! |
Charlie was also a happy camper. |
We had a number of encounters with swing-open bridges.
To see Rick help out the process, click  . |
Wouldn't it be nice to have a villa here? |
A lock gate swings open to let us out. |
Our destination towards the east end of the canal was the Villa Foscari, La Malcontenta,
another masterpiece of domestic architecture by Palladio.
Joe and Debbie observe that the villa was designed to be
approached from the canal. |
The facade is impressive (but missing handrails that
would have been there originally) |
 Charlie and others relax
in front of the villa. |
La Malcontenta boasts an unusually elegant rear
elevation. |
From La Malcontenta, we made our way (variously by barge or by van) to our beautiful
hotel for the night, the Villa Margherita in Mira.
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