Vicenza is in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, between Verona and Padua.
Here are the beautiful Colli Berici, the Berici hills.
The villages lie at the base of the Colli Berici, where the hills descend into the Venice plain.
This is the view across that plain, looking towards Padua. You see the Euganian hills, sudden rocks in the flat land.
In the foreground are the vines.
Here’s a sketch of the view from the cave of Saint Donati. The chapel of Saint Donati is on the left.
It was a lovely hike, through woods. Autumn was a good time to visit.
The town of Vicenza has a medieval centre, with buildings designed by Andrea Palladio (1508 – 1580).
We drove to Vicenza along the magnificently named “La Strada del Vino dei Colli Berici”, the Road of the Vines of the Berici Hills. Italian is a marvellous language. Even the road names sound like poetry.
Here’s a barn. The design, with this asymmetrical arch, was a characteristic pattern in the area.
The whole area was a revelation, from the great to the small. As we walked in the hills, the ground crumbled below by boots and I saw a sea shell. We were at maybe 300 metres above sea level. It wasn’t a sea shell, it was a fossil of a sea shell. These hills were below the sea, once.
Jane Sketching 