Friends, Morag and Pete and twins Lexie and Bella, were in Europe from New Zealand so we met them at the end of their Italian odyssey. Welcome to Mantua!
Our apartment overlooked Piazza Sordello, right in the centre so, first day [Thursday], to the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace), royal residence of the Gonzaga family, who took control of the city in the 14th century and created a thriving cultural and artistic centre there during the Renaissance.
It's a majestic, overwhelming maze of gardens and galleries, chapels and courtyards, statues, staircases and frescoes covering around 34,000 sq.m. Part of the complex is the Palazzo del Capitano.
After all that, a well-earned late lunch in the shade, and an afternoon explore what gelato Mantua has to offer...
Next day [Friday], 2 km south of town is Palazzo Te, Federico II Gonzaga's 1524 villa suburbana, or countryside pleasure palace
and Chiesa San Sebastiano
Our apartment faced onto Piazza Sordello, on which a large stage was erected. Sadly, we faced back-stage rather than seeing anything but we were treated to the sound, if not the sight, of a two hour concert by Sting.
Great but less good at midnight when everyone else went to bed but the stage-crew started to dismantle...!
Saturday night was opera night in Verona. Belatedly, we visited the Magna Domus before heading off to see Verona for the afternoon
Verona sits on the Adige river, and we found ourselves a high point for a view
before heading into the centre
and to the arena for Madame Butterfly
though not until 9pm for a twilight show
All going very well indeed until a few drops of rain (cue the programme sellers flogging plastic macs...)
Sunday and last day in Mantua
So we're off towards Venice but stopping off on the way
to Arqua Petracha (where the poet, Francesco Petrarca, lived the final four years of his life). A nice lunch, followed by...
some fun and games
Next morning, sad farewells and we're off towards Venice airport, stopping on the way, first for coffee
and then in gracious Padua
Our apartment overlooked Piazza Sordello, right in the centre so, first day [Thursday], to the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace), royal residence of the Gonzaga family, who took control of the city in the 14th century and created a thriving cultural and artistic centre there during the Renaissance.
It's a majestic, overwhelming maze of gardens and galleries, chapels and courtyards, statues, staircases and frescoes covering around 34,000 sq.m. Part of the complex is the Palazzo del Capitano.
After all that, a well-earned late lunch in the shade, and an afternoon explore what gelato Mantua has to offer...
Next day [Friday], 2 km south of town is Palazzo Te, Federico II Gonzaga's 1524 villa suburbana, or countryside pleasure palace
and Chiesa San Sebastiano
Our apartment faced onto Piazza Sordello, on which a large stage was erected. Sadly, we faced back-stage rather than seeing anything but we were treated to the sound, if not the sight, of a two hour concert by Sting.
Great but less good at midnight when everyone else went to bed but the stage-crew started to dismantle...!
Verona sits on the Adige river, and we found ourselves a high point for a view
before heading into the centre
and to the arena for Madame Butterfly
though not until 9pm for a twilight show
All going very well indeed until a few drops of rain (cue the programme sellers flogging plastic macs...)
Sunday and last day in Mantua
So we're off towards Venice but stopping off on the way
to Arqua Petracha (where the poet, Francesco Petrarca, lived the final four years of his life). A nice lunch, followed by...
some fun and games
Next morning, sad farewells and we're off towards Venice airport, stopping on the way, first for coffee
and then in gracious Padua
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