Today Nico had offered to take us to the area his father used to live which is high on this side of the valley. To get there we first went south to Asario where we stopped to take a few photos of the war memorial. I was amused about the opening hours for the 'supermarket'.

We then went up a road that was built in the 1960's . Nico thought it had taken 2 years to build and that 5 people had died during the construction. I just wondered how they made the decision when to tunnel (there were about 5 tunnels) and when to go around the edge as many of the road sides were very, very steep. Nico stopped at one stage for John to take a photo and I stayed in the car as from the car I could only guess how steep it would be. (It is the first time I have suffered from vertigo standing on a road!! – JB)

We then looped back south at the top to Mount Cemino. It was a very green forested area. We saw many very obvious trenches and tunnels. At one stage the mount was 40m higher but explosives were planted in tunnels by the Austrians under the Alpinos (Italian mountain troops) and when they exploded in WW1, the top of the mountain collapsed. Hundreds of troops were instantly vapourised. There were some small tunnels where trains went to remove debris but they are not safe to enter. There are the usual plaques, with summaries in English . The memorial at the top was very nice with again a shrapnel statue.

Although it was cloudy we could see across to the area we had been on the 2 previous days. We could also make out a church on the top of a bare hill. We were told that the route up was dangerous and people were advised not to go unless they were with a knowledgeable local. We had no difficulty believing this!!

Nico mentioned there were many deer here and JB was very keen to spot one. Just as we returned from the top he spotted one about 80m away in the woods. We approached quietly and it then trotted down onto the path only about 30m away and snorted at us very disdainfully. We stood still and watched and photographed it while it posed for us. It then went off into the woods below us. There was a couple coming down after us and we managed to signal so they could also see it. It then leapt away happily, but not as elated as we felt seeing one in the wild. Nico said he had seen one when visiting recently but it was not usual to see them there unless it was near daybreak .

As we drove back we passed a big school group who had arrived in 2 school buses. There is a school camp in the area.

Nico also took us to the area where his cousins lived. He commented on the number of deaths from cancer in the area. At the time of the Chernobyl accident, he said there was a distinct cloud over the area and he said that research is being done into the levels of radio activity in the area. We saw the beautiful wooden shrine his father had built for Nico’s cousin using their own local timber.

We then returned to Nico’s and dropped him off, and then had lunch in the place Nico had recommended earlier, and enjoyed sitting outside in the pleasant temperature.

We then followed the GPS to a cache at the side of the road on the way to Vicenza, the local city that we visited on our last trip. The cache was in Villavera near 2 old villas that dated to the 16th century and were built by famous Venetian architects . Unfortunately to us they just looked big and run down!!


Later in the afternoon Nico drove us to Bassano Del Grappa, a big town to the south. On the way we saw a castle from the road with a very impressive wall, that had a small village inside.

We stopped outside the centre and walked past the Dom. Then as we approached the centre we found cobblestones and a semi-pedestrianised part. We turned a corner to find a bridge, Ponte Vecchio. We later discovered that it is the symbol of the town. It is also referred to as the Ponte degli Alpini. Bridges have spanned the river here since the 12th century but have been destroyed and rebuilt. One was built in stone but lasted only 10 years. All the rest have been built in wood to make it resist the rapid flow of the river. Since 1569 they have all been built to the same design, with 4 piers and a trussed roof.

We took a number of pictures from the bridge as well as the lovely buildings on the river side. We could also see an historic building which looked like a castle but we think now was one of the gates to the town and therefore part of the 14th century walls.

There were a group of men who Nico said would be former Alpine soldiers (Alpino) singing as a group, at one end. There were some great voices amongst them .

We then went into a pub, Taverna Al Ponte, that had an Alpine Troop museum beneath. It was the day after Italy had been eliminated from the World Cup but the barman said people from NZ were still welcome. Maybe the fact we were also eliminated helped.

The museum took up 2 levels in the basement. The exhibits included displays of 'nursing treatment’ in the field, original photos of the Russian campaign, a variety of barbed wire, a number of uniforms, badges, weapons and shells. The museum started in 1948 with mainly newspaper cuttings but has now a lot of relics donated by locals. The ceiling has hand painted insignias and motifs of the various troop units. It was free to enter although we did have bitter lemons in the bar. The bottom level was not much above river level so it was very cool. The floor even had a mosaic map of the centre of the town.

Nico had food to buy from a deli so we looked around at all the fungi, bottles of preserves and the huge variety of grappa bottles . They even had an ‘alpine’ walking stick, with a bell and a small bottle of grappa attached. The shop windows were interesting to look into as we went back to the car. We went thorough the main square and saw the Town Hall with an astronomical clock from the 18th century. Many of the frescos on the walls were faded which in many ways made them seem more real.

As we went back to the car we went past a modern art display with an historic looking building behind it. I liked them both.

Nico was driving which gave John a break. He complained about the local driving especially on Friday evening and at weekends, saying the ‘drivers are crazy’. About 5 minutes later he swerved right and tooted loudly – as we were passed by 2 cars side by side so there were three cars across the road with fast approaching on coming traffic.

We had trout for tea with polenta, spinach in pastry and salad. Nico joined us and had salmon throats which he shared with us. We were talking when other customers arrived so he had to disappear to the kitchen while we finished our meal and then left for John to watch the last of the initial world cup games in our room.