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1 The Best of Northern

Northern Italy’s riches are vast, varied, and yours to discover, from art-packed muse- ums and mosaic-filled to Roman ruins and hill towns amid vineyards that produce some of Europe’s best wines. You can dine at refined restaurants that casually flaunt their Michelin star ratings, or chow down with the town priest and police chief at osterie (small local eateries) that have spent generations perfecting traditional recipes. You can spend the night in a sumptuous Renaissance villa on in the Alpine foothills where Napoléon once stayed (the Villa d’Este), or in a converted 17th-century Venetian palazzo where the room opens directly onto the Grand Canal but costs a mere $140 (the Hotel Galleria). Here’s a short list of the best of what northern Italy has to offer.

1 The Best Travel Experiences • Gondola Ride in Venice: Yes, it’s masterpiece of decoration. The isle of hokey. Yes, it’s way overpriced. But Burano is a colorful fishing village with when it comes down to it, there’s an ancient lace-making tradition and nothing quite so romantic after a houses in a variety of supersaturated long Venetian dinner as a ride on one hues. Nearby, lonely Torcello may have of these long black skiffs, settling been one of the first lagoon islands set- back into the plush seats with that tled, but it’s long been almost aban- special someone and a bottle of wine, doned, home to a straggly vineyard, sliding through the waters of Venice’s reed-banked canals, the fine Cipriani back canals guided by the expert oar restaurant, and a stunning Byzantine of a gondolier. See p. 83. swathed in mosaics (see “The • A Day Among the Islands of the Best Churches,” below). Time it right Venetian Lagoon: Venice’s ferry sys- and you’ll be riding the last ferry back tem extends outside the city proper from Torcello into Venice proper as the to a series of other inhabited islands sun sets and lights up the lagoon in the lagoon. First stop, Murano, a waters. See p. 83. village where the famed local glass- • Cruising the Brenta Canal: The lazy blowing industryCOPYRIGHTED began and where its Brenta MATERIAL Canal, lacing its way into the largest factories and best artisans still Veneto from Venice’s lagoon, has long reside. Not only can you tour a glass been the Hamptons of Venice, where factory (complete with a hard sell in the city’s nobility and merchant the display room at the end), but you’ll princes have kept summer villas. From discover a pair of lovely churches, the massive, palatial Villa Pisani, with one hung with paintings by Giovanni its elaborate gardens, to the Villa Fos- Bellini, Veronese, and Tintoretto, cari, designed by Palladio himself, the other a Byzantine-Romanesque most of these villas span the 16th to 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 5

THE BEST MUSEUMS 5

1 19th centuries and are open to visitors. trio of stout cables some 2.4km (1 ⁄2 In the past few years, a few have even miles) above the deep fissures of the been opened as elegant hotels. There Vallée Blanche glacier. It takes half an are two ways to tour the Brenta: on a hour to cross to Aiguille du Midi on leisurely full-day cruise between Padua French soil—the longest cable car ride and Venice, stopping to tour several in the world not supported by pylons. villas along the way with an optional From here, you can take a jaunt down fish lunch; or by driving yourself along into France’s charming Chamonix if the banks, which allows you to pop you’d like, or turn around to head into the villas you are most interested back into Italian territory, perhaps in—plus you can pull over at any stopping at the Alpine Garden two- grassy embankment for a picnic lunch thirds of the way back to Courmayeur on the canal. See p. 173. to sun yourself and admire the wild- • Driving the Great Dolomite Road: flowers. See p. 366. From the Adige Valley outside Bozen • Hiking the Cinque Terre: At the (Bolzano) across to the ski resort of southern end of the Italian Riviera lies Cortina d’Ampezzo runs 110km (68 a string of former pirate coves called miles) of twisting, winding, switch- the Cinque Terre. These five fishing backed highway, called the Great villages are linked by a local train line Dolomite Road, which wends its way and a meandering trail that clambers around some of the most dramatic over headlands, plunges amid olive mountain scenery in Italy. The groves and vineyards, and skirts cliff Dolomiti are craggier and sheerer edges above the glittering Ligurian than the Alps, and as this road crawls Sea and hidden scraps of beach. The around the peaks and climbs over the villages also share an excellent com- passes, one breathtaking panorama munal white wine. Though tourism is after another opens before you, discovering this magical corner of undulating to the distant Po plains to Italy, there are as yet no big resort the south and to the mighty Swiss hotels or overdevelopment; just trat- Alps to the north. See p. 234. torie on the tiny harbors and houses • Riding the Cable Cars over Mont and apartments converted into small Blanc: There are not many more dra- family hotels and short-term rental matic trips in Europe than this one, units. It takes a full, long day to hike where a series of cable cars and gondo- from one end to the other, or you can las rise from Courmayeur in the Valle simply walk the stretches you prefer d’Aosta to the 3,300m (10,824-ft.) (conveniently, the trails get progres- Punta Helbronner, from which the icy sively easier from north to south) and vistas spread over Mont Blanc’s flank use the cheap train to connect to the in one direction and across to Monte other towns. Pause as you like in the Cervina (the Matterhorn) in the other. osterie and bars of each town to sam- It is here that the true thrill ride begins ple the dry Cinque Terre white wine as you clamber into a four-seat and refresh yourself for the next enclosed gondola that dangles from a stretch. See p. 412.

2 The Best Museums • Galleria dell’Accademia (Venice): top museums was founded in 1750 The single most important gallery of and gorgeously installed in this trio of Venetian painting and one of Italy’s Renaissance buildings by Napoléon 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 6

6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY himself in 1807. (Napoléon swelled the all that scientists are still learning collections with altarpieces confiscated from him. See p. 219. from churches and monasteries he sup- • Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan): One pressed.) The works, spanning the 13th of Italy’s finest collections of art, through 18th centuries, include mas- from medieval to modern, is housed terpieces by all the local Northern Ital- in a 17th-century Milanese palazzo. ian greats—the Bellini clan, Paolo Venice’s Accademia may have a richer Veneziano, Carpaccio, Giorgione, collection of Venetian art, but the Brera Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, has a broader collection of masterpieces , Palma il Vecchio, Paolo from across northern and central Veronese, Titian, Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Italy. As with the Accademia, the and Canaletto. See p. 135. Brera started as a warehouse for art- • Collezione Peggy Guggenheim works Napoléon looted from churches, (Venice): The Guggenheim family monasteries, and private collections. was one of the 20th century’s greatest There are masterpieces from Man- art patrons. Peggy not only amassed a tegna, Raphael, Piero della Francesca, stunning collection of modern art, she the Bellinis, Signorelli, Titian, Tin- even married Max Ernst. Her half-fin- toretto, Reni, Caravaggio, Tiepolo, and ished 18th-century palazzo on the Canaletto, and great works by 20th- Grand Canal is now installed with her century geniuses such as Umberto Boc- collections, including works by cioni, Gino Severini, Giorgio Morandi, Picasso, Pollock (an artist Peggy “dis- and Giorgio de Chirico. They even covered”), Magritte, Dalí, Miró, throw in some works by Rembrandt, Brancusi, Kandinsky, and Marini. See Goya, and Reynolds. See p. 267. p. 136. • Museo Egizio & Galleria Sabauda • Museo Archeologico dell’Alto (Turin): The world’s first real museum Adige (Bozen): Bozen’s major sight is of Egyptian artifacts remains one of a high-tech, modern museum crafted the most important outside Cairo and around one of the most important London’s British Museum. The his- archaeological finds of the past 50 tory between Italy and Egypt dates years. When hikers first discovered back to Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, the body of Ötzi high in the Alps though this collection of 30,000 at the Austrian border, everyone pieces was largely amassed by the thought he was a mountaineer who Piedmont Savoy kings. The exhibits succumbed to the elements. He range from a papyrus Book of the turned out to be a 5,300-year-old Dead to a full 15th-century B.C. tem- hunter whose body, clothing, and ple to fascinating objects from every- tools had been preserved intact by day life. But Egypt isn’t all; upstairs the ice in which he was frozen. The the Galleria Sabauda displays the Ice Man has done more to give us Savoy’s amazing collection of Flemish glimpses into daily life in the Stone and Dutch paintings by Van Dyck, Age than any other find, and the Van Eyck, Rembrandt, Hans Mem- museum does a great job of relaying ling, and Van der Weyden. See p. 340.

3 The Best Churches • di San Marco (Venice): mosaic-covered, more glittering No church in Europe is more lav- with gold than Venice’s San Marco. ishly decorated, more exquisitely Built in the 11th century, the 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 7

THE BEST CHURCHES 7 church has as its guiding architec- a scene depicting the heavenly rewards tural and decorative principles that await the faithful and the horribly Byzantine style, but more than 7 inventive, gruesome punishments for centuries of expansion and decora- the damned in hell above the door tion have left behind Romanesque from which parishioners would exit— and Gothic touches as well. The sort of a final sermon at the end of the interior is encrusted with more service to remind everyone of what than 3,700 sq. m (40,000 sq. ft.) was at stake and keep them holy until of gold-backed mosaics crafted the next Sunday. The bell tower offers between the 12th and 17th cen- a pretty panorama over the sparsely turies, some based on cartoons by populated island and surrounding Tintoretto, Veronese, and Titian. lagoon. See p. 158. The uneven floor is a mosaic of • Basilica di Sant’Antonio (Padua): marble chips in swirling patterns, Think of all the people of Italian the Pala d’Oro altarpiece a gem- descent you know or have heard of studded golden trophy from Con- named Tony. You’re starting to get an stantinople. Stairs lead up to a view idea of how popular the 13th-cen- over the piazza from atop the tury, Portuguese-born St. Anthony is atrium, where visitors get to see among Italians. The patron of the lost up close both the mosaics and the lived in Padua, and when he died in original Triumphal Quadriga, four 1231, the citizenry quickly canonized massive bronze horses probably cast the man and began building this in the 2nd century A.D. See p. 128. huge church to honor his remains, • Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and finished it in a remarkably short (Venice): “I Frari” is named for the 76 years. The style in 13th-century Franciscan “brothers” who founded Veneto was still largely Byzantine, so this Gothic giant in 1250. It was the brick basilica is topped by an rebuilt between 1330 and 1453, octet of domes and twin minaret- which made it one of the most art- style bell towers. Donatello, whose bedecked churches in Venice, filled Gattamelata (the first large equestrian with works of art by Donatello, Tit- bronze cast since ancient Roman ian, Giovanni Bellini, and Canova. times) sits out front, even crafted the See p. 142. high , but that is virtually • Cattedrale di Torcello (Torcello, ignored by the flocks of faithful in Venice): Venice’s oldest church is favor of a chapel off the left aisle. This pretty much all that remains of one of is where a constant stream of suppli- the lagoon’s earliest settlements on cants files past the saint’s tomb to the now all-but-abandoned island of press their palms against it and leave Torcello, north of what is now the flowers, small gifts, pictures, and city of Venice. Santa Maria Assunta written prayers asking for him to help was begun in the 7th century, its inte- them find everything from lost health rior slathered with glittering gold- to lost love to lost children (some backed Byzantine mosaics in the 11th even pray for material objects, but and 12th centuries, precursors to rarely). Il Santo’s robes are also pre- those that would later decorate served here, as are the silver-tongued Venice’s San Marco. The inside of the preacher’s miraculously preserved entrance wall is filled with a massive jawbone, vocal chords, and tongue, Last Judgment. This was a common all kept in a chapel behind the high device in medieval churches: placing altar. See p. 167. 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 8

8 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY • Basilica San Zeno Maggiore entranceway are statues and decora- (Verona): Verona is home to perhaps tions carved directly out of the native the greatest Romanesque basilica in limestone in an early Lombard all of northern Italy, a stunning Romanesque style. See p. 255. example of the early medieval sculp- • Duomo (Milan): The greatest Gothic tor’s art. Between the 9th and 12th cathedral south of the Alps, a massive centuries, architects raised the pile of pinnacles and buttresses, was church, created the massive rose win- begun in the 14th century and took dow Wheel of Fortune in the facade, 500 years to complete—but it and hired artists who revived the remained true to its original, Gothic ancient art of casting in bronze to cre- styling. It’s the fourth-largest church ate magnificent doors set with 48 in the world, its cavernous interior wonderfully minimalist panels telling peppered with statues and monu- stories from the Bible as well as the ments. The highlight, though, is the life of St. Zeno. The stone reliefs chance to climb up onto the eaves, flanking them date to the 12th cen- weave your way through the statue- tury. The 12th- to 14th-century fres- peaked buttresses, and clamber up coes inside lead up to Andrea onto the very rooftop to gaze out Mantegna’s 15th-century altarpiece. across the hazy city and beyond to the See p. 200. Alps rising from the lakes north of • Basilica (Aquileia): Tiny Aquileia the Lombard plain. See p. 266. was a major town in Roman times, • Certosa (Pavia, outside Milan): and wasted no time in building a Though Milan’s Sforza family com- church in A.D. 313 just as soon as pleted this Carthusian monastery, Constantine the Great declared the called a charterhouse, it’s really the religion legal in the empire. The town late–14th-century brainchild of the was a hotbed of early Christianity, Visconti clan. The massive building, hosting a theological conference in rich with Lombardesque decorations 381 attended by the likes of Jerome and sculptures, was commissioned by and Ambrose. Though the church Gian Galeazzo in 1396 as thanks that was rebuilt and frescoed in the 11th his second wife was delivered from and 12th centuries, the original floor- illness and bore him heirs. It became ing has been uncovered and is now the repository of funerary monu- on display, a marvelous and precious ments to Milan’s greatest rulers and mosaic of complicated paleo-Christ- despots. Though Ludovico il Moro ian and pagan iconography. A crypt and his wife Beatrice d’Este boast the retains more mosaics from the 4th finest monument, neither are buried century, plus even earlier ones from a here. Indeed, the repository was never pagan house dating to the early 1st meant to be in Pavia in the first place; century A.D. See p. 250. cash-poor Santa Maria della Grazie in • Tempietto Longobardo (Cividale): Milan—the one with Leonardo’s The This fantastic, 8th-century church Last Supper and the home of Beat- hollowed out of the cliff face over rice’s remains—sold it to the charter- Cividale’s mighty gorge gives us a house. This is still a working precious glimpse into true Lombard monastery, now hosting a Cistercian style, before the High Middle Ages community, and you can tour an began to mix and mingle the cultural example of the little houses they groups of northern Italy. Flanking the occupy (a far cry from the cramped 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 9

THE BEST ARTISTIC MASTERPIECES 9 cells one pictures monks enduring) troops, the Savoys dutifully erected a and purchase their own beauty prod- church in her honor, and hired ucts and liqueurs. See p. 291. Juvarra for the job. He married early • (): The neoclassical ideals of proportion with mercenary commander Bartolomeo the theatricality of the baroque to Colleoni, a son of Bergamo, fought build this magnificent balcony over- so gloriously on behalf of Venice looking the Alps in the hills above that he was actually given the gener- Turin. Vittorio Amadeo II liked his alship over the entire Venetian results so much he decided to turn army (unheard of in such a suspi- it into the Royal Tomb, wedging cious republic formed of interlock- monuments to various Savoys into ing check-and-balance branches of the chapels and the underground power). They commissioned Verroc- Crypt of Kings. See p. 342. chio to erect a statue in his honor in • Sacra di San Michele (outside Venice, and gave Colleoni control of Turin): Its stony bulk, elaborate carv- his hometown. He was foresighted ings, and endless staircases, all tower- enough to commission his own ing over the valley from a Monte tomb, which was created in the late Pirchiriano perch, give this abbey a 15th century as a separate chapel movie-set air more appropriate to a in Bergamo’s cathedral. Colleoni Tibetan monastery than a Christian invited one of the great sculptors abbey. The gravity-defying way it decorating the magnificent charter- hangs halfway off the cliff face is all house at Pavia to carve on his tomb a the more remarkable when you con- complex series of panels and statues sider that the engineering is purely whose symbolisms interweave in medieval—started in 983 and rebuilt medieval style grafted onto Renais- in the 1100s. Before the Savoys were sance architecture. In the 18th cen- the bigwig kings they became, their tury, Tiepolo was brought in to early members were buried here, in fresco the ceiling. See p. 296. rock-carved chapels under the partly • Basilica di Superga (Turin): Turin frescoed main church interior, and got a taste of the extravagant south- where, today, free concerts are held ern Italian baroque in the early 18th April through September, with a century when Sicilian architect range of offerings from Gregorian Juvarra set up shop in town. After the chants and Celtic music to classical Virgin saved the city from French pieces and gospel hymns. See p. 348.

4 The Best Artistic Masterpieces • Tintoretto’s Scuola Grande di San ceiling of the Sala dell’Albergo off the Rocco (Venice): When the Scuola di second-floor hall. The judges were San Rocco (a sort of gentlemen’s suitably impressed, and Tintoretto club/lay fraternity) held an art com- got the job. Over the next 23 years, petition in 1564, the Renaissance the artist filled the scuola’s two floors master Tintoretto pulled a fast one on with dozens of works. The Rest on the his rivals. Instead of preparing a Flight into Egypt on the ground floor sketch for the judges like everyone is superb, but his masterpiece hangs else, he went ahead and finished a in that tiny Sala dell’Albergo, a huge painting, secretly installing it in the Crucifixion that wraps around the 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 10

10 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY walls and ranks among the greatest and table than the staged holy event that most moving works in the history of Last Suppers usually appear to be— Venetian art. The San Rocco baroque instead of a hovering halo, Jesus’ holy orchestra holds excellent regular cham- nimbus is suggested by the window ber concerts in this fantastic setting; behind his head. Leonardo was as for info, contact & 041-962-999 or much a scientist and inventor as he www.musicinvenice.com. See p. 136. was painter, and unfortunately for us, • Veronese’s Feast in the House of he was wont to try new painting tech- Levi, Accademia (Venice): Paolo niques directly on his major commis- Veronese was a master of human sions rather than testing them fully detail, often peopling his large can- first. When painting one fresco in vases with a rogues’ gallery of charac- Florence, he used wax in the pig- ters. When Veronese unveiled his Last ments, but when it was drying too Supper, puritanical church bigwigs slowly he put heaters along the wall, nearly had a conniption. They threat- and the whole thing simply melted. ened him with charges of blasphemy Whatever chemistry he was experi- for portraying this holiest of moments menting with in Milan when as a rousing, drunken banquet that Ludovico Il Moro hired him to deco- more resembled paintings of Roman rate the refectory (dining hall) of orgies than the Last Supper. Veronese Santa Maria della Grazie with a Last quickly retitled the work Feast in the Supper, it didn’t work properly. The House of Levi, a rather less holy sub- fresco began deteriorating almost as ject at which Jesus and Apostles were soon as he finished painting it, and it also present, and the mollified censors had to be touched up and painted let it pass. See p. 136. over several times in the succeeding • Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel (Padua): centuries. It also didn’t help when Padua’s biggest sight by far is one of Napoléon’s troops moved in and used the two towering fresco cycles created the wall for target practice, or when by Giotto (the other one is in Assisi), Allied World War II bombs tore the the artist who did more than any roof off the building, miraculously other to lift painting from its static not damaging the fresco but still Byzantine stupor and set it on the nat- leaving it open to the elements for uralistic, expressive, dynamic Gothic 3 years. A lengthy restoration has road toward the Renaissance. From stripped away the centuries of grime 1303 to 1306, Giotto covered the and overpainting, so what we see now walls of this private chapel with a is more or less pure Leonardo, even if range of emotion, using foreshorten- the result is extremely patchy and ing, modeled figures, and saturated looks rather faded. See p. 268. colors, revolutionizing the concept of • Michelangelo’s Rondanini Pietà, art and kicking off the modern era in Castello Sforzesco (Milan): During a painting. The chapel, as a whole, is lifetime in which he became the fore- breathtaking, depicting scenes from most artist of his age, acknowledged the life of Mary and Jesus in 38 pan- as a genius in painting, fresco, archi- els, and has recently emerged from a tecture, and engineering, Michelan- 3-year cleaning. See p. 168. gelo never lost his love for marble and • Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, chisel. At age 89, he was working yet Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan): again on one of his favorite subjects, This tempera fresco looks somehow this Pietà. It may be unfinished—in more like a snapshot of a real dinner fact, Michelangelo was in the midst 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 11

THE BEST CASTLES 11 of changing it wholesale, reordering perspective and how he used it to the figures and twisting the composi- create the illusion of depth. In this tion around—but this tall, languid case, we look at Jesus laid out on a representation of Mary and Nicode- slab from his feet end, the entire mus bearing the body of Christ body foreshortened to squeeze into a remains one of Michelangelo’s most relatively narrow strip of canvas. Like remarkable works. At the end of his many great geniuses in the arts, life, Michelangelo had grown so Mantegna actually warped reality advanced in his thinking and artistic and used his tools (in this case, per- aesthetics that this remarkable, mini- spective and foreshortening) in an malist work (the sculptor had early odd way to create his image. Most art on developed a rough style dubbed teachers would tell you that the rules nonfinito, or “unfinished”) looks of perspective would call for the bits eerily as if it were chiseled in the at the “near end” (in this case the 1950s rather than 1560s. Michelan- feet) to be large and those at the far gelo was in his Roman studio chisel- end (that is to say, the head) to be ing away on the statue when, on small to achieve the proper effect, February 12, 1564, he was struck but Mantegna turned it around. At with a fever and took to bed. He died first glance, the work seems wonder- 6 days later. See p. 269. fully wrought and perfectly fore- • Mantegna’s Dead Christ, Pina- shortened. But after staring a few coteca di Brera (Milan): This mas- moments, you realize the head is terpiece of the Brera’s collection grotesquely large and the feet tiny. displays not only Mantegna’s skill at Mantegna has given us perfect fore- modeling and keen eye for texture shortening by turning perspective on and tone, but also his utter mastery of its end. See p. 267.

5 The Best Castles • Museo Castelvecchio (Verona): Most • Castello Sabbionara (Avio): This belli- people do the Romeo-and-Juliet trail cose castle was a true fortress and makes and peak at the ancient Arena, then no bones about it. Built in the 11th call it a day in Verona. Unfortunately, century and enlarged in the 13th cen- few make it to the stunning castle on tury, it helped define and hold the line the river. This 14th-century strong- between the constantly warring neigh- hold, complete with its own fortified boring powers of Venice and Austria. It bridge across the river, was built by switched hands several times, and in “Big Dog” Cangrande II Scaligeri. It the 13th century the Guard’s Room was so mighty that it survived the cen- was frescoed with marvelous scenes of turies intact until the Nazis bombed it battles fought here. See p. 215. in World War II. Though there are • Castello di Buonconsiglio (Trent): collections of local wood sculptures Serious history went down in Trent’s and canvases by Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Castle of Good Council. The name Veronese, Bellini, and local boy might not be apt, however, because the Pisanello, the true treat here is just famous Council of Trent (p. 210)— wandering the maze of halls, passage- many sessions of which were held ways, stony staircases, and ramparts to here—effectively put up the wall relive the bad old days of the Middle between the Vatican and the burgeon- Ages. See p. 198. ing Protestant movement that ended 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 12

12 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY up being the cause (or at least excuse) concerts and films presented in the for many European wars and numerous huge courtyard in summer. See p. 244. unjust politico-social systems, from the • Castello di Miramare (near Trieste): 16th century all the way to today’s The “Castle Admiring the Sea” rises in unrest in Northern Ireland. Much later, gleaming white fairy-tale splendor leaders of the Irrendentisti (a World War along the coastline. Built in the 1850s, I–era movement to return the then- it was doomed to host ill-fated poten- Austrian South Tirol region to Italy) tates ever since. Its original owner, Aus- were imprisoned here, including the trian Archduke Maximilian, was sent popular Cesare Battisti, who was exe- to Mexico to be emperor and ended up cuted in the yard. The castle is vast, shot. Archduke Ferdinand spent the built around the core 13th-century night here before going off to Sarajevo Castelvecchio and 15th-century palace to be shot (which kicked off World of Trent’s bishop-prince. The highlight War I). Other dukes and ladies have is the Cycle of the Months fresco painted met bitter ends after sojourning here, around 1400 and laden with late which is perhaps why it is now public medieval symbolism. See p. 211. property and no longer a royal guest- • Castel Roncolo (Bozen): This 13th- house. They do nice concerts here, plus century castle sits atop a small cliff sound-and-light shows telling the sad upriver from the town, and looks like tale of the castle’s builder, Maximilian. the most livable medieval castle you See p. 246. can imagine; cozy, with views of the • Castello Scaligero (Sirmione): This vineyards. The central courtyard is A mighty midget is not spectacular as hung with staircases and open wood far as castles go, but—if you can balconies running along the upper apply this term to a fortress—cute as stories, while many rooms retain all a button. Unimportant in most sorts of wonderfully crude medieval respects, it is darn picturesque, guard- frescoes, including a lovely set that ing the entrance to town with somber tells the story of Tristan and Isolde, a 13th-century stone turrets and sur- popular romantic tale from the Mid- rounded by its little moat complete dle Ages. See p. 220. with drawbridges. See p. 307. • Castel Tirolo (outside Merano): The • Castello di Fenis (Castle of Fenis) entire Tirol, covering this region of (outside Aosta): The Challant vis- Italy and much of western Austria, was counts controlled the Aosta Valley once ruled from this medieval fortress from this stronghold throughout the perched dramatically on an outcrop- Middle Ages. The frescoed figures ping 4.8km (3 miles) outside Merano. strolling about the balconies of its You must walk a long and narrow path central courtyard spout cartoon bal- to get here, where there’s a gorgeously loon–like scrolls of speech that are a frescoed Romanesque chapel and a treasure trove for linguists unlocking new museum on Tirolean history and the origins of the local dialect, which culture. See p. 227. is founded largely in a medieval • Castello di San Giusto (Trieste): variant on French. The furnishings, Built between 1470 and 1630 and though all genuine castle antiques, pleasingly castlelike, this gem has were culled from sources throughout mighty ramparts to walk for city vis- this area, Switzerland, and France to tas, modest collections of armor and give the place that medieval lived-in furnishings to peruse, and outdoor look. See p. 361. 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 13

THE BEST VILLAS & PALAZZI 13

6 The Best Villas & Palazzi • Palazzo Ducale (Venice): The palaces in Venice, outside (see the Gothic palazzo from which the main facade from the Grand Canal) Venetian Republic was ruled for cen- and in. The gallery of art, donated— turies offers two incredible experi- along with the palace—to the state by ences. One is simply to wander the Baron Giorgio Franchetti in 1916, gorgeous rooms and halls, which are includes paintings by Van Dyck, decorated with frescoes and paintings Giorgione, Titian, and Mantegna. (including the world’s largest oil can- There’s also a small ceramics museum vas) by all the Venetian School greats, and fantastic canal views. See p. 143. from Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese • Ca’ Rezzonico (Venice): Even though on down. The placards in each room Venice was in fact well past its heyday are marvelously informative, not only in the 18th century and technically in about the art but also about the func- decline, this is nonetheless the era in tion of each room and its role in gov- which the city expressed its own ernment or daily Venetian life. But to unique character fully, the age of discover what really made the Byzan- Casanova and costume balls, all the tine Venetian political machine tick, things we picture when we think of take the Secret Itineraries tour, which Venice. To this end, the Rezzonico, lets you slip behind the camouflaged built in 1667 by the same architect doors and enter the hidden world of who crafted the baroque Santa Maria the palace-within-the-palace, the della Salute and topped with an extra chambers in which the real governing story in 1745 (and once owned by took place, all wedged into the mas- poet Robert Browning), was turned sive space between the inner and into a museum of the 18th century. outer walls of the palazzo. See the The powers that be wanted the chamber where the powerful Council “museum” moniker to be taken of Ten met, the tiny office where the lightly; in reality what the city has doge’s secretary kept track of all the done is outfit this gracious palazzo as machinations going on in high soci- an actual house from the era as closely ety, the tribunal where three judges as possible, using pieces culled from condemned the guilty and hanged across the city. Adding to the 200-year them from the rafters, and the time warp are a series of scenes from cramped “leads” cells under the roof daily Venetian life painted by Pietro from which Casanova famously Longhi plus several carnival frescoes escaped. Then saunter across the sto- that Giandomenico Tiepolo (son of ried Bridge of Sighs to explore the the more famous Giovanni Battista dank, dungeonlike prisons across the Tiepolo) originally painted for his canal where lesser criminals served own house. See p. 140. out their miserable terms—lagoon • Villa Pisani (Stra, Brenta Canal): floods and all. See p. 132. Tiepolo frescoed the ballroom for this • Ca’ d’Oro (Venice): Though no massive 18th-century villa built for longer graced with the decorative the family of a Venetian doge, though facade that earned Venice’s most Napoléon bought it in 1807. Its most beautiful palazzo its name House of notorious moment, though, came in Gold, the 15th-century Ca d’Oro 1934 when two European leaders remains one of the most gorgeous met here for their very first summit: 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 14

14 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. patriarch had the foresight to invite The rooms are sumptuous, and the Tiepolo to Udine to decorate their gardens are extensive and include a palace with scenes from the Old Tes- quirky hedge maze. See p. 173. tament that double as early–18th- • Villa Barbaro (outside Asolo): century fashion shows. There’s also a Though the villas right around fine collection of locally carved wood Vicenza get more visitors, this 1560 sculptures spanning the 13th to 18th Palladio-designed masterpiece out- centuries. See p. 252. side Asolo is perhaps the most gor- • Palazzo Te (Mantua): Raphael’s pro- geous to visit. That’s because it tégé Giulio Romano, hounded from matches the perfect Palladian archi- Rome over a scandalous series of tecture with stunning frescoes by erotic engravings, was let loose to fill Veronese, which carpet almost every libidinous Frederico Gonzaga’s Man- inch of wall and ceiling inside. And nerist pleasure palace with racy fres- to think it’s still actually in private coes. The place was built to look as if hands (with owners gracious enough it were crumbling, from arch key- to allow visitors in)! See p. 181. stones to the illusionist frescoes in the • Villa Rotonda (outside Vicenza): If Room of Giants. See p. 302. you’ve seen Monticello, the architec- • Il Vittoriale (Gardone, ): ture of Washington, D.C., or Inigo Gabriele D’Annunzio was a Roman- Jones’s buildings, you’ll be prepared for tic ideal made flesh, an Italian Hem- La Rotonda—it was the model for ingway-meets-Shelley, an adventurer, them all. UNESCO has placed this soldier, and poet who napped on a pinnacle of Palladio’s architectural the- funeral bier covered in leopard skins; ories, a towering monument of human who carried on a torrid affair with the achievement and ingenuity, on the greatest actress of his age, Eleonora same World Heritage List as the Pyra- Duse; and who crafted every iota of mids. This is Palladio’s strict neoclassi- his villa in meticulous Victorian cal take on the Renaissance in all its detail. It’s said that Mussolini himself textbook glory, an ancient temple gave D’Annunzio the property— rewritten as a home and softened by either to honor his vociferous support Renaissance geometry of line. It was of Fascism or simply to shut him up also one of his last, started in 1567, but before he said something to get them largely executed by a faithful follower all into trouble. D’Annunzio was a after the master’s death. See p. 189. bit of a hothead, and not much of a • Villa Valmarana (outside Vicenza): team player. In 1918, he flew to Mattoni’s 17th-century Palladian- Vienna just to drop leaflets on it and style villa is nicknamed ai Nani, or prove, to what he saw as the wimpy “of the dwarves,” because its walls are Italian military command, that he patrolled by an army of stone could penetrate that far. When the dwarves. The architecture isn’t all that Adriatic town of Fiume, previously remarkable, but the 18th-century promised to Italy, ended up in frescoes inside by Giambattista and Yugoslav hands, he led his own army Giandomenico Tiepolo certainly are. to occupy the town and claim it— See p. 189. much to the chagrin of the Italian • Palazzo Patriarcale (Udine): Until commanders, who had to talk him 1734, it was the bishops who ruled into giving it up and coming home Udine as patriarchs, and the final (this is the “victory” after which the 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 15

THE BEST FESTIVALS 15 villa is named). With a whole villa to Paris), this palace drips with royal keep him occupied, D’Annunzio pro- frippery. See p. 341. ceeded to remake it to his own image. • Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi The very route guests take upon (outside Turin): Sicilian baroque entering is a subtle and intricate play genius Juvarra laid out this extrava- on the structure of Dante’s Divine gant and palatial hunting lodge for Comedy. The sheer volume of bric-a- the Savoys in 1729. To fill the numer- brac is enough to drive a maid with a ous frescoed rooms and vast halls of feather duster nuts, but is redeemed its giant, sinuous X-shape, local by the fantastic anecdote or quirky authorities have collected furnish- explanation behind each one (hope ings, paintings, and other decorative for a chatty guide with a good com- elements from dozens of Savoy mand of English). Nestled in the palaces to create here a sort of extravagant gardens are a structure museum of 18th- and 19th-century built as a ship, the actual boat D’An- interior decor. Napoléon liked it so nunzio commanded during the Great much he set up housekeeping here War, his biplane, and his heroic hill- for a time when he first conquered top tomb. See p. 310. the region before pressing on. See • Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) p. 342. (Turin): This was where the Savoy • Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spin- kings hung their crowns in all the ola (Genoa): The Spinola provides its sumptuous, overwrought, gilded collection of canvases (by Antonello glory that the 17th and 18th cen- da Messina, Guido Reni, Luca Gior- turies could offer. From Gobelin tap- dano, Van Dyck, and Strozzi) with a estries to Oriental vases, from the stellar backdrop consisting of a royal armory to the elegant gardens Genovese palace of which the mer- laid out by master landscape architect chant/banking Spinola family lav- Le Nôtre (who did the Versailles gar- ishly frescoed and decorated each dens and those of the Tuileries in room. See p. 377.

7 The Best Festivals • Carnevale (Venice): Every spring and New Orleans as host of one of Venice brings back the 18th century the most elaborate and famous Car- in all its silk and brocade, poof- nival celebrations anywhere. Rather sleeved, men-wearing-colored-hose, than a Bacchanalian bash, Venice Casanova, ballroom-dancing glory. In goes the genteel route, with concerts most Catholic countries, the week and masked costume balls filling per- before Lent begins has long been a formance spaces, churches, and fres- time to let down your hair and party. coed palaces. Ten days leading up to It all culminates in Shrove Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday. See p. 146 and 148. the day of feasting before Ash • Venice International Film Festival: Wednesday kicks off the sober This is one of the movie business’s Lenten period. This bash has earned premier festivals, ranking just below the day the nickname Fat Tuesday— Cannes in importance. The best films called Martedì Grasso in Italian, but made over the past year from around better known by its French name, the world are screened for audiences Mardi Gras. Venice ranks with Rio and judges at the Palazzo del Cinema, 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 16

16 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY other movie houses, and sometimes clowns), people dressed as chess even open-air piazzas. Unlike, say, the pieces fill the piazza’s board, the play- Oscars, which celebrates highly pro- ers sit atop a stage ready to call out moted Hollywood products, this is a their moves, and the match begins. chance for all movies—from would-be Actually, it’s technically not chess as blockbusters to low-budget, unknown we know it but rather a medieval indies—to catch the attention of crit- variant, and it’s not a proper match ics and distributors. Late August/early since they’re in fact re-creating, move September. See p. 147. for move, a game played in the 15th • Biennale d’Arte (Venice): One of the century between two noblemen vying most important art festivals in the for the hand of a fair lady. Still, it’s all world is hosted every 2 years by the city great fun. Marostica has only a hand- of Venice. Contemporary artists (both ful of hotels, so book a few months in celebrated modern masters and tal- advance. Second Sunday in Septem- ented unknowns), critics, and art afi- ber, even years. See p. 185. cionados from around the world fill • Concerti in Villa (Vicenza): The the hotels to attend shows and peruse Veneto region around Vicenza opens the works displayed in the gardens and up its villas or their grounds for a Arsenale warehouses at the far end of series of summertime concerts and the Castello district. June to early performances. From famous master- November, odd years. See p. 147. pieces like Palladio’s La Rotonda to • Regata Storica (Venice): Every little-known Renaissance villas, the Venetian must have an 18th-century settings are memorable and the music outfit mothballed in a closet to break is sweet. June and July. See p. 186. out for yearly fetes such as Carnevale • Opera in Arena (Verona): La Scala and, of course, this “historical and La Fenice may be more famous, regatta”—less of a race than merely a but few opera stages in Italy have a parade of gorgeously bedecked gon- more natural dramatic setting than dolas and other boats laden with cos- Verona’s ancient Roman amphithe- tumed gentry for a day cruising the ater. Every season they put on Aïda Grand Canal. First Sunday in Sep- as they have since 1913, surrounded tember. See p. 147. by other operatic masterpieces by • Partita a Scacchi (Marostica): A liv- Giuseppe Verdi. For a huge 2,000- ing chess match may be a throwaway year-old sports stadium open to the gag to Mel Brooks or special-effect sky, the Arena enjoys surprisingly sequence in a Harry Potter film, but good acoustics. Late June through it’s the highlight of Marostica’s calen- August. See p. 196. dar. This pretty little medieval ham- • Festival Shakespeariano (Verona): let, which barely fills the bottom Verona mixes its two powerhouse third of the ring made by its ancient attractions—ancient Roman heritage wall clambering up the hillside, and Shakespearean fame—in a the- would probably be overlooked if it ater festival of Shakespeare’s plays weren’t for the biennial festival that (along with ballets and concerts, from turns the checkerboard main piazza classical to jazz) put on in the garden- in front of the castle into a weird set ruins of the Teatro Romano piece of yesteryear. After a parade of ancient theater. Since 1998, they’ve costumed gentlefolk and medieval- invited the Royal Shakespeare style entertainers (jugglers, fire-eaters, Company to come and perform 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 17

THE BEST LUXURY INNS 17 (naturally) Romeo and Juliet and Two Italy get the chance to play that care- Gentlemen of Verona, as well as other fully crafted song they just know plays, in English. See p. 194. would be a number-one hit if only • Palio (Asti): Medieval pageantry pre- they could sign a record contract (and cedes a breakneck horse race on the many do). If you want to hear what piazza. The 2 weeks leading up to it will be belting out of boom boxes and comprise the Douja d’Or, a grape- Fiat speakers this summer at Italy’s and-wine festival and trade fair. Rival beaches and pumping in the discos, town Alba spoofs the event with a listen to the winning performances race of their own—riding asses—in here. Late February or early March. their Palio degli Asini on the first See p. 387. Sunday in October. Third Sunday in • Sagra del Pesce (Camogli): Take the October. See p. 350. world’s largest frying pan (3.6m/12 ft. • Sanremo Festival (San Remo): It’s across) and place it on the wide, the Grammy Awards meets Sundance waterfront promenade of this tiny meets American Idol. Since 1950, Riviera fishing town. Fill the pan with Sanremo has been Italy’s beloved sizzling sardines and the town with festival of pop music, where faded hungry folks ready to party. There you Italian stars get to strut their stuff, have a sagra, or celebration of food, in major international rock stars and this case of seafood, the town’s tradi- artists are invited to perform, and tional economic lynchpin. Second scruffy teenage musicians from across Sunday in May. See p. 398.

8 The Best Luxury Inns • Hotel Gritti Palace (Venice): The • Hotel Danieli (Venice): Venice’s grandest hotel on the Grand Canal has bacino (the bay into which the Grand hosted the crème de la crème of Canal spills) is lined with luxury whomever visits Venice since Doge hotels, but none beats the Danieli, a Andrea Gritti built the palace in the 14th-century doge’s palace of pink 16th century. Charles de Gaulle, Win- plaster and elaborate marble win- ston Churchill, Truman Capote, John dowsills that’s been a hotel since Ruskin, Henry Ford, Mick Jagger, 1822. The centerpiece is a four-story, Giorgio Armani, Robert De Niro, sky-lit, enclosed courtyard of Byzan- Charlie Chaplin . . . the list goes on. tine-Gothic arches, open stairwells, This place is luxury everything: hand- balustrades, and verdant potted painted and inlaid antiques, 18th- plants, off of which sit luxurious century stuccoed ceilings, cutting- salons. It’s worth popping your head edge designer entertainment centers, in just to see it even if you don’t stay and, of course, balconies overlooking here. The rooms vary, but no matter the Grand Canal (well, from the top- what, insist upon a lagoon view—and notch rooms at least; everyone else gets try to stay in the original wing or, fail- to enjoy the water from the restaurant ing that, the larger rooms of the 19th- or piano bar, or can overlook a side century palazzo next door (by all canal). Because this is now a Westin means, avoid the bland, albeit cushy, property, you also get access (on a free 1940s wing). As with its Westin sis- hourly boat) to their Lido Westin ter, Hotel Gritti Palace, you can enjoy Excelsior hotel and its facilities (see the facilities at the chain’s Excelsior below). See p. 97. on the Lido (see below). See p. 102. 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 18

18 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY • Hotel Cipriani (Venice): This is the • Hotel Villa Cipriani (Asolo): In last independent, locally owned lux- 1962, Giuseppe Cipriani branched ury hotel in Venice, and quite pos- out from his premium-grade Venice sibly the best. It sits in splendid miniempire to turn this 16th-century isolation at the tip of Giudecca, the villa into a well-appointed hotel. only large island of central Venice not Once the home of poets Robert and connected by a bridge (rather, it’s a Elizabeth Barrett Browning, it enjoys 10-min. boat ride to Piazza San a dreamlike setting: the medieval hill Marco). Giuseppe Cipriani, the town of Asolo, famed for its vistas Venetian impresario behind Harry’s over the Veneto. See p. 180. Bar and the Locanda Cipriani on • Hotel Greif (Bozen): Boutique hotels Torcello, where Ernest Hemingway have officially arrived in Italy— loved to hang out (Cipriani even though so far only the Greif seems to made it into a Papa story), crafted have heard. The Staffler family has this retreat out of several Renaissance owned this 500-year-old hotel on the palazzi in 1959, offering stylish main square of Bozen—the Dolomiti’s accommodations, discreet service, liveliest town—since 1796. But in and modern comfort. See p. 113. 1999 and 2000, they decided to over- • Westin Excelsior (Venice): The Lido haul it completely in a minimalist, might never have been developed as a modern vein of burnished steel and bathing resort if not for the pre- original contemporary art mixed with science of Nicolò Spada, who created 19th-century antiques and an Inter- the Excelsior’s Moorish-style central net-equipped laptop in every room. structure in 1907. As one of Venice’s See p. 221. only custom-built luxury hotels, it • Four Seasons Hotel Milano didn’t have to abide by all the histori- (Milan): In 1993, the Four Seasons cal considerations converted palazzi opened and rewrote the rules on now have to take into account, so its deluxe hotels in Milan. Seven years architectural plans allowed for more were spent restructuring and trans- spacious accommodations than those forming a 1476 convent, a process found in most Venetian hotels. that brought many of its Renaissance Rooms overlook either the Adriatic elements back to light, including a (there’s a private beach across the lovely cloister. The rooms are huge by road) or the small, lush, Moorish gar- Italian city standards and flush with den. It also sports all the resort-type amenities and small luxuries such as amenities: pool, fitness center, golf CD stereos and king-size beds. The and tennis, sauna. See p. 114. bi-level suites with frescoed vaulting • Villa Margherita (Mira Porte, are particularly nice. See p. 278. Brenta): This villa’s role as a guesthouse • Grand Hotel et De Milan (Milan): hasn’t changed much since it was built How do you define superior service? in the 17th century by Venice’s Con- While resident guest Giuseppe Verdi, tarini family. It still looks much like a who lived for 30 years in the suite country-villa home (if your family hap- now named for him, lay dying in his pened to be Venetian and fabulously bed, the hotel spread straw over the wealthy), with rooms overlooking the streets under his window every day to shady gardens, a restaurant across the muffle the sounds of carriage wheels street along the canal, and a similar sis- so as not to disturb the maestro’s rest. ter property nearby with a swimming They’re constantly upping the luxury pool. See p. 175. quotient here—even closing down 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 19

THE BEST MODERATE HOTELS 19 from 1993 to 1995 for a complete 1860s splendor and richness, regild- overhaul (perhaps a response to the ing an old lily of the Italian hotel sudden competition from the Four scene and restoring it to the ranks Seasons)—to keep the 1863 hotel of Europe’s most exclusive hotels. looking and feeling its best. This Rooms are sumptuously appointed in means marble surfaces and lush a variety of styles, from 19th-century upholstery, thick curtains, and inlaid wood to lavish Empire style to antique furnishings. Okay, so the opulent Italianate rooms of lacquered opera music trickling lightly from furnishings and Murano chandeliers. hidden speakers may be overdoing it, See p. 329. but what did you expect from a hotel • Hotel Splendido/Splendido Mare 3 blocks from La Scala that has (Portofino): Portofino is the fishing played host to divas and tenors for village chosen by the world’s jet-set decades? See p. 279. elite as their own little bit of Italy, its • Villa d’Este (Cernobbio, Lake tiny cove harbor overshadowed by Como): On short lists of the world’s yachts, and the hillside Splendido greatest hotels, the Villa d’Este always hotel booked by the top names from ranks near the top. There’s nothing Hollywood, European nobility regis- reproduction or faux about this place. ters, and CEO boardrooms. The villa The villa is true Renaissance, the itself is 19th century, though its foun- marble precious, the guestbook A- dation is a 16th-century monastery, list, and the Empire furnishings so set amid olive groves a 10-minute genuine they actually date back to walk above the town. Suites come Napoléon’s tenure when his aide-de- with antique furnishings and cutting- camp owned it. Add to all that several edge entertainment centers (DVD, pools (one floating on the lake), a anyone?). The sister hotel, Splendido vast park that hides tennis courts, a Mare, sits right at the harborfront, fitness center that includes squash stays open all year, and offers dining courts and a virtual driving range, with a view of the boats. See p. 406. and a trio of restaurants. See p. 319. • Royal Hotel (San Remo): With such • Grand Hôtel et des Iles Borromées a small town and such a major pop (Stresa, Lake Maggiore): Ernest festival, once a year you’ll find a con- Hemingway loved this retreat by the centration of rock stars here rarely lake so much he set part of A Farewell seen outside of a major benefit con- to Arms at the hotel. Shell out $2,400 cert. The rest of the year, with dou- and you can stay in the suite named bles starting under $250, almost all of after him (two bedrooms with king- us can enjoy its private beach across size beds and huge marble bathrooms the road, its cushy accommodations, in each, frescoed ceilings, lake-view its stuccoed bar, and the wonderful terrace). Recent renovations have pool styled as if it were carved out of restored the decor to its original rock. See p. 388.

9 The Best Moderate Hotels • Pensione Accademia (Venice): If you Maravege (Villa of Wonders) in the ever wanted to live like Katharine 1955 film Summertime. It sits in an Hepburn, here’s your chance. Well, enviable position, a flower-filled gar- not exactly, though her character den at the confluence of two canals did live in this 16th-century Villa emptying into the Grand Canal, and 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 20

20 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY the rooms are done in a tasteful managements in town; it’s no won- antique style that makes you feel as if der this delightful place stays booked you’re staying in the home of your by regulars, who enjoy its creaky, wealthy Venetian relative rather than homey atmosphere. See p. 279. in a hotel. See p. 107. • Agnello d’Oro (Bergamo): Bergamo • Hotel San Cassiano Ca’Favretto may not quite be the Alps, but you’re (Venice): It’s one of the cheapest high up enough in their foothills that hotels on the Grand Canal—plus the this tall, narrow ochre building with rooms and bar terrace overlook the its flower-box windows, patio foun- prettiest stretch of the canal, with tain, and sloping roof looks perfectly the Ca’ d’Oro directly across the appropriate, offering a bit of Ital- waters. Even most non–Grand Canal ianate Alpine charm smack-dab in rooms overlook a side canal. All that, the center of the pedestrian medieval and the hotel in the 16th-century villa quarter. Furnishings are simple and retains much of its 18th-century serviceable, but the price and location ambience (though room decor is vin- can’t be beat. See p. 297. tage 1970s repro antiques). See p. 109. • Du Lac (Bellagio, Lake Como): Of • Hotel Majestic Toscanelli (Padua): all the hotels lining Bellagio’s little The management of the Toscanelli is lakefront piazza, the Du Lac is the always reinvesting in this gem of a hotel friendliest by a long shot. For over a three quiet shop- and osteria-lined century and a half, it has offered blocks from the central Piazza delle comfort and genuine hospitality, Erbe. Its latest refurbishment came in from the panoramic dining room and 1999, with burnished cherry furnish- rooftop sun terrace to the simple but ings gracing the spacious rooms. The fully stocked rooms and the bar tables reception is warm and helpful, and the tucked under the arcades of the side- location excellent. See p. 171. walk. The hotel recently added a pool • Hotel Aurora (Verona): Situated and tennis courts. See p. 321. right on the scenic Piazza delle Erbe, • Verbano (Stresa, Lake Maggiore): the Aurora enjoys a combination of Why shell out hundreds of dollars for prime location, low prices, and per- a hotel by the lake when you can have fect, simple comfort that keeps guests one on the lake for half the price? The coming back. See p. 203. dusty rose villa of the Verbano sits at • Antica Locanda Solferino (Milan): the tip of Isola dei Pescatori, an island The most wonderfully eclectic hotel of colorful fishermen’s houses in the in Milan exudes character. It sits in midst of Lake Maggiore, with views the heart of the fashionable Brera over the landscaped Isola Bella, the neighborhood, its quirky amalgam lake, and the Alps beyond from most of furnishings fitted into gen- rooms and also from the gravelly ter- erally spacious rooms. Sig. Gerardo race, where they serve excellent Vitolo leads one of the friendliest meals. See p. 330.

10 The Best Budget Gems • Hotel La Residenza (Venice): Just off hotel. Hotels this cheap are hard to the highly fashionable Riva degli Schi- come by anywhere in Venice, let alone avoni sits one of the great remaining in such a prime location, and none cheap pensioni in Italy, a 15th-century have such remarkable decor and faded palazzo converted into an inexpensive style. Its 15 rooms occupy the piano 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 21

THE BEST BUDGET GEMS 21 nobile, the high-ceilinged “noble floor” locals, and the modernized rooms where the wealthy family once lived, retain rough wood-beam ceilings and so it sports 18th-century stuccoes antique-style furnishings. They also over Venetian-style furnishings, 17th- rent simple but spacious rooms in century oil paintings, and Murano two annexes nearby that make you chandeliers. See p. 105. feel as if you’re staying in your own • Foresteria Valdese (Palazzo Cavag- Venetian apartment; one room has a nis) (Venice): If La Residenza (see fireplace, another overlooks a pair of above) is full, you may luck into even side canals. See p. 111. more decaying style (18th-century fres- • Due Mori (Vicenza): Just off the cen- coes decorate the ceilings in several tral Piazza dei Signori lies this simple, rooms) for less money at this 16th-cen- no-frills, but comfortable hotel, the tury palazzo run as a sort of hostel by oldest in Vicenza, packed with gen- the Waldesian and Methodist Church. uine 19th-century antiques and a The drawbacks are that it’s a sort of friendly reception. See p. 190. hostel-type arrangement—many, but • Grifone (Sirmione, Lake Garda): not all, of the accommodations are Would you believe a vine-covered shared rooms—and the rooms lack hotel where the simple rooms enjoy amenities such as telephones and air- views of the lake and access to a small conditioning. The location isn’t quite beach for under $35 a person? Well, as sweet as that of La Residenza, but that’s what the Marcolini siblings the rooms do have balconies over a offer at this gem of an inn around the lovely small side canal. See p. 104. corner from the little medieval castle. • Hotel Galleria (Venice): This place is Book early. See p. 308. remarkable: a 17th-century palazzo • Ostello La Primula (Menaggio, with double rooms for under $100, a Lake Como): If you don’t mind hos- half dozen of which open directly tel living (shared dorm rooms, bus onto the Grand Canal, and it’s next your own table at dinner), you can door to one of Venice’s top sights, the get a bed overlooking the lake for Accademia Gallery. All that and you 14€ ($18) and some of the best get breakfast (including freshly baked fixed-price dinners in town for just bread) in bed. See p. 107. 8.50€ ($11). It’s run by a family of • Pensione Guerrato (Venice): This ex–social workers, who also rent bikes charming pensione is run by a pair of and kayaks. See p. 327. brothers-in-law in a converted 13th- • Fasce (Santa Margherita Ligure): century convent near the daily Rialto This little hotel a few blocks up from market. The furnishings are mis- the harbor is now in its third genera- matched but lovely, a mix of antiques tion of family management, which culled from markets over the years, and includes the incredibly helpful the breakfast is excellent. They also British-born Jane at the front desk. rent two great apartments at excellent Not only are the bright guest rooms prices near San Marco. See p. 109. spacious and comfortable and the • Hotel Bernardi-Semenzato (Venice): surroundings a lovely profusion of The friendly Pepoli family runs this plants and flowers, but they pile on well-maintained palazzo hidden a the extras, from free bicycles to block off the main drag about Cinque Terre packets for guests who halfway between the train station and stay at least 3 nights (including a San Marco. It’s surrounded by osterie train ticket a day and all the info you and good restaurants patronized by need to explore the coast). See p. 401. 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 22

22 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY

11 The Best Countryside Retreats • Cavallino d’Oro/Goldenes Rössl hunted down and killed). Things (Kastelruth/Castelrotto, near Bozen): have calmed down considerably since The village is a full-bore Tirolean then, the villa transformed in 1990 mountain hamlet straight out of the into one of the most popular high- Middle Ages, and this rambling hotel end restaurants in the lake region (it has sat at the cobblestoned center of even has a Michelin star now), with town since the 1400s, its swinging seven elegant guest rooms upstairs. shingle emblazoned with its Golden See p. 311. Horse moniker. It includes the corner • Villa La Meridiana/Az. Agrituris- bar where the locals hang out for tica Reine (near Alba): An agritur- lunch and a genuine, preserved 18th- ismo is a working farm whose family century Stuben (beer nook) in the opens their home and hospitality to restaurant at back. It’s a nice mix of guests. The Pionzo family runs this new and old: The lounge has a wide- gracious agriturismo above the Pied- screen TV with 300 digital channels mont wine town of Alba, with rooms set next to a picture window of the in the main house and converted Alps; the rooms offer modern com- from the former stalls, almost all forts amid hand-painted wood fur- overlooking the vineyards that pro- nishings and four-poster beds. Best of duce their Barbera wine, the sur- all, the Urthaler family couldn’t be rounding village-capped hills, and the more welcoming, and they happen to peaks of the Alps in the distance. The be Frommer’s fans. See p. 222. ample breakfast may include apricot • Hotel Castello Schloss Labers (out- preserves from their own orchard and side Merano): The road from town sheep’s milk cheese from the neigh- wends its way through vine-clad hills bors. See p. 354. to the Stapf-Neubert family’s 11th- • La Cascina del Monastero (outside century, countryside castle—a hotel La Morra): The di Grasso family runs since 1885. The cozy hunting salons an agriturismo similar to Villa La cluster around a magnificent central Meridiana (see above), another vine- staircase that leads up to the eclectic yard and fruit orchard farm outside a collection of rooms tucked into tow- Piemontese village with large guest ers, eaves, and high-ceilinged rooms. rooms and apartments filled with com- A statue-studded garden out back fortable rustic furnishings and exposed offers views across the valley to the wood beams. This place would be surrounding peaks, and they also worth staying at if only for the sump- have a heated pool, tennis courts, and tuous breakfast spread, the only draw- a Tirolean restaurant. See p. 229. back to which is that you may have to • Villa Fiordaliso (Gardone Riviera, cancel lunch plans and head back to Lake Garda): This Liberty-style villa your room for a nap. See p. 357. was built in 1903 and immediately • Milleluci (outside Aosta): Four started attracting formidable owners, matrilineal generations of hoteliers including poet Gabriele d’Annunzio have turned this family farm into one and later Claretta Petacci, Mussolini’s of the coziest, friendliest hotels in the mistress (this is where they spent whole of the Valle d’Aosta. A fire their final weeks in semi-hiding at the crackles in the large lounge down- end of World War II before being stairs, and the rooms are done in 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 23

THE BEST RESTAURANTS 23 woodsy Alpine style with canopy • La Grange (Courmayeur-Entrèves): beds in suites, traditional wood fur- Entrèves may not properly be coun- nishings, and hand-hewn ceilings. In tryside, but this tiny collection of true country tradition, the breakfast Alpine chalets below the Mont Blanc here is overwhelming, with freshly cable-car station is so small it barely baked pies, cakes, and breads every qualifies as a village, and the atmos- morning accompanied by farm-fresh phere is fully rustic. The Berthold cheese, milk, and preserves. Unlike family converted this hotel from a most countryside retreats, the Mil- barn by fitting the rooms with a mix leluci sports plenty of facilities a four- of antiques and sturdy country fur- star hotel would be jealous of: a nishings. It makes a refreshing (and heated outdoor pool, tennis courts, far less expensive) alternative to the exercise facilities, hot tub, and sauna. resort hotels of Courmayeur just See p. 363. down the road. See p. 365.

12 The Best Restaurants • Do Forni (Venice): Though the cookbooks and documents. They menu is vast, they seem to devote attract hip artistic types by turning equal attention to every single dish, the back room into a coffeehouse- making this one of the best (if most style performance space most nights, eyebrow-raisingly expensive) restau- hosting poets, acoustic musicians, art rants in Venice. The bulk of the place exhibits, and cabarets. See p. 119. is done in a vaguely rustic style, but • Al Covo (Venice): Texan Diane the best room is the front one, fitted Rankin makes the pastries and chats out like a car from the luxurious Ori- with guests while husband-chef ent Express. See p. 118. Cesare Benelli watches over the • La Cusina (Venice): One of the new kitchen at this always-popular restau- stars on the Venetian restaurant scene rant that mixes a warm welcome and is also one of the few hotel dining excellent fresh seafood dishes with rooms worth singling out. In warm relatively reasonable prices (especially weather, this becomes one of the on the quality wine list). See p. 122. most romantic dinner settings in • La Milanese (Milan): In a city with town, the tables set on terraces hang- many fine restaurants whose stars rise ing over the Grand Canal. The loca- and fall almost as soon as they make tion alone is worth booking ahead, it onto the map, La Milanese is a stal- but happily the cooking is as deli- wart survivor, a traditional trattoria cious as the view is stunning, offering that has never stopped offering typi- an inventive take on Italian cuisine cal Milanese dishes, smart service, based on Venetian and Veneto tradi- and moderate prices, a formula that tions and using the freshest ingredi- has kept it successful for almost 70 ents. See p. 118. years now. See p. 284. • Le Bistrot de Venise (Venice): The • Antica Hosteria del Vino Buono menu at this upscale bistro is split (Bergamo): This cozy restaurant is three ways to satisfy your appetite (or spread over two floors of a corner at least make your choice harder): palazzo on the market square. The Venetian/Italian, French, and ancient food is mountain-style, rib-sticking local recipes culled from historic good, heavy on the game meats and 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 24

24 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF NORTHERN ITALY thick polenta accompanied by hearty make you feel like a longtime member red wines. See p. 298. as he greets you warmly and comes • Ochina Bianca (Mantua): Mantuan back around to help you select your cooking is somewhat more complex wine. The cooking is traditional Tori- than most northern Italian cuisines, nese, excellently prepared. See p. 345. and the Venturinis put their own inno- • Lalibera (Alba): Franco and Manuele vative spin on it at the “White Goose,” reign over this stylish dining room on marrying local ingredients with fresh an alley off a pedestrian shopping fish from the Mincio and game in this street, with Marco in the kitchen elegant restaurant. See p. 304. crafting excellent variants on Piemon- • C’era Una Volta (Turin): That you tese cuisine by using only the freshest have to ring the bell and climb to the of ingredients, all locally produced, first floor gives this place a clubby air, from the cheese to the fruit to the but owner Piero Prete will instantly meats. See p. 355.

13 The Best Countryside Eateries • Al Camin (outside of Cortina d’Am- bounty of Piemontese regional pezzo): This barnlike structure lies cuisines, accompanied by choice along the rushing Run Brigantine cheese platters and, of course, some of mountain stream, 10 minutes outside the best fine wines in Italy. See p. 357. of town, serving hearty Alpine food • La Maison de Filippo (Entrèves): in a woodsy dining room around a This is the never-ending meal to beat stone fireplace. Some regional spe- all feasts. I honestly tried to keep cialties that are hard to find elsewhere track of the courses, but after the sev- these days are staples on Al Camin’s enth appetizer, I had to give it up. seasonal menus. See p. 240. But it’s not just quantity (two words: • L’Osteria del Vignaiolo (La Morra): pace yourself): The food actually This place is sophisticated rustic, with manages to be fantastic as well, and simple rooms with pale-gold walls it’s served in an archetypal rustic- expanding to tables outside in sum- countryside dining room of low mer. It’s set amid the vineyards that wood ceilings, open kitchens: some- produce its excellent wines and pro- times there’s even a dog under the vide the excellent views. The cooking, table. Book here, then plan to spend in the hands of chef Luciano much of the next day merely digest- Marengo, samples from the varied ing. See p. 367.

14 The Best Down-Home Trattorie & Osterie • Vino Vino (Venice): Antico Martini along with a wine from their excel- is a pricey but good restaurant near lent and extensive shared wine cellar. La Fenice opera house; Vino Vino is See p. 121. its worst-kept secret, an inexpensive • Ai Tre Spiedi (Venice): This is where osteria branch that serves simple but I take my buddies for a blow-out tasty dishes that come out of the Venetian meal at remarkably low same kitchen. You choose from the prices—not the cheapest in town, but daily chalkboard menu, stake out a perhaps the best value for your table, and then carry your meal to it money. The owners are jolly, and the 05_773417 ch01.qxp 2/27/06 6:28 PM Page 25

THE BEST DOWN-HOME TRATTORIE & OSTERIE 25 food is excellent, including the fish for centuries. Here, the local volun- (which is often dicey at the more inex- teer fire squad shows up to hang out pensive places in Venice). See p. 122. in uniform and hit on girls, and • Cantina do Mori (Venice): Notwith- office workers troop in to unwind standing the recent change in man- over traditional Veronese dishes and agement (and a slight price hike), the wine (of their some 180 bottles, Cantina do Mori has remained one 10 varieties are opened nightly so of the best bacari in Venice, a wine that you can sample by the glass). See bar that serves exquisite cicchetti p. 205. (tapaslike snacks) to a crowd of regu- • Osteria del Duca (Verona): The lars nightly under the low-beamed ladies bustling around this old fave of ceilings that seem unchanged since a trattoria know to double-check the joint opened in 1462. After all, with foreign visitors who have inad- this is the place where even Casanova vertently ordered one of the many supposedly came to tipple between traditional Veronese dishes involving affairs. See p. 126. horse or donkey meat. The setting is • Toni del Spin (Treviso): Seventy years romantic in true Verona style: It’s on of satisfying Trevisani diners has the ground floor of a medieval imparted a patina of reliability to this palazzo that most likely belonged to down-home trattoria of crisscrossing the historical Montecchi family, beams, swirling fans, and chalkboard immortalized by Shakespeare as the menus. The choices are limited, but Montagues, whose son Romeo fell in each dish is excellent, mixing local tra- love with Juliet of the enemy Capulet ditions with experimental cooking and clan. See p. 206. some international dishes. The wine • Vineria Cozzi (Bergamo): Leonardo list is stellar—they also run the wine Vigorelli’s wine bar is the turnstile shop across the street. See p. 178. around which Bergamo’s upper city • La Taverna di Via Stella (Verona): spins, a requisite stop for locals and The Vantini brothers and their bud- visitors alike who enjoy his hospital- dies have successfully started a ity, good wine selection, and yummy brand-new, laid-back osteria that panini, meat and cheese platters, and instantly feels as if it’s been around simple dishes. See p. 299.