From here to there, touring Italy

Our first stop today is Cittadella. It is a medieval walled city founded as a military outpost in the 13th century.

The walls are pretty much still intact except a small section that was destroyed in the 16th century during the Cambrai war. (Who knew blogging would provide a history lesson as well.)

The wall was constructed with 32 large and small towers as well as a protective moat.

After explaining to the kids why these windows are shaped the way they are, the kids pretended to be archers. But their arrows are pointed in the wrong direction.

Notice the man on the sign? This is how I felt walking along the wall. I had to bite my tongue several times to keep from telling the kids to keep away from the sides or looking through the rails. I didn't want my fear of being up there take away their fun. They were safe, it was just nerve racking for me.

The Duomo (Cathedral) of Cittadella was built between 1774 and 1826.



We were only able to walk half way around the wall. So we had to walk back the way we came. We made it back on the ground safely, I was so relieved. Then we walked thought the city to take this picture of the front of the Duomo.

Bassano del Grappa was founded in the 2nd century BC. The town is famous for its covered wooden pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge was designed in 1569 to replace an already existing bridge constructed in 1209. The bridge was destroyed many times, the last time during WWII. The Alpini, Italy's fighting brigade took up private collections to rebuild the bridge. The Alpini still come to the bridge to sing songs and pay respect to their fellow soldiers.

Looking cool, (or hot) on the bridge.

We walked throughPiazza Libertà on our way back to the car. On the left is St. John the Baptist Church built in the 14th century. The astronomical clock on the right was built in 1747 and still works today.

Thomas is such a good boy. Here he is asking if he can go cool off in the water. We said, YES.

Marostica, the name has Venetic roots, meaning to have hills and streams. And as you see in this picture it does have a hill. It was really cool to see the wall go up the hill and back down the other side, surrounding the city. Did you know there was a Venetic language, I didn't. And the Venetian language is still spoken in the area today.

Every two years a theatrical live chess game is played at this site. The first game was in 1923, in remembrance of two legendary young noblemen who played a game of chess to win the honor of marrying a lady they both were in love with. Cassidy especially liked this city, she has been learning how to play chess at school. In fact she came in second place in a chess tournament at school.


Cars could drive into these walled cities, but we opted to park outside the city with our Suburban and walk through the gates.