Vicenza in May Day 2 - Loggia Valmarana, the cathedral, Santuario di monte Berico, Parco Querini
The weather forecast for Monday is good so we get out quite early to make the most of it. Although, like many cities in Italy everything a tourist might hope to see in the way of museums and monuments is firmly closed on Mondays. I’m not sure why. Do they hope tourists will go home after the weekend, or could they maybe leave something open to encourage them to stay longer? It isn’t really a problem. We take our usual route towards the centre below the portici but turn right to reach Giardini Salvi where there is the Loggia Valmarana. It’s a small park with a few benches, several rather decadent statues, some enormous ‘monumental’ trees, a stream which runs below the Loggia and some rose bushes. A relaxing place in the heart of the city. From there it’s just a few steps to the cathedral, Santa Maria Assunta, which is striking, apart from its sheer size in the piazza, for the Venetian Gothic façade with its cream and pink geometric pattern of squares, diamonds and crosses and, of c...
