Val Gardena in South Tyrol

4 November 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  9 minutes

Santa Cristina © creator-bz

Santa Cristina © creator-bz

Val Gardena (German: Gröden) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a touristic skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. The valley’s main river is the Rio Gardena, a tributary of Eisack river. The mountains that surround the valley are formed by dolomite rocks, which confer them a characteristic appearance. Most of the steep slopes are covered by pine woods. The favoured cultivations are barley, rye, potatoes, flax, buckwheat. The three municipalities in Val Gardena are Ortisei, Selva, and Santa Cristina; they were served by the Ferrovia della Val Gardena from 1916 until 1960.   read more…

Theme Week Veneto – Chioggia

9 October 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Corso del Popolo © flickr.com - dalbera/cc-by-2.0

Corso del Popolo © flickr.com – dalbera/cc-by-2.0

Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the province of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The municipality, located in south of the province, is close to the provinces of Padua and Rovigo. The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the Lagoon of Venice about 25 km south of Venice (50 km by road); causeways connect it to the mainland and to its frazione, nowadays a quarter, of Sottomarina. The population of the comune is around 51,000, with the town proper accounting for about half of that and Sottomarina for most of the rest.   read more…

Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites

15 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Snowdog

© Snowdog

Cortina d’Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern (Dolomitic) Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene. Much of 1963 classic The Pink Panther, the progenitor of the series, was filmed in Cortina. One of the memorable James Bond stunt sequences in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, gunners on spike-wheeled motorcycles chasing Roger Moore on skis, was filmed on its slopes, as were several scenes in the film Cliffhanger. It is also known for its jet set and European aristocracy crowd.   read more…

Theme Week Veneto – Bassano del Grappa

9 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Bassano del Grappa © Mtt

Bassano del Grappa © Mtt

Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in northern Italy with 44,000 inhabitants. The city lies at the foothills of the Venetian Prealps, where river Brenta comes out the southern end of Canal di Brenta and flows in the lowlands at the borders of Vicenza, Treviso and Padua provinces. The original name of the town was Bassano Veneto. After the terrible battles on Mount Grappa in WWI, where thousands of soldiers lost their lives, a decision was made to change the name of the town. In 1928, the name was changed to Bassano del Grappa, meaning Bassano of Mount Grappa, as a memorial to the soldiers killed. Today Mount Grappa is a popular destination for cyclists and one of Europe’s most popular flying sites for hang gliders and paragliders. Bassano Del Grappa is also famous for inventing the spirit Grappa, traditionally an after-dinner drink made from pomace (discarded grape seeds, stalks, and stems).   read more…

Theme Week Veneto – San Donà di Piave

13 July 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Corso Silvio Trentin - historic city center © Kafésd

Corso Silvio Trentin – historic city center © Kafésd

San Donà di Piave is the largest city in Eastern Veneto and a comune of province of Venice, in the North East region of Italy. It bounds the communes of Noventa di Piave, Musile di Piave and Fossalta di Piave, that have become in practice a part of a single urban area, also known as Città del Piave. San Donà lies on the river Piave approximately 40 km north-east of Venice and 30 km (19 mi) east of Treviso.   read more…

Theme Week Veneto – Rovigo

10 July 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II © Atigra/cc-by-sa-3.0

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II © Atigra/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rovigo is a town and comune in the Veneto region of North-Eastern Italy with 53,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the eponymous province. The northern border of the province is set on the Adige river from Badia Polesine to the sea, except for the territory of Cavarzere (in the province of Venice); the southern border is set on the Po river from Melara to the sea. The province includes the whole delta of the Po and the border is set on the Po di Goro channel of the delta.   read more…

Theme Week Veneto – Schio

9 July 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Piazza Alessandro Rossi © Puscas Vadim/cc-by-sa-3.0

Piazza Alessandro Rossi © Puscas Vadim/cc-by-sa-3.0

Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza situated North of Vicenza and East of the Lake of Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites (Italian Prealps) and Mount Pasubio. By the 12th century Schio had become an important centre of prosperous wool manufacturing. The city was ruled by the Venetian Maltraversi family until 1311.   read more…

Theme Week Veneto

8 July 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Venice, the primary tourist destination and the capital of Veneto © Brianski/cc-by-sa-3.0

Venice, the primary tourist destination and the capital of Veneto © Brianski/cc-by-sa-3.0

Veneto is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fifth in Italy. The region’s capital and largest city is Venice. Besides Venice, other popular tourist towns are the opera city of Verona, the university city of Padua, the Dolomites town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the municipalities around Lake Garda, the hot springs town of Abano Terme, and the seaside resorts Jesolo and Caorle.   read more…

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