Bagni di Lucca and Beyond

I found Vicenza to be a stylish and interesting city. I discovered a few excellent cafes where I had breakfast and aperitivo.

My first stop was Pasticceria Soraru, the oldest cafe in Vicenza. It stands in the shadow of the monument to Palladio in the Piazza dei Signori. In 1870 Celeste Soraru opened the pasticceria and it still serves great coffee and delicious pastries today. The charming, old fashioned interior drew me, but I sat outside under the portico to enjoy my first coffee of the day. Tables spill out into the piazza as well.

Pasticceria Venezia dates from 1964. It is still run by the same family,  but it has had a serious modern makeover recently by the look of it. It is renowned for its cakes made in the tradition of recipes from the Veneto region,

The one I liked the most was Pigafetta, almost next door to Pasticceria Venezia, run by 2 lovely older gentlemen. This would be my local if I lived in Vicenza. The pastries all looked delicious and the one I ate certainly was. I liked the old school feeling of the cafe.

I had aperitivo on the edge of the Piazza dei Signori. I forgot to look for the name, but it is on the left top corner facing the clock tower.

Not far away was this excellent looking place for aperitivo or some serious wine tasting…next time.

Ristorante tira tardi was the name of the lovely restaurant they drew me in for dinner.

I forgot to photograph the second course, but it was excellent, as was the service.

The restaurant is in this lovely street, Contrà Daniele Manin, off the Piazza dei Signori.

On my second night I went to Enoteca Veneta Ristorante in Corso Antonio Fogazzaro. The food and service were great. There was a lovely young waiter who had worked in Australia.

I was very happy that I went in search of this restaurant because I discovered this gorgeous long street filled with some of the most stylish shops and apartment buildings outside of a capital city in Italy.

The best thing was that there were lots of owners in the shops so i was able to have a nice chat with some genuine locals. In a couple of cases there were some elegant older signore running the shops. I learned that Vicenza is not really in the tourist trail so the shops cater for locals. There are clearly some very well dressed Vicenza residents.

I came upon a small, but well stocked fresh food market on one of my walks.

I stayed at Hotel due Mori, and older, elegant hotel a short step away from Piazza dei Signora, a perfect location.

Vicenza is a stunning city. I don’t know why it is not visited by hordes of tourists, because it deserves to be. Having said that, I like it just the way it is. It would make a great base from which to explore nearby, busier towns like Verona, Padova and Venice. It looks to be easy to get in an out of, so driving there should not be difficult. It is a short train ride from Vicenza to lots of interesting towns, leave the car behind and take the easy way.