Vicenza

After the morning in Este we continued on to Vicenza where we met Andrew and Sylvia and their family who are currently stationed in Vicenza.  They gave us a personal tour of the city, which was a real treat for us. 

First on the list was the Teatro Olympico (Olympic Theatre), built from 1580-1585. The Palladian design is a reconstruction of a Roman theatre. It was also the first indoor theatre ever built and remains in use today as one of three surviving indoor theaters of that era. 

The sets there today are the original sets built for the inaugural event in 1585 and were kept in place because of their unique qualities of perspective and depth.  It's difficult to capture the effect in photos but it is very real in person. 

When we entered the stage door was open and we saw an interesting view of the seats from the perspective on stage. The theatre is as beautiful for the performers as it is for the patrons. 

After touring the theatre we walked through a church the on to the main piazza where we climbed to the roof of the museum for a birds eye view.  The museum had beautiful colonnades that demanded to be photographed. There was also a spectacular view of the church tower. 

Finally we drove to a beautiful lookout with a spectacular view of Vicenza and had a great group photo taken with the Mabie family. As it was a hot day we were then ready to cool off and drove back to Andrew and Silvia's house for dinner. It was a fun day!

There are a lot of great photos from this day in the photo album of Vicenza.