Page 25 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

A POR TR AIT OF THE VENE T O  23

Valle di Cadore in the Dolomites, close to the Austrian border
relationship with their Teutonic It is not just the Paduans who treat
neighbours. Today, German signs, food their streets and squares like so many
and language can be easily found in corridors and rooms in one vast
the towns around Lake Garda and communal palace. After 5pm
the Dolomites. Here, the pretty crowds throng Verona’s
Tyrolean farmsteads and onion- Via Mazzini, taking part in
domed churches are a marked the evening stroll, the
contrast to the isolated passeg giata. Against the
fishing communities of backdrop of the Roman
the lagoon, where Venice’s arena or medieval palazzi
maritime her itage is still they argue, swap gossip,
evident. Between these two forge alliances and strike
extremes, however, the cities deals. Younger strollers dress
of the Veneto Plain, with their to impress, while young mothers
wealth of culture, provide a more Traditional Venetian bring their babies out to be
typical view of Italian life. rowing admired. For all their modernity,
the people of the Veneto still
Italian Tradition understand the powerful part played by
Padua is a perfect example of the ancient rituals such as this in cementing
città salotto, a city built like a salon a strong sense of community.
on a human scale, where the
streets are an extension of the
home and where the doorless
Caffè Pedrocchi is treated like
the city’s main square. Here
Paduans come to drink coffee
or write a letter, read a
newspaper or talk to friends.
Just like the salons of old,
the café provides a meeting
place for intel lectual discourse
and entertainment. Wedding Ferrari decorated with typical Italian style

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