Day 6: Giriamo in bici alla Bassano

The morning started with the ominous sound of thunder. And shortly after that, it started to pour. It was biblical. We thought that we wouldn't be able to ride at all. But after seeing off our comrades from the past two days, we headed to breakfast. During the meal the rain stopped and we were able to convince George, our guide, that we wanted to ride. So he came up with a route that would take us through the flats to the south of Borso to a few highlights. Here we are riding with the other two remaining bicycle comrades, Kate and Tom.

The first stop we made was at the Brion Tomb, which was designed by Carlo Scarpa as a commission by a wealthy Italian industrialist. The tomb is the concrete structure in the foreground and was built in the 1970's.

Here's a shot of the inside with Pete standing by the altar. One of the remarkable features was the use of different types of formwork to produce various textures in the concrete.

After the tomb we headed to a 16th century Venetian villa designed by Palladio. These villas were owned by wealthy Venetians as a type of country estate. This is Villa Emo, which was owned by the Emo family until just recently. We were able to tour the villa with our very knowledgeable ride guide George.

In the afternoon we decided to try our luck with the weather and go for a ride to the neighboring town of Bassano del Grappa. It's a charming walled city with limited auto access. We made for quite a site with our tandem and spandex on the cobbled streets teaming with tourists and Italians. We made it just inside the gates when a cloud opened up. Fortunately a cafe was right near by and we ducked in for a coffee while we waited out the rain. Once it cleared we made a tour of the town and took this photo that overlooks the covered pedestrian-only bridge.

Part of our cycling hotel adventure includes eating 3 times a day at restaurant Locando Monte Grappa. The food has been excellent, and at least once a day we've enjoyed all the antipasto we could eat. My favorites have been the figs wrapped in prosciutto, octopus salad, white anchovies and duck prosciutto. For both lunch and dinner there is a pasta course which was outstanding. The highlights were 3 mushroom risotto, gnocchi with butter and sage, and spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and red pepper.