Venice and the Veneto: Venice

The final day of the trip was spent in Venice.  It is a wonderful city and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the waterways and little lanes. These first shots are taken from the vaporetto was we sailed down the Grand Canal from the train station to St Mark's square.

St Mark's square is at the heart of Venice and contains the Basilica Di San Marco along with other beautiful buildings. There was some restoration work at the basilica, mearning there was some scaffolding, but this didn't ruin the picture perfect square at all.

We wandered through the streets, crossing the canals and stopping now and again for some refreshments.

This is Harry's Bar, where we tried the Belinis at the place where they were invented.

This is the Basilica Di Santa Maria Della Salute, which was commissioned by Venice's plague survivors in in 1600s.

I loved this city and the people watching on the banks of the Grand Canal was exceptional.

Venice and the Veneto: Medieval Padua and Wine Tasting

Our afternoons were free after our delicious lunches at the villa, so one day we took the opportunity to visit a local winery. We were treated to a guided tour of the Widmann Borletti Villa, it had a beautiful house which was started life as a Benedictine monastery in 954 and the gardens were really stunning.

This year's grapes won't be ready for harvest until the Autumn, this will be done by the local villagers and other farmers in the area who take it in turns to help with the harvest at each farm.  They also still use their feet to squash the grapes for processing.  The best part of the tour was visiting the medieval cellars, which were the oldest remaining part of the villa.

The wine was really nice - the Friularo was their speciality and was particularly good.

Another afternoon we visited the ancient town of Padua which was half an hour away. It is most famous for the Cappella Degli Scrovegni, which is a beautiful chapel built by Enrico Scrovegni to honour his father in the early 1300s. The incredibly beautiful frescos were painted by Giotto and cover every wall and the ceiling. Giotto was famed for creating a new style of painting, which depicted people in a more lifelike way and showed more emotion than previous artists.

You can't take photos inside the chapel but this is the outside....

The town has lots of winding little roads with lots of character.

We also visited the Basilica Di Sant'Antonio, which was possibly the most beautiful church I have ever been in. There are no photos of the inside but even the outside is spectacular.

The church is the burial site of the patron saint of Padua, St Anthony. You can also see his (green) tongue and chin on display in the chapel, which were the only pieces of his body that remained when his tomb was opened in 1263. The rest of the church was truly stunning though.

Venice and the Veneto: Tenuta Castel Venezze

During our week in Venice and the Veneto myself and my mother stayed in Tenuta Castel Venezze. The castle is located less than an hour's drive from Venice, it is deep in the Venetian countryside and was a wonderful location to explore the area and try to learn how to cook like a real Italian.

The estate has been in the Frassetti family since the 1400s and the villa is build on the grounds of the medieval castle with an ancient road linking the nearby towns of Padua and Rovigo. The main building where we stayed was built in the 16th century and contained the toll house between the counties of Ferrara and Venice. It was beautifully restored and we enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere while exploring the countryside surrounding the villa.

Most (if not all) of the ingredients we used were locally sourced or even grown in the grounds - even the flour we used for pasta was organically produced on the farm next door.

We were fascinated by the old estate just down the road from the villa - a whole community would have lived within the walled grounds during it's peak. It is currently for sale and would be a wonderful project for someone to fix up - it needs a little work but I'm sure the results would be worth it.

Tenuta Castel Venezze was a perfect location to relax and immerse ourselves in rural Italy.

Venice and the Veneto: Cooking Masterclass

The main reason for our visit to the Castel Venezze was to take the Italian cooking course, which was taught by Countess Maria and a group of local women.

The wonderful Maria pre-cooking the lasagne sheets

Maria, Manuella, Analisa, Geraldine (my mother) and Susanna

Every day we were greeted in the morning by a wonderful breakfast, the bread and biscuits were freshly made and deivine!

We were presented with aprons and ushered into the kitchen at 10.30am each day. The women would already be working away and we were invited to join in and help with the preparation of the incredible 3 course meals for lunch and dinner that we were treated to every day. It was a wonderful experience to be a small part of a real Italian kitchen - the local women spoke a little English, but most of the time would chatter away to us in Italian - we had to learn by watching and doing, which is the best way!

Here are a selection of photographs from the kitchen:

Making gnocchi

The final product - which took a while to master

Lasagne sheets

Layering the lasagne

Geraldine making the pasta dough with guidance from Manuella

Me making pasta under the watchful eye of Maria

Delicious tortellini

Aubergine, grilled and ready for the melanzane alla parmigiana 

Tagliatelle, which was served with a delicious asparagus and pea sauce (luckily for us our visit coincided with asparagus season!)

Pizza margherita

Carpaccio of cauliflower with salad leaves from the garden, fresh walnuts and a honey dressing

Ravioli - filled with spinach and ricotta

Pear and cherry tart - made with the freshest fruit

Tiramisu - which tasted better after a day in the fridge

It was a wonderful experience, Maria and her team of local women are incredible cooks and lovely people. We also had the great pleasure of eating everything we made - divine!