Villa Maser

My apologies to those of you who tried to read this in its 2% contrast version. Google in its infinite reason decided that's the typeface I wanted, and nothing I tried would change it, partially because Apple in ITS infinite wisdom decided that no one would ever want to have any control over formatting (or picture size, for that matter) on an iPad. Go figure. Now I've tried copying it into Simple Note and then back out. If that works, great. If not, then you'll never see this version.

So we repaired to the bar/coffee shop of the Villa for coffee, but the espresso machine was not warmed up yet. So we just listed to Louie Armstrong singing show tunes (Chim-chiminee, Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's Off to Work We Go, etc). Eventually we made it inside the villa, which is currently occupied, although the central section open to the public is not apparently used by the family. George was, as reputed, very knowledgeable. The Villa was built in 15?? to a design by the famous architect Palladio, with frescoes by Veronese, and statues by some other famous guy whose name escapes me. The fantastic fountain is one of his works, although the rather incongruously large figures flanking Neptune in the middle and the two on either end, were apparently by the owner Barbaro, who was an amateur sculptor. A wonderfully cool and inviting fountain, nonetheless.
The Veronese frescoes are great, although apparently they generated some friction between him and Palladio. Apparently, Palladio felt that he had designed rooms of ideal proportions, and then Veronese went and enlarged them with the vistas and niches he painted in trompe l'ouiel on the walls. He included a self-portrait at one end of a series of rooms, facing a portrait of his wife at the other end, and several little self-references in other rooms, including his slippers and paintbrush in one place, and a servant emerging from a hidden door to bring his slippers in another. Quite amazing trompe l'ouiel, including statues, columns, a scene of the mistress of the house on a balcony with the family nurse and a little dog, and other charming and amusing scenes. Four frescoes had been scored and then plastered and painted over by a later owner, only to be restored, more or less (one was left pretty much as uncovered, and the others still show signs of the scratches) by a German owner.
As George points out, with all those Veronese frescoes, one doesn't have much room for hanging pictures or otherwise adding personal touches, but there were statues of the current owner's grandfather, Count Somebody, and of his mother, a beautifully serene bronze with exquisite details (necklace and dress fastener).
After looking our fill at the rooms and gardens, we repaired to the bar again, where the espresso machine had finally warmed up. And David discovered that the little dog who lives at the Villa (the spitting image of the dog in the fresco), had peed on his bike tire where he had helmet-locked the bike. So he got to wash his helmet. And while we were drinking our cappuccinos, we saw the dog trot down to the bar and disappear from view beneath us. Fortunately, he did not try to repair the damage to his earlier handiwork.
The ride home was much shorter, which was good since we had worked up a pretty good appetite. But first, I needed to get some stamps, after being scolded again by George for not knowing where the post office was or when it closed (also in the pre-departure information). Lunch was great, of course, as was the nap we took afterwards. Ride, eat, sleep, what more can you ask?