"Palladio and more Palladio" Vicenza by Sjalen

We went to Vicenza for a daytrip from Verona and a daytrip is not really fair to a World Heritage site with lots of things to see. But we just did not like it here at all. Maybe it was the fact that we came from Verona, a city full of life and restaurants, but we found Vicenza a cold place if not downright hostile. Kitan compared it to his native York and said it was because it only lives on tourists these days which tends to make locals a bit sullen. Maybe he is right. Maybe we should also have given it more time - time to see the nice countryside with Palladio's most famous villa (the well known architect himself was born in Padova but lived most of his life here) and much more. But during the visit, we just did not fancy getting in anywhere once we had seen the famous Teatro Olimpico. Moreover, we found Vicenza a victim of "Italy already has so many palaces it doesn't matter if some fall down". For instance it surprised us a lot that Palladio's wonderful Basilica was in a sad state and just a hostel for pigeons these days as were many other buildings. At the same time we saw more beggars than we had seen in several days in Verona. This despite Vicenza being heralded as one of the richest towns in northern Italy in the guidebooks. No, maybe it takes more than one visit, but we simply did not understand it. Were was its soul? Maybe we should have wondered already when walking from the station to the centre and were met by "F**k Vicenza" graffitti on a gate. Another disappointed VT member?

However, we did have some fun as you will see, and there was one thing that certainly didn't disappoint us and that was our starting point and main reason for going here: Teatro Olimpico, which almost had me in tears!

• Pros:Teatro Olimpico, easy to reach
• Cons:no palaces can cheer it up
• In a nutshell:See the theatre!