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Bassano dal Grappa, home of Grappa. It's a charming and historic little town a little bit northeast of Vicenza, right at the foot of the Alps. The old town is split down the middle by the Brenta River, which is crossed bythe famous Ponte degli Alpini (Bridge of the Alpini). The bridge is so named in honor of the Alpini, Italy's special mountain soldiers, who rebuilt it in 1948 after it was destroyed by the retreating German army at the end of WWII. If you go, be sure to look closely at the buildings next the bridge - you can see several machine gun bullet holes still there after all these years. The popular tradition is to stop in at one of the grappa shops at either end of the bridge, have a shot of the fire-water, cross the bridge, pop into the one at the other end, and have another. I've tried a couple times, but I can only handle one. If you're not a regular liquor drinker, grappa will kick you in the stomach. But if you go, give it a try! (Click here for more photos of Bassano) The Ponte degli Alpini:
Here you can see the bullet holes in the buildings abutting the bridge:
Bassano's Centro (town center) is like a painting:
Look down from the bridge, and you can usually spot several huge trout loitering below:
Just downriver from the bridge, you'll find a great English pub called Tetley's. If you like English style ale, you'll love this place:
In the summer, swimming in the Brenta River is a popular pasttime. We did it this year for the first time, and let me tell ya - it was COOOOOLD! We're talking instant shrinkage.
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