I love travelling. Even if it is a quick couple of days somewhere. I even love the airport and all the craziness that comes with it. So when my rental’s asked if I wanted to come away for a couple of days with them, of course I said yes. Three and a half days in Northern Italy. Perfect.
Being 20 minutes from Bristol airport is a dream so I could work half a day then at lunch pop off to Venice, as you do. I have been to Tuscany, Rome and the Amalfi Coast before and adore Italy so I was excited for exploring another couple of cities.
We landed in Treviso fairly late and with genius forward planning of my Mothercare booked us to a B&B five minutes from the airport so we could explore Treviso in the morning. Apparently most people don’t stay at all in Treviso, just land at the airport and scamper off to Venice as soon as possible. Which is a shame as like Venice, Treviso has canal side streets, crumbling beautiful buildings and amazing food.
A short walk from our B&B was the pizzeria , which looked tiny from the outside but once stepping inside opens out to a large marquee covered garden suitable for up to 100 covers. Crazy. It’s always nice going to these places, we were surprisingly the only non locals and it was lovely seeing all the generations out as one eating together. The chatty nonnas, sulky teenagers and newly in love couples, all helped along with a crisp glass of prosecco. From past posts you’ll know I’m rather a prosecco fan and this region is apart of the prosecco producing region. So when rocking up to find I could get a LITRE of the delicious nectar for €5, you can’t imagine how my little blue eyes lit up! Is there anything more civilised than drinking prosecco, tucking in to a freshly wooden oven cooked pizza topped with local pork sausage, tenderstem broccoli, all with a sexy bechamel sauce base. Nope, Friday nights doesn’t get any better than this.
Once we made the little trip into the centre of Treviso, it was hard not to fall in love with its charm. With the daily fruit and veg market and being given sun warmed cherries to try as well as its small canals, I could happily fall into this laid back way of life. Like most holidays, I love getting off the beaten track, sure I’ll visit the tourist attractions but I found I get a nicer feel for the place if you just wonder what ever direction you fancy.
One place we found while wondering was Osteria Ostile near the centre for lunch. Sat at tables on the pavement in the sun, muddling over the menu whilst nibbling on warm homemade bread, what was nice no English translated menus, just the specials of the day. Captain Oddball went for the usual grilled rack of lamb which was lovely and pink, simple dish, full of flavour. Mothercare surprised us with ordering the tomato pasta with langoustine, she normally hates all cooked tomato type dishes, but lapped up this one. I went for the veal ragu pappardelle, not the most politically correct meat to choose from. But this tender meat with a dusting of parmesan and a few sprigs of rosemary was exactly what I fancied of the hot day. Of course again paired with a glass of bubbles.
We made our way to our villa that afternoon in the Province of Padua, we grabbed some water and hit the pool with temperatures reach 34 degrees.Delightful. The next day we set off to Venice. Hotter than the day before and filling up with tourists. Again full of charm and beauty you couldn’t help fall in love with this city. Briefly stopping by St Marks Square which was rather full with a lot of Italian men in uniform (check out below!), we moved on the some of the quieter side streets to check of the buildings and square. Maybe having an ice cream on the way.
Before hitting the train back home we popped into a local pasticceria – Dal Mas Chocolate, as the cannoli’s were too hard to resist. Not the most traditional Venetian pastry more Sicilian but those little fried pastry rolls filled with riccotta, candied peel and chocolate chips, were calling to us. Better than any train food over in the UK.
Heading back to our villa we were on the look out for a restaurant, having walked around a scotching Venice, we were came upon Osterie Moderne after Captain Oddball asking for recommendations in a local bar. It was fair to say we were very early for dinner for Italian standards, yet the staff were incredibly welcoming. Sat on the sunny terrace, with a glass of prosecco in hand while we looked over the menu. To start we shared the Burrata cheese (which is similar to mozzarella cheese with folded in double cream, try it, it is amazing!) with peach, courgette salad with balsamic vinegar. I loved the freshness of the fruit and richness of the cheese with the tang of the vinegar. I’ve actually made this salad many times since coming back for bbq’s and have gone down a storm!
For our main course, me and Captain Oddball shared the Fiorentina steak for two people. Oh wow, coming on a hot stone the steak was tender, flavoursome and cut like butter. Served with potato gratin stack and wholemeal polenta fried wedges, which gave a great crunch to the dish and mopped up some of the delicious meat juices. I really like polenta, wet or fried and have become more popular in the UK as chips, since people realised you need to get some flavour in there too! There was even little pots of Hawaiian and Blue Persian salt to season with. I preferred the pink Hawaiian nuggets for my steak. Best steak I’ve had in a long time by far. I mean just look at it below!
We couldn’t decide which dessert to choose from the incredibly tempting list, so we shared three between us, naturally. White Chocolate Mousse with fresh Strawberries, Mille Feuille with homemade langue de chat biscuits and tropical fruit and finally the seriously rich and naughty Chocolate Bombe. All three desserts balanced richness with fresh, vibrant flavours giving you a wonderful dessert hit without being overpowering. But must admit I loved the chocolate the best.
The Sommelier was fantastic and could tell that he was a very passionate foodie, with him and the rest of the staff looking after us, it made it very hard for me to board my plane the next day with tempting food like that meal. But was a wonderful way to leave my holiday, in fact my parents went back to the restaurant another two times while they stayed on for their holiday. And I’m going to go back for one of their extensive wine nights – well worth the flight. It was a wonderful holiday, short and sweet but was perfect to top up the tan and more importantly try some amazing food and prosecco. Ciao!
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