Nino Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Last week we made a quick culinary trip to northern Italy, flew to Venice and stayed in nearby Padova where I visited my friend Renzo and picked up a few bundles of fine Cuban cigars he had kindly stored for me - Here's an Antipasti : Something we could (and should ) do anytime with our airline staff travel privileges but we hardly have done since retiring : fly to an interesting destination for a few days of sightseeing, good food and discovery. When I met Renzo in Havana earlier this year, see : http://www.flyingcigar.de/travel_cigars/2012_03_cuba_2012_renzo_pasta_and_tarara_beach.php, he invited me to northern Italy where he lives near Padova. A lovely region and a good enough reason to travel there for a few days. Another reason is that he was kind enough to bring and store a few bundles of good Habanos for me at his home. The Italian gastronomy was a good excuse to "seduce" Inge to fly along, as she is a keen and good cook, takes classes at home and loves trying out any quality food. Leaving FRA at 18 C and continuous rain showers we arrived just an hour later in Venice to 37 C and a heat wave. Nice to be greeted at the aircraft door with a handshake by the Captain with whom I had flown with during my career. Renzo picked us up at Venice airport for the 25 minutes drive to the Hotel he owns on the outskirts of Padova. Another 25 minutes later I was swimming in the pool with Renzo and his enlarged family including the 6 grandchildren. Reminiscing about Havana and Cuba we started planning our next visit there plus a joint vacation in Portugal. A quick shower and off we took to the surrounding hills of the Padova region. After a winding drive through the small and charming spas that dot the area we arrived at a small village 4-500 meters above the plain, it was a bit fresher there, but still above 30 C. At the trattoria that Renzo had chosen we enjoyed a long and fantastic dinner of antipasti, primo & secondo piatti, dolce, caffe - in short : la dolce vita in the glorious reality of the country that invented it ! As in Cuba, Renzo smoked a half Corona with me after dinner, a pleasure we started in Havana. Returning to the Hotel we sat by the poolside for drinks, conversation and a cigar. Next day it was even hotter, the temps reaching almost 40 C, but we had to visit Padova. For more text and lots more pictures see : http://www.flyingcigar.de/travel_cigars/2012_06_la_dolce_vita_in_padova.php Nino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puros Y Vino Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Fantastic!! I have family about two hours north of Padua in Bolzano. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scdalak Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Bloody Marvelous Nino, you have done it again.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Great stuff Nino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt45 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Gargett Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 nino, where in portugal and when. and do you have any contacts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erm310mce Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Well done Nino, Padova is a beautiful town, love it there! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nino Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 nino, where in portugal and when. and do you have any contacts? Ken, mostly the Algarve area, not far from Albufeira in Olhos d'Agua and we are there mostly in May/June & second half of September. Guess you'd be either in the Douro region or the Alentejo for the wine ?? See : http://www.flyingcigar.de/travel_cigars/2010_10_algarve_revisited.php http://www.flyingcigar.de/travel_cigars/2010_10_algarve_sideroads_a_cigar_in_sagres.php http://www.flyingcigar.de/travel_cigars/2004_09_algarve.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Gargett Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Ken, mostly the Algarve area, not far from Albufeira in Olhos d'Agua and we are there mostly in May/June & second half of September. Guess you'd be either in the Douro region or the Alentejo for the wine ?? See : http://www.flyingcig...e_revisited.php http://www.flyingcig...r_in_sagres.php http://www.flyingcig..._09_algarve.php hi nino, i like lisbon but porto and the duoro are just fantastic. don't know the algarve at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nino Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 hi nino, i like lisbon but porto and the duoro are just fantastic. don't know the algarve at all. Hahaha, great area there by the river Douro, I know, as I was born there on the Spanish side of the river ( Zamora/Toro ). Lisbon is just fantastic - beautiful. We love the Algarve and have been going there for 20 over years now - Spain 30 years ago ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Gargett Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hahaha, great area there by the river Douro, I know, as I was born there on the Spanish side of the river ( Zamora/Toro ). Lisbon is just fantastic - beautiful. We love the Algarve and have been going there for 20 over years now - Spain 30 years ago ... went to toro a few years back. very brief and it was a sunday arvo or something. deathly quiet. really picked the wrong time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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