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We visited Padova on a bitterly cold late autumn Sunday morning with our friends from La Fenice Blu who arranged everything for us from start to finish. After all these years of passing through Padova on our way to the beach and saying: ‘I really want to see the Scrovegni Chapel. We’ll go there this
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Visiting the islands of the Venetian Lagoon
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For the last Sunday in September, our favourite tour organisers, La Fenice Blu, offered us a real end of summer treat: a whole day spent visiting some of the islands of the Venetian Lagoon.
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D’Agostini Retrospective at the Basilica
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Junior is away visiting The Guggenheim in Bilbao. I feel a twinge of longing because I’d like to be there, too, but lucky for me I’ve got some visual art right on my doorstep here in Vicenza. In fact today I’m taking you inside the Basilica Palladiana to show you some of my favourites from…
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Celebrating 15 August in a French Alpine Village
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The 15th August is a public holiday in many countries in Europe. In the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, it is the feast day of the Assumption, when the soul of the Virgin Mary ascended to Heaven. For many of us, the 15th August also marks the high point of the long, hot days
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My Recipe for Pesto alla Genovese
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Pasta with pesto alla genovese is the typical dish from the Liguria region, in the north-western part of Italy. Pesto is a tasty green sauce made with basil, pine nuts, Pecorino and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, olive oil, and salt. Buy it readymade in a jar and it will liven up the monotony of student cooking
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Ancient Greek Vases Meet Comic Strips
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This summer I’m really enjoying the colour orange and using it for my manicure, shorts and cubes of Mantova melon. It’s a colour full of life and energy. So it will come as no surprise that the poster for the ‘Pottery and Clouds‘ exhibition caught my eye. Plus it’s in one of my favourite buildings
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Highlights from my visit to Villa Valmarana ‘Ai Nani’
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If you enjoy art and nature then you will adore Villa Valmarana ai Nani, a charming villa located in the hills above Vicenza and famous for its beautifully detailed frescoes by Gianbattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) and his son Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804). Inside, you can also admire some tastefully decorated rooms with beautiful furniture and ornaments and…
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A not so secret project: Renovating a new apartment
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Behind the scenes we’ve been busy with our new project: renovating a studio apartment in the historic centre of Vicenza. Purchasing a property in the city centre has been a dream of mine that I’ve been sitting on for a long time.
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Our Foodie Experiences in Malaysia
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In our family we are all foodies. We get excited about visiting new places and trying tasty local food. We take photos of our plates, share bites and comments. What about you? Are you a foodie too? We were ready to take on the Malaysian Peninsula. We already knew that it’s considered a melting pot
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Our holiday in Malaysia: from the City to the Jungle
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This summer we finally got to do a family holiday in Asia. We wanted the holiday challenge of going somewhere new and exotic: to eat spicy food and bright-coloured fruit, have adventures, and experience life in the Tropics.
Hello,
I’m Alison
I’m from the UK and I live in Vicenza, in northern Italy, so I like to think that I’ve learnt over the years to take the best from these two worlds and made myself an English European. Casa Alison is my home and a part of my rental and property project, as you will soon see. I started this blog to record all the things I’m doing and learning to create the Lifestyle that I want by sharing ideas and tips for those of you that love travel, good food, art . . .
casaalison 