We take the girls on a tour of Vicenza. The heat wave is finally subsiding, in fact a major rain is coming up as we drive into Centro. The sky becomes dark and turbulent. At 1pm, the streets are shrouded in a false dusk. Palladio’s Basilica looks hoary with age in this blue dimness and the piazza is empty. As the rain blows in, we find shelter underneath the arcades of the Basilica. Emmy is laughing with delight; she loves the rain. We have lunch at a cafe’ where the bathroom is papered with images cropped from Manga books.

My nieces are suitably impressed by the stage sets of the Teatro Olympico, that production of Oedipus Rex they never ‘struck.’ We view Russian orthodox paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries at a nearby palazzo, painted with ultimate delicacy, tempera on wood.

Again, Villa Rotunda frustrates us. This time it’s open, but after paying 5 Euro a head and circling the building, we realize we will not be allowed to actually enter. L. is pissed and I can’t blame her. She’s wanted to tour the V. Rotunda for 20 years.

Just up the garden walk is the Villa Valmarana with freschi by Tiepolo and son. A friendly docent points out for us the many examples of trompe l’oeil. We wander through the back garden, which was never open to the public the other times we visited here.

Following the big rain, a steamy heat is rising from the rich green hills around Vicenza. Time to get back in the air-conditioned car and return to Verona. We have a nice dinner out at ‘Il Redentore’ next to Teatro Romano, fill out a postcard for Gram Rosemary.