Monte Berico

One of the things we really love about this part of Italy is the scenery.  Vicenza sits at the base of some beautiful mountains and is surrounded by lots of farm land.  We especially like the city, because it's just as beautiful and unique as some of the larger, well known places, but it doesn't really have tourists. 

Yesterday, John Ralph and I decided to take a walk up Monte Berico.  This is a "mountain" (think Little Mountain, SC) on the outskirts of downtown Vicenza.  At the top is a beautiful church, bell tower, and look out area, where you can see all of the city.  From start to finish, the walk took a little under an hour. 
 

We walked through some neighborhoods that wind up the mountain and the houses were beautiful.  The area reminded me a lot of The Secret Garden with lots of greenery and mossy cobblestones. 

Our apartment is behind the building with the green roof on the horizon (right beside the tall bell tower).  From the top of Monte Berico the city looks huge, but it really takes no time to walk from one place to another. 

On very clear days you can see the mountains on the horizon.  They are actually very close and are huge, but you can only see them on very clear days. 

This is the Church of St. Mary on the top of Monte Berico.  It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared twice on this hill.  There are a large set of stairs that go up the mountain leading to the church.  The stairs consist of 150 arches grouped in tens, which represent the 15 mysteries and 150 Hail Marys in the rosary.  People making a pilgrimage to the church climb all of the stairs on their knees.

This is definitely one of the first places we're taking people when they come to visit.