I woke up very early, with a little anxious feeling. I really didn’t want to leave Venice. Sabrina, our charming landlord (lady?) came by in the morning to return our cash security deposit and say good-bye. We went downstairs for a final coffee at La Trinchetta. We arranged for a water taxi to pick us up and then Pat and Bob. We met at the bottom of the bridge and I couldn’t resist taking some quick pics of our home-for-a-month.

bridge detail:

It was really lovely riding in the boat on a perfect sunny morning. We arrived at Piazzale Roma and got the car. It’s a 3 series BMW, which the man says is an upgrade but, of course, the trunk is too small. Pat and Bob sat with a small suitcase between them in the back seat. Luckily the drive to Trento is only 2 hours. We drove right to our hotel. The Aquila D’Oro is a quirky place. Definitely not your typical Italian hotel. The rooms are very contemporary in design; each one id unique and each one has either a sauna or a special tub. The floors are light wood and the tile is iridescent and beautiful. The showers are wonderful! Our room has a view over the rooftops.
It’s great to be in a new place and we’re all excited. We had salads for lunch at the little restaurant in front of the hotel. You can see the Piazza del Duomo from there:

We took a nice walk. There are lots of bakeries and shops. Pat and I keep saying we think we came to the right place. I chose Trento because I wanted some place non-touristy, pretty and lively. This certainly fits the bill. We have not heard any English, at all.
In the afternoon there was a marching band on parade. Looked like grown up boy scouts.


We went for dinner at Tre Garofani. Wow! It was a fabulous meal. We started with complementary local sparkling wine—dry, not at all like prosecco, refreshing. Then we got a little square of homemade bread with wild boar pate and a tiny salad. It tasted like chopped liver—we all loved it. I had a wild boar appetizer. Small chunks of the delicious, tender meat with a very faint curry flavor to the sauce beside a “tower” of a foamy red pepper cream with small discs—like soft crackers. We drank a local Traminer from Maso Bastie. Its flowery perfume changed with each course. Ken and Pat shared an app of asparagus flan, smoked duck breast and salad. Bob had a chicken dish stuffed with zucchini and onions. He said the vegetable were great because he didn’t know he was eating them. For my next dish I had to try the local specialty canederli. They are described as dumplings but to me they seemed like balls of very tasty poultry stuffing. I was really glad to try this dish but really was too heavy for a steady diet. Ken had fabulous lamb chops with fennel and peppers. Pat had a house made tagliatelle with favas and guinea fowl. For dessert we all shared a “strawberry salad” (sliced strawberries) bursting with flavor and a zabione sauce. As we were leaving Ken was saying how we should reserve o come back on Thurs. night. It was the restaurant experience Italy dreams are made of: Enthusiastic owner out front, wife doing the cooking, beautiful rooms, linens, heavy wood tables, art on the homey walls.
We walked back to the hotel and Bob got gelato. We are all happy campers!
The fountain in the center of town: