Possagno Day 2.

Today is suppose to be a rest day, but like all good plans, sometimes I just throw them out the window.  After another ordinary night of heat and traffic noise, I rose at 7am.  I did set my alarm for 9am, but that didn't work out.

Peter and I went down stairs for breakfast which consisted of a croissant and a cappuccino.  Now that's not enough for 2 athletes, but since we were not riding today we could get away with it.  We had arranged for Jan Carlo to pick us up at 10.30am this morning to go on a sightseeing adventure.  As if we haven't had enough adventure yet on this tour.  As usual my day always seem to find other encounters out of the blue.

Now this is a true story.  Whilst standing on the corner with Peter, Jan Carlo just turned up.  This attractive female cyclist of around 60 years happen to ride past and stop at the stop sign.  I called out, 'eh, do you know me'?   She replied, 'is that you Terry?'  Sure is Christine.  This lady is Christine Wolfe the wife of Peter Wolfe who I met during the Cairo to Capetown bicycle tour in 2011.  She and Paul live about 3 kms from where Peter and I are staying.  Christine was one of the group that was held up and robbed at gun point during the tour.  I arranged for Christine to bring Paul to the hotel for dinner tonight and also to tell him he was going to meet someone famous.  Yeh, that's me.  I'm really looking forward to seeing his face when we meet.

Now for the rest of the day.  We went driving all over Possagno and surrounding districts visiting the house where my father in law lived and also the Cunial family village.  We visited churches, villages, met more people and ended up in the Dolomites visiting Tony and Graciella Cunial for the last time on this tour.  We then returned back to check out Canova's temple in Possagno.  This is a major attraction in the region.  Very briefly, the temple is set 342m above sea level.  Canova's Temple stands as a magnificent neoclassical building at the foot of Col Draga hill.  It is surrounded by a cobble stone paving displaying an elegant geometric pattern and seated on three ascending levels, designed by the architect Guiseppe Segusini.

The building's design is a combination of 3 distinct architectural elements:  the colonnade as in Athens's Parthenon; the round body as in Rome's Pantheon; the apsidal chapel.  These three elements are mean to symbolize the three main phases of civilization: the Greek, the Roman and the Christian.

The Temple was designed in several stages by Canova between 1804 and 1818; Pietro Bosio  and Luigi Rossini helped him with drawings and he was also assisted by Gianantonio Selva and Antonio Diedo.  On July 11th 1819 the first stone was laid, amid great celebrations in the village, led by Canova and the local authorities.  The expense of the building was sustained almost entirely by the artist himself.  The whole local community took part in the work providing voluntary labours and also part of the materials needed in the construction.

Canova died on October 13th, 1822, when building had just started, but in his will entrusted to his half brother Sartori the completion of the work that had meant so much to him.

So we ended up going out for dinner with Paul and Christine Wolfe and their friends.  We had a fabulous time and it was so nice to catch up after the Cairo to Capetown bike ride.  They invited us to come and stay at their home but we had to decline.  The tour must go on to Venice tomorrow.

 I took the above photo in the cemetery in Possagno.  It's the headstone of my father in law's brother.

 The photo above was taken inside the Canova Temple in Possagno.

The photo above shows Betilla in the crowd being greeted by the Pope.

I wanted to post more photos, but unfortunately the WiFi is very slow.  I hope to post more tomorrow when I reach Venice.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.