I arrived at this beautiful bijou of a town on the morning of the 9th June at eight o’clock.  I call it a bijou from its exceeding neatness, and the extreme beauty of the architecture of its edifices, which are almost all after the designs of Palladio, of white stone and in the Greek taste.  Palladio was a native of Vicenza.  The Piazza and Palazzo Pubblico perfectly correspond with the beauty of the rest of the city, and the promenades about it are tastefully laid out.  But the two most striking objects in point of edifices in Vicenza and both constructed by Palladio are the covered portico and the Teatro Olimpico.  The covered portico is two miles in length and leads to the chapel of the Madonna del Monte, situated on an eminence, at that distance from the city.  A magnificent triumphal arch stands before it, and there is an extensive view of the surrounding country.  The Teatro Olimpico is a small, but beautiful theatre, built strictly after the model of the ancient Greek theatres.  It is peculiarly precious as being the only one of the kind in Europe.  How admirably adapted both for seeing and hearing are such theatres!  It has, for scenery, the model of a Palace, curiously carved in wood, which represents a Royal Palace, for the ancients never shifted their scenes, and this may account for their adhering so strictly to the unities.  Statues and bas-reliefs adorn this beautiful little theatre.  Many years ago, on particular occasions, it was the custom to act plays here, either translated from the Greek, or taken strictly from the Greek model.  This theatre is esteemed Palladio’s chef d’oeuvre.

The Campo di Marie is a vast Place outside the town.  The Place and its gate are well worth inspecting, so is the famous villa with the Rotonda, belonging to the Marchese di Capra, the original after which the villa belonging to the Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick is built.  The environs of this interesting city are very beautiful and present an exceeding rich soil, highly cultivated in corn, mulberry trees and vines hanging from them in festoons.

VERONA, 12th June.

I started yesterday morning from Vicenza and arrived here in about three hours, the distance being nearly the same as between Vicenza and Padua.  We crossed the Adige which divides the city into two unequal parts and drove to the Due Torri, a large and comfortable inn with excellent rooms and accommodations.  Verona is a very handsome city, for here also Palladio was the designer or builder of many edifices.  It has a very cheerful and gay appearance, tho’ not quite so much so as Vicenza.  The reason of this difference is that in Verona the greater part of the buildings are in the Gothic style, which always appears heavy and melancholy, whereas in Vicenza all is Grecian.  The Amphitheatre of course claimed my first notice.  It yields only to the Coliseum in size and grandeur and is in much better preservation,