New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-01
: VII, Al ragliamento, October 81.

-. of castles and palaZZi; woro
- aoos not necessarily mean what
49,. ,,,oan nv palace. They are all IN
toresting for one reason or anotner' ou'
'..csnt the one in which / am staying
"a ono other there is none which
ia cuite answer American or Eng
esb expectations as residence Inc
1,olian demand for comfort, or even lor
-,..,liress is not universal nor per-
tory In some other matters, per-
HAIRS more urgent. they are far aheau
81 ms If good roads are STANDARDS oi
.i,.iIization these Italians are more CIV
- than we are. The great Route
,cooIfon is as firm and smooth as wheh
q was built, more than hundred years
400 All the main roads are eNceiien''
nd the whole intricate series OF cross
roads are also excellent.
We drove one day for two hours OF
mare at forty or fifty miles an houl
enough narrow lanes and byways' al
ii, naved and even. Then we came u
oostle with a barred gate to its court
-
,.o-a and no lodge or gate keeper. Inc
cbauffeur's horn woke up nooouS
s.orcb finally brought TO light pie.''
ia who let us in. The castle IS oiu-
- csstIes not old 1 saw none--wi'h one
'. .hose plain Italian facades when
,s;tber INTELLECTUALLY nor his'oric"i,'
oopld be called castellated' yet 'i''
..o, II is. and in a position OF delenoe'
There we're stables under the "ihuo"S
ID c,obeun tapestries on the Walls'
and a hostess all of the d"c''" ''v'"'''
ond marbles and other splenoors' anu
unot elsewhere than in italy shouiu
English welcome, but here VIII
coll II Italian. From the Wlhuo"'
.ou,d be seen all the kingdoms OF uie
earth. as from many other windows
.,,ca many Of these castles were oulit
.,,-auv on hills. From one we coulu
have seen Venice, near hundred mice
.,av hut for a warm, soft maze III ''ie
- from another the blue Aorlatlc
,.,s;ble. and from all Of them the
- Aims which are the northern
frontier Of the province. To approae"
third you passed close 10 Inc el
..orce a group of laborers houses
mil, in the Middle Ages, standing IN
slough. of indescribable untidiness' vi
nose IN the near foreground the eye
,aa n rest as you gazed from the front
.,ndous on the noble mountain ranges
that filled the horizon.
Iae, If all. on the last day my most
,ook me TO the chateau, which hau d'i
The attractions and none of the draw
..o,,s have noted in these others
,1,,ost u, the heart of the Alps; on IN
innate terms with what Nature hao 10
,tfer Of her best; ancient, but without
The gloom or grimness OF antiquity
gardens and turf-clad slopes ana me
,-oes erconpassing It: an older castle
about which expresses stand sentineis'
and for once such comfort and cheer-
Illness inside as belong 10 an Enelsh
:, American home; a word l use TOT
,ba first time in these excursions
wish might say how, amid al 'hese
harms there was personai cha'Hi
more irresistible still; but ] may not
w. wo,e shown al over the house and
he whole place: everywhere the note
e refinement. Of respect for what was
old. and a lively sense Of modern I'M
orovements on the old in all the details
Of domestic life.
On this as on the other places / men
ton / touch lightly lest anybody ldeh-
ufv any Of them. ] mean neither 10
criticise nor praise; ] only record m
pressions. Great or famous names De
long 70 all Of them alike. with s'lli
another. more names than one are con-
nected: the mansion where Napoleon
signed m 1871 the treat' OF campo
Formio; and which he OF ,upied' spite
Of his epigram on the ho' lie: Hop PpV'
IN indiridu; frOp pcu p0 = nm prince
With its outstretched arcaoes en-
clrcling the courtyard and its lofty cen
trail pavilion. and even with its mem
cries OF the last Doge of Venice, whose
country place II was. it is after all only
gorihed villa; grandiose, but with
out true grandeur.
What the villages and farm houses
have to show you is not inviting.
Ghmpses through open doorways or
courtyards or windows were quite
enough. The houses and shops IN these
innumerable small towns with when
the province is peppered are built on
the edge of the street, and the coor I'm
tells a level with the street. AS l came
by rail through Lombardy thought II
would be the better for a coat of paint
thought the same Of these towns. we
used 10 say in Boston that the streets
had been laid out by the cows as they
went 10 pasture. The same might be
said here The streets are at all angles
10 other streets and 10 the houses; and
sometimes a particularly stubborn
house has planted itself squarely in the
Roadway. Even in Udine a town or
5000 people which has imposing pub
lie buildings and some good private
houses, there is little attempt at sym
n.etry, and the shops, though good IN
their way. are content with modest
fronts. Wind9w dressing is an UNI
known art.
All this waywardness is, | admit.